I believe that in an artistic environment all students should be able to express themselves freely. I feel when teaching students, lessons should address specific skill sets while allowing room for students to adapt the lesson to what they see as the best fit.  I think there should always be guidelines but room for adapting. I feel the root of my educational philosophy develops around culturally relevant teaching and creating a safe and respectful classroom.I strongly believe that every student deserves attention and lessons that relate to themselves and their day-to-day lives. Every child brings new information and experiences from their lives that impact their learning. As educators, I feel it is important to teach using culturally relevant and anti-racist techniques to ensure students can connect to these projects in more profound ways, other than just completing an assignment. I feel art is beautiful as it is open to being interdisciplinary, more so than other subjects might. Whether it be in a virtual or in-person setting, I plan to create a safe and inquiry-based classroom in which students of all demographics can feel important, heard, and appreciated and feel successful in learning about what topics they are interested in. I enjoy teaching students about contemporary artists who might have similar experiences or come from similar backgrounds. Respect to me is important in any environment but especially in a creative space. Art can be vulnerable and I make it my priority to be sure students are respectful when talking about, to, or with other students, and their work. The art room is a space where students should be respected, heard, valued, and free to express themselves- that is the art room culture I plan to create in my future classrooms.

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