Margaurita Spear, Art Teacher

About Margaurita Spear, Art Teacher

As my students’ primary teacher, I’m committed to providing them with the opportunity to explore a variety of approaches to art-making, while also cultivating the skills they need to become independent learners. I strive to create a classroom environment where students can take risks, make mistakes, and find their own creative voices. I believe in allowing students to own their learning by providing them with the tools, resources, and guidance to make their own choices in the art studio. In doing so, I have found that my students gain confidence and become problem solvers. By placing student autonomy at the center of my teaching approach, I am committed to creating an environment where my students can explore, create, and grow as art makers and critical thinkers. I believe this is the best way to ensure that my students develop the skills needed to be successful in the 21st century.

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Preschool Art

Once I began teaching in my own art classrooms, I became more and more aware of other teaching pedagogies, such as Differentiated Learning, Reggio Emilia and Montessori. The similarity among these that most resonated with my instincts as a teacher was the emphasis placed on the learner. Then, I discovered Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB), which is an approach that began in the art classroom. I immediately recognized aspects of what I had been slowly incorporating in my own teaching in this philosophy and that there was overlap between this and the other pedagogies mentioned. Learning more about TAB was a validating experience.

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Elementary School Art

Teachers who embrace TAB fall on a spectrum. There is a range of student choice from limited to full. I am somewhere in the middle and that varies depending on the needs of the students I teach as well as the resources available to me. My students thrive with choices, but sometimes when they are learning a new skill, they have to put in the work to demonstrate some mastery before applying the new skill to their own ideas. That being said, even technical skill building exercises become opportunities for exploration, experimentation, and understanding how artists work in the real world. Artists, even the best ones, have to practice. It's part of the creative process.

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Middle School Art

When considering the creative process, I have come to realize that not all art that a student artist makes has to be polished or pretty. Sometimes it may be messy or unidentifiable and that is okay. Each attempt is an opportunity for growth. For my students and for myself education is a journey.

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