Reasons for Teaching

It can be tricky to put into words something that wasn't entirely a verbal decision.

After working in industry for a few years with computers, installing networks, managing software and servers, I felt like I had gotten away from something personal, and that an underlying purpose that had supported me through the years had been pulled under my feet. Looking back through the years, the two components that had been missing in my work-life could be summarized in two words: art and people.

Throughout grade-school, art was naturally my favorite subject and the area I excelled the most in. I was fascinated at the opportunity to express myself in the projects, to have the power to make decisions in how the project would turn out, and how each student achieved different results. When studying other subjects, I would often have a hard time resisting doodling in my notebook, sometimes to the detriment of learning, but other times to my benefit. A specific memory that stands out involves drawing an intricate model of how water moves through the rain cycles and river networks during middle school science, where my teacher was upset that I hadn't been paying attention. In reality, my notes were extremely comprehensive, to me at least, although much of them were non-verbal. Years later, when taking a college geology course, I remember being delighted to learn that much of our notes, and even some of our assessment, would be done through geological drawings, as this had become a normalized way of displaying knowledge in the geological field.

In the spirit of recollections like these, I've made the decision to commit to becoming an art teacher. Some of the reasons are selfish - I want to work in an art related field again, to work face-to-face with people, and to establish meaningful connections and memories in my daily work rather than simply troubleshoot technological malfunctions. Some of my reasons are more social and institutional; I want to increase arts advocacy, help create spaces for visual and creative people to build their skills and grow, and to promote visual, wholistic, and creative problem solving in education. For me, it's difficult not to view it through the lens of my own grade-school experience, to recognize the parts of school that I valued most as a child, and to expand them as much as I can.