Inquiry Question
What do effective secondary visual art teachers do to successfully engage students in their creative learning process?
My first step was to research what “experts” considered to be an effective teacher. I quickly realized this was the wrong way to go about this. If I wanted to find out what made an effective teacher I had to ask the real experts. The students. So through interviews with students and teachers my question broke down into three different questions I asked each person I interviewed to figure out what made a teacher effective.
1. What makes an effective high school teacher? 2.If you could give a teacher advice on how to become a more effective teacher what would that advice be? 3.When you think of an effective teacher do you have a high school teacher that comes to mind? |
After countless interviews the trends I noticed can be broken down into three strong points.
1. Listen! Teachers need to listen to their students. Not just hear but REALLY listen. 2. Get to know your students on a deeper level! Build relationships and get to know them personally while respecting personal boundaries. 3. Comfort! Your students want to be comfortable with you so once you start being comfortable with them they are more receptive to what you are teaching. |
Through video interviews I gained a wonderful insight to what students think. I reflected on my own teaching by reviewing my teaching videos and tried to pin point moments that I believed corresponded with what the students were saying. As much as this research and data collection was about student needs it was also very much about my role as a new and effective teacher. If I couldn't get a student to work, listen, or be respectful there is something wrong not just with that student but I am not being effective and meeting that student's needs properly.
“What I really think makes an effective teacher is that they have to connect with the students on a way that is relevant to them. We’re growing up and we’re in that awkward stage where nothing really makes sense so if the teacher can be right there with us being awkward and not making sense that will make us feel comfortable.”
-Adaire (Senior)
-Adaire (Senior)
“Something that makes an effective high school teacher is a teacher who listens to what the students have to say, actually cares about what they are teaching and is genuinely nice because if you have a mean high school teacher you’re just not going to want to go to the class.”
-Alizah (Freshman)
-Alizah (Freshman)
“I think the biggest advice I can give is to listen. Listen to one another, listen to your peers and colleges, but most importantly listen to your kids, because they are going to tell whether or not things are working. Whether they’re learning information. Whether your teaching style is effectively communicating and transferring the knowledge it needs to.”
-Christopher Strickland (Art Teacher)
-Christopher Strickland (Art Teacher)
“Get to know your students personally! Figure out what their specific style is, whether it’s learning or what they like to do. Just get to know them on a little bit deeper level then just “You’re my student you sit in my class”. Interact with them on some other level that way it’s a more comfortable environment for everyone.”
-Katherine (Senior)
-Katherine (Senior)
“Never forget the kids in our class, we may be the only adult that interacts with them in any sort of positive way, all day. We don’t know where they come from, we don’t know where they go back to, and we don’t know their stories and we don’t necessarily have too. But I’m very aware of who sits in those desks, they aren’t numbers. [I’m going to kill you. I’m going to come right over there and kill you. This is the library.] I’m also very sarcastic.”
-Jennifer Parsont (English Teacher)
-Jennifer Parsont (English Teacher)
“It’s about relationships and connection and that you have to be willing to want to connect and work with your students. That means you get to know them and they get to know you and you establish a common ground that has a purpose which is learning. And if you feel comfortable with one another then you’re going to be able to traverse the educational landscape together.”
- Christopher Strickland (Art Teacher)
- Christopher Strickland (Art Teacher)