6 ways to improve high school visual arts education

1 – Use consistent classroom management policies

Consistent classroom management is vital in any learning environment. Students need to know where they stand and be comfortable in a particular “mode of operation”. Balancing authority with cooperation is critical and an essential tool in any visual art teacher’s repertoire.

Some ideas for teachers include:

• Establishing clear learning goals and effectively communicating these to the class while being reasonable and realistic, accounting for unforeseen situations that are likely to arise.
• Developing a reasonable level of openness with students, so they feel free to develop cooperative strategies with the teacher rather than resort to more intuitive defensive strategies such as apathy towards their work and the class.
• Be aware of the student’s needs, and adapt – within reason – to the changing environment.
• Remain consistent with how discipline is administered and display the appropriate body language and demeanour when doing so. However, do so without showing excessive emotion, as this can sometimes be seen as unprofessional.

Understanding and applying these skills correctly and consistently is vital to any visual arts class. Although the class is about expressing yourself, failure to balance cooperation with discipline may result in issues.

2 – Create a safe environment for self-expression

Students need to learn it’s okay to express themselves. Of course, this is always within reason. But fundamentally, you want to teach students how to express themselves in visual forms. And you can’t do that if they feel something inherently wrong with doing so.

Setting precedence for transparent and honest expression is important, so talking about things like feelings and intuitions is essential.

3 – Build a community

A sense of togetherness goes a long way towards improving the academic experience. This can be fostered by having students engage in group activities and work in pairs to solve problems and complete projects.

Community is essential, especially for classes that will be together for a year or longer. It’ll help create positive associations with the subject matter, keep students interested, and improve receptiveness to new learning material.

4 – Subtly teach students about research methods

We acknowledge that research can be pretty dull, but it’s such an essential skill that students will be able to apply for the entirety of their academic journey. Introduce the topic before an essay or theory-based assignment, and explain to students how they can gather the data they need.

Doing this will additionally set students in good stead for art school if this is something they would like to aim for.

5 – Provide practical skills needed for success

Visual arts is inherently practical as a large portion of assessment involves applying the subject matter. In addition, the subject can be rather therapeutic – it teaches students how to use art forms as self-expression.

Learning about art helps them recognise the beauty of life and better equips them as well-rounded individuals. In addition, the subject matter could set the foundation for several careers:

• Architect
• Photographer
• Cinematographer
• Fashion designer
• Graphic designer
• Art consultant
• Painter
• Special effects consultant

Visual arts covers a broad spectrum of material that gives students the opportunity to enter a variety of careers. Teachers are responsible for making the subject matter tangible and valuable for their students. Teaching visual arts to “get through the curriculum” will create uninspired students.

Always teach to make the learning material practical and applicable to day-to-day life. Where this isn’t easy to achieve, get creative with it. And don’t forget to teach students how to apply visual arts to their daily lives and personal growth – art schools love well-rounded students.

6 – Engage in constructive criticism

Many might say that art is subjective, but this is hardly the entire truth. For example, when we’re talking about the disciplines of different painting techniques, we see that there is an objective element that teachers can judge and consider.

Students must understand that they’ve “strayed from the beaten path,” so to speak. But they should gain this understanding by acknowledging what they’ve already done well and how they can improve.