TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

As an educator, I find it paramount that my students are not only capable of creating, but of questioning as well. While I may present them with a methodology, I find it is vital to their success as creatives to be able to craft work they derive from their own experiences, not through formula or imitation. In animation in particular, I find that the growth of knowledge and skill go hand in hand.  By teaching industry standards alongside exploratory techniques, I aim to empower my student’s confidence in their own concepts and abilities, to feel comfortable with researching to bolster them, and to garner the capacity to adapt as they grow as artists. The success of this aim can be answered by asking at the end of a semester, “Have they pushed their own boundaries?”

My evaluation and assessment strategies are continually evolving, as I do not find grading to have a positive effect for those in the Arts. I am influenced by educators like Susan Brookhart and Alphie Kohn, as well as my own education at California Institute of the Arts, which did not assess via grading.  I believe grading can lead towards a stifling of creative output that enables a student to pursue “extrinsic rewards”  , over the advancement of their personal curiosity or building a sustained thirst for self-improvement. However, assessment does not always go hand-in-hand with grading, per-se, and thus I continue to pursue methodologies that bridge the need for grades-based assessment with more holistic methods. My current methodology consists of blending rubric-based evaluation of Course Objectives, supplemented by exploratory practical tasks such as Warm-Ups that are evaluated solely on completion.

I emphasize honesty and straight-forward review of a student's work when we engage in critique. This can be a bit shocking, especially to younger students unfamiliar with peer-review, but I like to encourage a Critical Response Process, given to build each student up and not undercut. It is vital to give feedback that highlights what is effective in the students’ work, but also touches on what needs improvement. I focus on the successes in the piece, and how it could be improved. I then pose questions to understand and clarify intent. Doing this fosters opportunities for the students to understand that they should have reasoning for their artistic decisions, and to help them begin to voice them.

My instruction itself utilizes  a combination of presentation, demonstration, and a period for application. I engage my students through open, opinion and choice-based questions to create more collaborative presentations.  I find posing questions, instead of offering solutions and answers, to be most effective in uncovering their initial instincts. Afterwards we participate in discussion around their ideas. Then I supplement or correct their knowledge through examples or direct demonstrations on techniques that students may apply to their work. I employ timed weekly “Warm-Ups” for them to do in the Lab. These usually relate to their current assignment and serve as a visual puzzle and foundation for the assignment. Alternatively, it creates an opportunity for non-committal experimentation. My goal is for the students to get comfortable exploring a new concept and taking risks. I choose to use a limited time-span to warm-up- 10 minutes or less- so that they can begin to recognize their artistic reflexes over time. Through assignments I use a step-method for learning course objectives by successively building on top of students’ previous work. Through the use of stepped-learning, they can engage in the work by identifying their personal vision first in pre-planning. As they progress, I create more complicated situations, so that students can lay the bricks of previous knowledge upon a core foundation.  I aim to reinforce their creative ingenuity, problem-solving, and technical prowess while also providing an opportunity for them to create something they can display in their demo reels or professional portfolio.

I employ my background as an artist-activist by bridging conversations in the classroom around inclusivity and identity. I use women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists and their work as examples during my presentations to contextualize and foster discussion about the past and present in the field of animation. Approaching these topics is important to me as an educator. I showcase the foundations of animation, discussing the early advancements and past erasure of marginalized groups, and begin to shift the dynamic of the classroom to one that prioritizes safety and bravery, and  engages in diverse representation and thinking. These are lessons for how students can advocate for themselves, regardless of their identity or background.

I teach for the reward of the nearly-audible CLICK I witness in my students. To see them go from struggling and unmotivated, to invigorated and victorious over a concept that they can now wield at their will is energizing. I teach because I enjoy contributing, as cheerleader and as a mentor, to the excitement and joy that each student encounters when overcoming a hurdle in the rise to their next plateau.