The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
Dr. Susan Goetz Zwirn
Graduate Director of Art Education
Assistant Professor
Hofstra University
Hempstead NY, 11549
CATSGZ@Hofstra.edu
516-463-4976
Home address:
16 Dolphin Green, 2k
Port Washington, NY, 11050
Cell: 516-818-8831
Home: 516-467-4811
Research interests:
Artist/ Teacher Identity Issues
Arts Integrated Curriculum
Early Childhood Art Education
Art History in Art Education
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
Abstract
The art student who becomes an art teacher is expected to develop a professional role
concept. How he or she resolves aspects of this artist/teacher role concept have wideranging implications for the individual’s sense of efficacy and career satisfaction. This
paper examines an aspect of an in-depth interview study of art education students and art
teachers to ascertain how they make meaning of their artist and teacher roles. This study
found that the manner of reconciliation of these roles was dependent on opportunities for
professional development and the support systems to further it, role conflict resolution,
mentors and college preparation.
Introduction
Many art teachers originally train as artists. Consequently, many art teachers experience
contradictions in their career development that seriously impact the construction of their
professional identity as both art teachers and artists. Many find that the demands and rewards of
public school teaching can mitigate against the art teacher’s development as an artist. Because of
this role conflict, over time, some art teachers leave teaching to become professional artists,
while others give up their personal artistic production during their teaching careers. Inevitably,
there are some individuals who balance both careers of artist and teacher, and others who have
integrated artistic behavior as a model for teaching.
This paper examines a part of a study designed to learn how individuals who become K-12
public school art teachers reconcile (or not) the different, sometimes contradictory, education and
role concepts involved in the two facets of their career preparation: that of the artist and teacher.
The question is important; for the art student is educated to master techniques in order to foster
personal expression and encouraged to be indifferent to public opinion and true to personal
convictions and insights expressed through art. On the other hand, the prospective art teacher is
educated to serve public school students by making art accessible to everyone. The art student
eventually specializes to develop expertise in one or a few artistic media. The art education
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
student is taught how to present a broad range of media and numerous artistic orientations to and
convictions toward art. Thus, given their formative education, individuals who become K-12
public school art teachers might be expected to become teachers who are also artists. In the last
major national study of graduate art education programs, it was noted that the artist/teacher
model was one of the most prevalent theoretical bases for graduate art education programs in
America and Canada (Anderson, Eisner, McRorie, 1998).
This study tried to determine how art teachers, those in university pre-service teacher
certification programs and those who have experience in schools, perceive their roles as artists
and as teachers. What are the differences and similarities between the way the teachers and the
students understand their roles as artists and teachers? What is the connection between the two
senses of identity in their work as teachers?
Role Concept Theory
For over 30 years, psychologists and sociologists have written extensively on the
individual’s emerging sense of self and its relationship to career choice. The sociological
theory of role concept provides a revealing lens with which to examine the way teachers
see themselves in their careers because it highlights the immense influence, or power of
one’s social and professional environment. A role may be thought of as a set of
expectations applied to a person in a particular position in a social setting (Ashby, Cohen,
& Slater, 1969).
Role concept theory is primarily concerned with the influence of professional identity,
such as how becoming an art teacher or a professional artist might affect one’s behavior and selfimage. The cultural associations ascribed to artists and teachers have conferred different levels
of status on individuals within each group. Despite the fact that some artists’ work has been
denigrated by society within every historical period, time and re-evaluation have elevated the
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
status of some of these artists. Artists can gain comfort from many such historical precedents;
comforting themselves with the idea that the public is usually 100 years behind in their aesthetic
preferences. In time, their work may come to be seen as a contribution to their cultural heritage.
This sense of pride that contributes to the artist’s sense of his/her status may be derived from this
historical perspective or from a sense of themselves as special or gifted: a state of grace
emanating from childhood when parents, teachers, and peers recognized artistic talent.
The role of teacher is not, in American society, associated with the seemingly magical gifts
of artists. Due to their high visibility and work in institutional-like settings known to everyone,
teachers, as a group, lack the mystique of artists (Reitman, 1990). Despite this, Rittenbaugh
(1989) found, in his examination of art educators’ beliefs about their roles and status, that they
had a positive orientation toward their various roles in art education. However, they held more
positive images of artists than art teachers. Although art educators feel great satisfaction from
their positions, they do not feel that they have the esteem and prestige that they would like from
the educational community and the general community (Rittenbaugh, 1989).
To remain in a role in which individuals are exposed to conflicting prescriptions, they
achieve what role theorists call role-conflict resolution. A role conflict occurs when expectations
of roles are incompatible, or when the actor perceives the expectations as incompatible (Gross,
McEachern, & Mason, in Biddle & Thomas 1966). A role conflict arises when the performance
of one role conflicts with another. These issues are crucial to examine in order to understand
why some teachers burn out, others leave the profession, and others resolve conflicts and thrive
professionally and personally.
Teachers who Create, Artists who Teach
One view presented in the research literature is that an art teacher should not try to
combine the careers of teacher and artist in any substantial way. Korzenik (Brown & Korzenik,
1993) maintains that art teaching revolves around the desire to place art at the service of
children’s needs and interests in schools. She argues that the best teachers differentiate their
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
roles; teaching in the service of learners is always more important than pursuing one’s artwork.
She explains that it is unrealistic of art students to believe they can simply transport their studio
techniques to schools. Studio artists, solitary figures free to come and go and required to focus
on the direction of their own thoughts, are often at sea in schools in which they must “forfeit
control of their own time” (p. 109).
