Ep 126 | Is art more than an elective?

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I think there is something that clicks in their brain when they're creating, because a lot of times students, they wait for instruction. They wait for you to tell them exactly what to do. And so kind of giving them something open-ended allows them to problem solve on their own and make those decisions for themselves, which we want them to do that as an adult, right? You know, we want them to rely on themselves. And so I think art lends itself to those life skills.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Critical thinking and communication are certainly skills parents hope their kids will acquire and ones everyone agrees are important for a future workforce. But are they taught in school? My next guest is doing just that. She is one of 13 people in the world selected for the prestigious Art 21 Educator Program, and the first from Florida. Today she's going to share her experience and why she believes art is much more than an elective. Booker T. Washington graduate, Art and Heart, Alicia Gifford. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. So this program is really specific. It seems really unique in the world of educator development. What inspired you to apply for it?

SPEAKER_02 1:39

So Art21, I use their resources a lot throughout the years. They focus on contemporary artists and how to bring those ideas into the classroom. I was just going through their website, looking at videos, and I saw a little tab that said for educators. And I was like, ooh, I haven't clicked on this before. What is this? And it talked about their art educators program. And it was close to the deadline. I think it was like two weeks until the deadline. I was like, you know what? Why not? So I just applied on a whim, not thinking anything about it, not realizing how much was involved or how big it was. So I applied for that. And, you know, about a month later, I get an email saying that I was accepted. Not only was I accepted, but I also got a scholarship because one of the things with the program is a pretty hefty chunk of money. I was grateful to also get the scholarship, which enabled me to be able to join and go through the program. That must have been quite the essay you wrote. Yeah. Well, it was a series of questions or like short essay questions. And then you have a video bio, about five to ten minutes, which is a long time to talk about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

It's so long and so awkward.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

So I chose to talk about the community, my students, why I teach. I also coach girls weightlifting. So talking about similarities between art and coaching. And yeah, I was selected. I got the scholarship. And then the DO DEA grant helped with some of my funding. So shout out to Monica Willis. She is very helpful. Um, and then I was able to go. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

So what are the similarities between teaching art and coaching girls weightlifting?

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Practice, you know, it involves a lot of practice, hard work, and dedication. And I think those are qualities you need for both.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

That's really interesting. I don't think people would go, oh, yeah, that makes sense. The art teacher teaches girls weightlifting naturally.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

No, no, that's problem solving. You need that for both as well. You know, why isn't this working? How can I do this better?

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Okay. Okay. I probably would have gone the direction of like mind-body connection. You know, when you're weightlifting and you have to think about are my feet the same width as my shoulders for this squat. Right. You know, and like when you're doing art, you're like connecting emotion to paper. Yeah. That's the direction I would have gone. But but I love how practical you are because I feel like art in the educational realm is still under the radar. Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

I think it's very important to have an art education. We've been communicating through visual arts since the beginning of time. I mean, cave paintings were some of the first documented forms of communication, and that was all visual. And so it's a very primal instinct for humans to create. And I think as we get older, we lose a little bit of that through, you know, technology, social media, just having a busy life. So to take the time to create and have that quiet time, I think it's very beneficial for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

We always think of it as something nice, like an elective, like, oh, isn't that nice? Like, like something we do when we go away on holiday to a cabin with no internet, right? You know, like let's bring our adult coloring book. Although some would strongly say that that is not art, that is coloring and it is different. But my point is that we don't put it in the utility category. And what you're saying, what I'm hearing you say, is that it has a lot of utility. You know, you used to talk about problem solving. Off mic, you told me it had benefits for communication and critical thinking. So kind of again, to you, you're like, yes, of course it does, obviously. But to a parent listening, they might go, What? Are you kidding? So explain more.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Well, so past students I've had ELL, English language learners or access students that may be nonverbal. Well, now they can communicate. They can show me what they need, they can show me how they're feeling just by creating. It'll help them calm down, you know, it'll help them process things, but just taking that time to visually show them, and then they can mimic what I'm doing to communicate back to me.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Tell me about the question and answer time that you had in your classroom. I feel like that really illustrated very clearly the critical thinking and the deeper conversation that art allows students to access.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

So, level three questions or higher order questions, I think are very important in the art making process because we don't want students to just copy something they saw off the internet. We want it to be original, we want it to be their own ideas. Um, I focus on this with AP, and I know other AP teachers do the same. They have to develop a portfolio throughout the year. So it has to be based off of an investigation or some type of theme. So some students are like, oh, I just want to do portraits. Okay, but what about, you know, what is it that you want to create? Why? Why do you want to create that? So I sprinkle it in through all levels that I teach, but mostly focus on that with AP. So some of those interests will turn then turn into the question, you know, how does the place I grew up help form my identity? So that would be a level three question. That would be something that they could investigate and create a series or a body of work about versus, oh, here are some portraits I made.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

