About Me
I am a trained and practicing artist, musician, audio engineer and graduate of a Masters in Teaching at Melbourne Graduate School of Education. I exhibit visual artworks regularly and maintain a studio practice. I also work as a musician and producer, writing, recording and releasing music.
I have enjoyed a long-running creative career in the above fields, and now share my extensive experience and expertise as an educator. I approach my teaching practice with enthusiasm and dedication, I have high aspirations for my students and enjoy seeing them thrive.
I believe Arts Education is an area where creative problem solving and meaning making can originate. The skills formed in these classes are skills that serve to help students across all areas of their studies and lives. With my breadth of experience and knowledge, I am committed to delivering a comprehensive and accessible manner of applying the arts in education.
As an Artist~Teacher~Researcher I aim to bring my skills into the classroom, working in tandem with students as co-learner (Freire, 1970). I believe that the creative process which the Melbourne Declaration (2008) states is fundamental to the growth of future learners of Australia is best accessed through Dewey (1933)'s notion of play, that experimentation within a material practice results in discovery. I also incorporate the writings and findings of Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi as concerns artistic flow. Another major influence on my teaching is Rick Rubin who holds that the artwork will guide and inform the artist.
My classroom is a place that is never wholly disconnected from the art and design worlds but one that functions as a third space.This site is one that will continue to grow and update as I continue to explore and recreate my identity as artist-teacher-researcher.
This website provides an overview of my work as an Artist -Teacher- Researcher. It includes artwork by my students (deidentified), my own artwork and that of my peers from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Using the triform theme of SITE (place), SIGHT (observation) and CITE (research), I explore an approach to teaching Visual Arts and Design in Secondary Schools that prioritises the experience of art making, and the creativity of the students, working alongside them as co-learners and maintaining strong ties with the Art and Design Worlds outside of educational institutions.
Bibliography
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we Think. Boston: D.C., Heath
Kirlew, S., (2011), ‘But when are they going to produce some artwork?’ Against Pastiche: Issue-Based Art and Authorship within the Key Stage 3 Curriculum iJADE 30.3, NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008.) (MCEETYA) The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, Canberra: Commonwealth. Retrieved from: http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf
Olson, B., (2016) Tensions in the Third Space: Examining the Digital Visual Culture of Teenagers Visual Arts Research, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 8-21 Published by: University of Illinois Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/visuartsrese.42.1.0008
Rubin, R. (2023). The Creative Act ([edition unavailable]). Canongate Books
Smilan, C. (2016) Developing Visual Creative Literacies Through Integrating Art-Based Inquiry, The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 89:4-5, 167-178, DOI: 10.1080/00098655.2016.1170463