BVIII - In the days of my youth

I was told what it means to be a man,
Now I've reached that age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can.
No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam.
Good Times Bad Times - Led Zeppelin

Not that I was told what it means to be a man specifically, but I was told what it means to grow up... rather that I needed to always grow like the milk ads tell me to do: 'Always grow. Grow all ways. Never Stop. Milk'

Reflect on the studio work you have done this semester. Which experiences did you find the most successful, in terms of Dewey's criteria of a "good" experience, and why? Which experiences did you find least successful, again according to Dewey's criteria, and why? What have you learned about art and learning? What would you still like to learn? How does the art educator respond to the individual needs of the learner while ensuring the continuity of experience?

I feel that though the studio work for this semester has been geared towards children, my group specifically addressing five to seven year-olds, it gave me a nice sense that there's always something you can learn from your inner child. In a sense, I feel we're all just children thinking that we've grown up when really, we're always growing so we're never actually 'grown up'.

Deciding what the most successful and the least successful seems difficult to me. According to Dewey's criteria of what a 'good' experience focuses on a 'bigger picture' methodology. Though he does believe in setting effective and valuable short term goals, he believes a teacher needs to take account for the students past and present experiences, environment, and skill to make the student aware of the constant growth needed in their art education, education in general, as well as their life. To me, I feel that if the instructor has the ability to give the guidance a student needs, whether or not it's successful is up to me as a student to determine. Though there is the romanticism that a good teacher will be able to always help a child in need - there is the fact that the student has to be willing to accept the guidance given to them.

Thus, I feel, for me and the student age the lessons that were given in our group, that all of them were successful. Successful in the sense that it allowed for a freedom and understanding that there is always room to grow, yet a structure that guides the students to understand where their short term goals at their developmental stages - and in the art room, freedom to create and constantly grow as creative artists.