How do you take the student from A to B though? I mean, that's a big jump.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

You know, some students aren't there yet. Some were already there from the beginning. It's just communication and conversations. We keep talking, we keep diving deeper into why, why do you enjoy this? Why are you doing this? What is it about this person's art that you really like? And then they kind of develop their own ideas and thoughts about what they want to communicate with the world.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

How do you help a student communicate what's inside without asking leading questions? How do you help them find that language without putting that language in their mouths and having them just parrot it back? That's hard to answer. Yeah. Well, it's hard for parents too. That's why I'm asking. Because, like, if art has this fantastic utility, then I think more parents would be seeking opportunities to plug their kid into art because one of the frustrations I'm sure you've heard that parents say is like, the communication. How was your day? Fine. Right, right. What did you learn at school? Nothing.

unknown 8:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

I usually I'll ask my daughter, like going off of that, I'll ask my daughter, you what was your favorite part of the day? What happened during the day that made you really excited? So then she starts talking about all these other things. Cause if I just say, How was your day? You know, oh, that's fine. What did you do? Nothing. You know, it's so you have to kind of form the question differently. So I guess trial and error, you know, sometimes I'll just have them. Um, one of the exercises we did at Art 21 over the summer, which I've started to incorporate, you know, just take the time to write whatever it is, just write. And usually something will come out of that. Um, looking at other artists' work and answering questions about that work, analyzing other people's artwork. I think that helps them think of, okay, now I can kind of see why I'm doing this this way. And this is what I want to focus on. This is the direction I want to go in.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Is that why the contemporary art piece of it was so important to you so that you could help the kids find that language as opposed to looking at, you know, art from the 1800s?

SPEAKER_02 9:10

Yeah. So Art 21 focuses on contemporary artists, which are artists that are alive and working today. And the main reason for that is because it's more relatable. They are making art based off of things that are happening now during our time. And I think that really engages students a little more.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Part of this scholarship, as you mentioned before, was you know, you got to go to New York for a week of training. What was that like? I think that was also something really outside the scope of the normal non-teacher professional because if they have a summer vacation, most people don't spend a week of it in a personal development, work development course. What was that like for you? What did you get out of it?

SPEAKER_02 9:55

It was really great being around a whole community of like-minded people. You feel very rejuvenated. Like I came home and I was like, I'm ready to go back to work. Yeah, I'm ready to conquer these. These are my people. Yeah. And what's really great about it is they have a so once you're in, you're in it for life. There's a Google Classroom that you just communicate, you talk to them all year long every year. Like you're just in it. Also, part of the scholarship is you're put into a mentor group with five other members. And so we have a Google meet once a month, and that's for the whole year. So that's the professional development that you continue to learn from. And so I feel like I'm learning new things every month from these other teachers because they're all in a different state. And so it's really cool hearing their perspectives and what was successful or what failed in the class because that's important too. You know, if something didn't work, you know, why didn't it work? How can I make it better?

SPEAKER_00 10:47

When I think back of my art teachers in school, I don't know, you just seem a little different than them. Like I think they were really cool people, but I was a very, I loved art. They probably weren't as dedicated, you know, as I'm understanding you to be. Why is it important to you to be a better art teacher than you are already?

SPEAKER_02 11:10

Oh, well, I think just as an educator in general, we wear many different hats. Like for me, I have my educator hat, my teacher hat. I'm also a mom. But working with kids, I mean, I think the ultimate goal is you want all these kids to grow up to be good people, right? So through art and through art making, you're learning about other people's lives. You're learning how to collaborate, you're learning how to interact with others, you're learning how to have more empathy. And those are all life skills that are gonna grow as you get older. So I think that's one of the biggest benefits of being an educator, especially an art educator.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Do you feel like art is specially positioned to instill those qualities? Absolutely. What do you think makes it special to do that?

SPEAKER_02 11:59

Again, going back to that, you know, it's very primal. I mean, kids want to create. One of my goals this year was to incorporate more play into the classroom, which is kind of scary with my teacher hat, you know, because I'm like, Oh, I don't want, you know, behavior issues. I don't want things to get chaotic. The little bit that I've done has worked well. So by play, I just mean, you know, I'm instead of saying, you know, step by step, this is how this is supposed to look. I'm giving them the materials, showing them how to use the materials and just letting them create. And what's really great is they'll naturally start to collaborate with each other. They'll answer each other's questions. And as a teacher, it's really great walking around, you know, a student will be like, oh, I need help. And then another student automatically jumps in before I help them. So I'm like, oh, they're still learning. I can give them more freedom and more responsibility and they'll own up to that on their own. I think sometimes we're kind of scared to give them too much freedom in the classroom. But when you do, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. They just dig to it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yeah, well, it's almost like what you said about art being primal. And when I think about like developing minds, you know how they always say, you know, children have other senses that are more heightened, and then we lose them as we get older and immerse ourselves in the busy modern world kind of thing. I wonder if there's something special about the position of art being able to speak to that innocence, if you will, and that more natural, innate ability and tendencies that are contrasting to a more rigid classroom setting that doesn't involve the creative brain as much. Right. Maybe a unique position there, like an opportunity that would otherwise get missed if art wasn't in the equation. Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

