Maryland Art Education Association

Yesterday I attended the Maryland Art Education Association Conference. The theme wass Game Changers: Collaboration, Play and the search for New Ideas. The highlight of the conference for me was the Keynote speaker Cindy Foley. She has an amazing TED talk which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcFRfJb2ONk

Notes I took during her speech:

Ask yourself: “What is the purpose of art education?”

We want to develop learners who develop thier own ideas

Books to read: George Szekely- From Play to Art George Szekely- Encouraging Creativity in Art Lessons

Students need

• Critical thinking

• Problem Solving

• Innovative and creative thinking

21st century jobs are different than 20th century jobs

• People hold 10-15 jobs instead on 1-2 in their lifetime

• Employees need to develop mastery is many rapidly changing fields

• Globally competitive

As a result education needs to be learner centered and self directed so that students know how to adapt to changing times

Kids need to play

• Curisosity

• Reflection

• Persistence through failure

Artist are not in the pursuit of answers. They are in the pursuit of questions.