Teaching is an artistic activity

I’ve always loved teaching– I find it to be mysterious, creative, and beautiful. Elliot Eisner (eloquently) puts words to my own experience:

“Teaching is an activity whose [best] efforts result in what the fine arts are intended to provide: a heightened consciousness and aesthetic experience. “

“Teaching is an artistically pervaded activity. It provides a deep sense of aesthetic experience to both perceiver and actor when it is well done. It requires the teacher to pay attention to qualitative nuance [and] to attend to matters of composition. It requires flexibility in aims and the ability to exploit unforeseen opportunities.”

When we teach, we meet life. My love for teaching grew as I realized that at my best, I was a LEARNER with my students. In fact, I was a better teacher when I held that position.

I believe teaching is a sacred calling. Peter Kingsley said, “The teacher is a point of access to something beyond the teacher.”

~ Elliot Wayne Eisner (1933-2014) was a professor of Art and Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and was one of the United States’ leading academic minds.