Yeah. Art allows for more play and um inquiry-based learnings. And those questions lead to other questions. And that's what we want. We want them to research on their own. We want them to develop these skills, ask questions, and it's almost like spark the curiosity.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Cause almost the example that you gave with your daughter, like, how is cool? Fine. It's like you want them to be engaged. And it's the parents are like, well, how do I get my kids engaged? And it's almost like a switch that needs to be activated. And I I'm wondering, I don't know for sure, you would know more than me, if art is the activator of that switch.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

I I think there is something that clicks in their brain when they're creating, because a lot of times students they wait for instruction. They wait for you to tell them exactly what to do. And so kind of giving them something open-ended allows them to problem solve on their own and make those decisions for themselves, which we want them to do that as an adult, right? You know, we want them to rely on themselves. And so I think art lends itself to those life skills. Something that I was going to do next week, which is one thing I learned from the art educators program. And one thing that we did in New York, we focused on the artist Oliver Herring, who he's a contemporary artist that lives in Brooklyn, but he does what's called a task party. So he'll have a hat that has all these tasks written down, folded on pieces of paper. And he'll just sit in Central Park and have someone pick a task out of the hat. And so then they have to perform that task. And then someone else picks one and it's just this chain reaction. And before you know it, it's like a hundred people creating art. But what you see in the process is they're all communicating, they're not on their phones, they're laughing, they're having a good time, and it's all natural. So I've created several tasks, and so I'm gonna do that in my classes next week. So I'm really excited. I've told a couple students and they seem really into it. So they'll work in groups and then they're just gonna select a task. And it'll be something very simple like create a chain necklace out of paper that three people can wear and wear it, you know, or get taller. And so you'll just have materials out. So they'll have to figure out okay, how do I get taller by using this cardboard and tape? So it's gonna allow them to problem solve and make art.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

This sounds like Odyssey of the mind. Right. Do you know how the problem is? I do know it, yes. Yes. Yeah, we we did an episode about that also. And I remember thinking, gosh, this needs to be in every school, you know, because what a value add for the student and what a value add for the parent. Because especially like you're getting, you know, eighth, ninth, oh, it's such a weird, awkward stage. And it's awkward for everyone around them, too, the student and all of their adults in their life, because you're looking at this tiny person becoming physically more adult-like, but mentally there's it's different for every kid. And some of them stay more childlike, some of them are old souls, if you will. But you you want them to be successful in whatever's next. And that sort of thinking pattern sets them up for whatever comes at them. Right. You know, because who knows what the task is that you're gonna pull out of the hat? Who knows what life is gonna serve up? Right. And so it's almost like as a parent that exhale of like, all right, they're gonna be all right.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Yeah, they got a brain in there. We're equipping them with all these tools. So then when they're older, they just have to reach into their bag and pull them out.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Yeah. What do you wish parents knew about art that maybe gets misunderstood?

SPEAKER_02 17:34

That it's very beneficial for all of their other subjects. There is a quote that I really love that encompasses that um says art education should be preserved as a core subject if students are to understand the connection between creativity, critical thinking, and other higher order skills. And I think once they develop that and start creating and asking questions and thinking for themselves, I mean, that just bleeds into the other subjects with writing and science. And, you know, it's gonna help them across the board.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Innovation. You know, when you think about the top CEOs of the biggest innovative societal disruptors since the 90s to now, they were all people who thought outside the box, right? Who problem solved. And according to the Odyssey of the mind people, they're all ones who did Odyssey of the Mind. I don't know how true that is. But think about the basis of that. The core ingredients are what you're offering your students, which is so incredible. As we wrap up, I want to talk about mentorship because you mentioned that after you've graduated this program and you're officially an alumni, that your goal will be to be a mentor to others. Why is that important to you?

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Well, I want to one, I want to keep the program alive and watch it grow and be a part of it still. I've been getting so much out of it. And again, just that feeling of community. I mean, everyone I have met through the R21 community is very compassionate. They have a lot of empathy and they care about kids. And, you know, that's the kids are our future. So very important. It is.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

They're literally our future. I'm so glad that you are part of that future. Thank you so much for sharing this. It was great getting to know you. Thank you for having me. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County Public Schools.