Linda Dempsey

Teaching Philosophy

Maintaining one’s artistic nature while teaching art should be an important aspiration for art educators today. Having the ability to harmonize one’s creative powers through teaching art and making art is a competence that each art teacher would benefit by cultivating. In doing so, we teach through example; that a powerful way to grow as an artist and a human is to continuously reflect, thoughtfully respond, and in our own way, creatively transform the world we live in. 

Art  broadens the scope of student thinking, and while teaching students to make art, about the history of art and how to analyze and critique works of art, I also create lessons focused on the importance of community involvement and awareness of the world around us, exposing students to as much art as possible and the multitude of ways to creatively express oneself.   

Knowing my students, their abilities, and the variety of ways they may learn and create helps me to differentiate instruction by modifying teaching strategies and assessments based on the individual students needs and abilities. Using a variety of formative and summative assessments individually or in groups, helps students to talk about their work and that of their peers while providing valuable feedback to me for future lessons. 

Setting consistent expectations for students to refer to can be done with classroom management plans and rubrics for grading. Students also fill out self-evaluation worksheets that ask open-ended questions about the lesson, giving valuable feedback for future planning. 

My students inspire me to be a better artist and educator, and to continually strive to balance my teaching career with my personal practice.

“Painting and art making are another form of thinking” Gerhard Richter