The Way I See It

Heather Knapp
January 25, 2009
Art in the Classroom

When reading the two articles, “Autism-The Way I See It” and “Not Thinking in Pictures”, I found them both to be very similar. They both discussed the ways in which autistic people think. They said that Autistic people and most other people are visual learners and thinkers. As a future teacher this is important knowledge for me and makes me think of many different ways to include visuals in all aspects of my teaching. The second article discussed the language difficulties that people with autism may have. This is because that they are such visual learners and thinkers and not as much verbal logic thinkers.
What was different about these two articles is that the second article discussed how autistic people may not see the pictures on a card or in a book, but this does not have a reflection upon their intelligence. It is important to see students or individuals strengths instead of the things that they struggle with. By knowing their strengths, you may help them to use their strengths to improve on their weaknesses. Many people may be able to see pictures but some struggle to see pictures altogether, they merely just see its parts but struggle to see the whole thing.

The role that art has played in my life

Heather K
January 19, 2009
Art in the classroom

Art has always been a personal function for me. I have always enjoyed making different pieces of art because it allows me to express myself and to put all my thoughts and ideas on paper in different ways. I do not do it for anyone else. I do not make art for other people to get a message out of it. If people like my art work then that is good but if they don’t then that if fine too. I do it because it calms me down. Sometimes if I am creating a piece of art and it is not turning out how I envisioned it, then it may become frustrating. In high school I had to do some art pieces for other reasons than personal. For example, the function of one piece was political. I don’t remember the assignment exactly, but I drew a picture of an elephant and a donkey merged together to represent the two political parties. There was an American flag in the background. In my art work I do not try to send out any particular message to the viewer. Sometimes I just do art just because I feel like it and what I draw, paint or sketch may not have a meaning to it at all. Viewers will look at art in many different ways and interpret it differently. When I look at art, I never really know what the artist was trying to express because I can only interpret it the way I see it. The artist sees his or her work through a completely different set of eyes. Behind those eyes are also many different experiences, therefore artwork is never going to be looked at the same by any two people. When someone looks at a piece of art their emotions and thoughts will be different then others based on the life they lived.
It is so important for everyone to find one thing that they are really passionate about. This is why it is necessary in schools for teachers to open students up to many different things, such as art. It is so moving when a student, like Robert, finds something he enjoys. He was able to express himself, boost his confidence and therefore do better in school. Students need to be given many different opportunities to show their strengths, knowledge and character. I found art when I was younger and I would put a lot of effort into what I did because it gave me a sense of pride when I had finished a piece successfully to the way I had envisioned it.

Question: Even though there have been many strides moving forward with the arts in education, why are teachers not trying to use art more when teaching content? Is it too difficult for teachers to plan it into their lessons or do they not know how to incorporate the arts into their lessons?

In one of my placements, there was one student who hated going to art class and doing any artwork. He would not participate if he had to do anything art related. What should the general education teacher and the art teacher do with a student with this attitude toward art?