Art Classes as Directed by Children

While the concept of an art class that fully allows children to plan and decide their own art projects sounds promising and agreeable, I think there are many issues that we must consider. I remember back in high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Like many of my classmates, we were accustomed to receiving lessons, and learning how to do certain things through the teacher's instruction. I think the term "Magic Trick" may be harsh, because I feel that I received a great learning experience from my teacher's, even though they had "directed" our course of action. There is a certain discord in the classroom if one child wants to learn clay sculpting, another ceramics, and another wanting to learn printmaking. All of these projects require teacher assistance and ample time in order to attain the proper skills to execute. In my opinion, it is more beneficial to the class if the teacher educates them collectively, so that the students may help one another and learn in a timely and orderly manner. 

We could also say math teachers are also manipulative. Why do we have to learn calculus or trigonometry? Unless we want a career requiring higher leveled math skills, why are we taught these concepts that are forgotten in later stages of life? Although idealistically, we could live in a world where each child is taught exactly what they want to learn, it is hard to specifically meet the needs of each and every child, especially when there are so many students compared to teachers.

 I believe that the notion of the student choosing his or her medium of art to practice will allow for greater preparation for the future. However, there has to be a happy medium between structure and creativity. I think a good plan is to allow the students to suggest a variety of projects that they have interest in, while suggesting some new ideas for the students to learn. I am still only a student, so I don't know if my opinion is the best option. However, because I am a student, I know that there are a lot of areas that I am unfamiliar with and that I would not have thought up on my own, and having a teacher to guide me through new forms of art and ideas is extremely helpful.

I had learned to make linoleum block prints, stipple, and paper sculpting based on teacher instruction. She taught us the correct method to execute our projects, while still sticking to her lesson plan and also allowing us the creative freedom to come up with our own ideas pertaining to the particular project.