She advocates clearly for the teacher/artist model, in which
teaching is the clear priority (Brown & Korzenik, 1993). Reitman (1990) reinforces this notion
that at its highest level, teaching for the benefit of children will result in the greatest outcome for
both the children and the teacher: “Teaching artistically may be one of the all but forgotten
principal ways of living a self-actualizing life-by losing oneself in personally fulfilling work for
the benefit of others” (p. 26).
For some teachers who share Korzenik’s view that a successful art teacher must prioritize
teaching over personal art production, teaching itself is perceived as an art form, the primary art
form. Artistic behavior serves as the model for teaching. The term pedagogy is defined in
Webster’s New World Dictionary (1968) as “the art or science of teaching.” This concept has a
rather long tradition. Aristotle wrote in Metaphysics:
We regard understanding and comprehension as belonging to art more than to
experience, and we believe that artists are wiser than men of experience…. For men
of experience know the fact but not the why of it, but men of art know the why of it
or the cause…. Thus, master-artists are considered wiser not in virtue of their ability
to do something but in virtue of having the theory and knowing the causes. And in
general, a sign of a man who understands is the ability to teach. (Apostle, 1966, p.
13)
Other researchers confirm the view that there ought to be a clear separation between the
career of artists and teachers due to the nature of the demands on artists and the type of
personality traits they often display. In examining biographies and studies of artists, researchers
have found that certain traits emerge that seem inhospitable to classroom teaching, such as social
and physical withdrawal and isolation, introspection, self-absorption, and single-mindedness of
purpose (Getzels & Czikzentmihalyi, 1976; LaChapelle, 1991; Mayer, 1988).
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
An alternative opinion is that in order to be a good art teacher, one must be primarily an
artist who teaches, an artist/teacher. This view posits that personal creative output on the part of
the individual who teaches art is an absolutely critical criterion for teaching art to others (Ball,
1990; Staub, 1990; Szekeley, 1978; Wright, 1990).
What exactly does it mean to be an art teacher? Staub (1990) believes that students who
plan to study the arts require teachers who are professionals with ongoing experience of paid
artistic practice. A modified view of the level of professional accomplishment needed by art
teachers is that artistic expertise is critical for the art teacher, but continuous paid artistic
production is not necessary. Proponents of this perspective value the pedagogical ability of a
good teacher who is an asset in the education of all children, not only the most talented. Engel
(1976) points out that a great artist may also be “a patronizing elitist snob” (p. 5).
Method and Data Collection
In order to have a grasp on the “life” of the art teacher, this interview study included
individuals who spanned the continuum from undergraduate art education student to very
experienced art teacher. I interviewed four groups; each composed of six individuals . Each
group contained three males and three females. Group one was composed of undergraduate art
education majors at a mid-size, suburban university outside New York City, hereafter referred to
as Suburban University. Group 2 consisted of six graduate students attending their student
teaching seminar at a large university in New York City, hereafter referred to as Urban
University. Both groups of students were close to the completion of their art teacher education
and still imbued with high expectations to continue their personal artistic production.
The third group consisted of teachers who had taught art for a minimum of 5 years and a
maximum of 8 years’ experience. It was assumed that having taught art for this amount of time,
teachers would be fully cognizant of the demands of teaching and their desire and ability to also
create art. The fourth group consisted of art teachers who have been teaching for at least 20
years and for as much as 35 years.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
For the two groups of teachers, I employed two types of purposeful sampling. Glaser and
Strauss (1967), in their book on grounded theory, gave the label maximum variation to a widely
varying population. I used maximum variation sampling to mine and describe primary themes
that link as well a divide the participants’ experiences as art teachers. In addition, snowball,
chain, or network sampling was used. This involves asking participants to suggest other
participants. Patton (1990) writes that this method tends to produce cases that are informationrich and are good examples for study. The use of this method resulted in my being able to
include a few extraordinarily accomplished art teachers, in terms of their professional teacher
development or their being unusually articulate on the subjects under review.
Data collection occurred over a nine-month period from September 2000 to May 2001. In
order to gain an in-depth understanding of individuals constructing identities as artists and
educators, it was necessary to hold lengthy, individual interviews with participants (two to three
hours). The students were interviewed at their universities; the K-12 teachers were interviewed at
either the school where they teach or the studio or other space where they create art.
The four groups consisted of six individuals each, three males and three females, and were
questioned in depth about: 1) art teacher and artist college preparation; 2) perceptions of artist
and teacher roles; and 3) support systems that facilitated the pursuit of dual career goals. Data
analysis occurred in an ongoing manner throughout the interviews; the interviews were
transcribed and coded according to emergent categories as each interview was completed.
NVIVO† software was helpful in organizing categories.
In order to check for the consistency
and completeness of this categorization system and my utilization of it, I gave it to an
experienced practitioner for review. This individual is a university art education professor with a
doctoral degree, who has spent most of his career as a high school art chairperson and has also
created, exhibited and sold his art work on a regular basis.
† NVIVO is software designed to organize and analyze qualitative data.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
Research Question
1. How do art educators, those in university teacher certification programs and
those who have experience in schools, perceive their roles as artists and as teachers?
a.
What are the differences and similarities between the way these two groups
understand their roles as artists and teachers?
After a while, you’re touching kids’ lives and you’re creating at the same time. I’m
very grateful that I had the opportunity to do this. (Martin, exp*)
Findings
Role concept theory provided a lens to interpret responses to this research question. Role
theory, a sociological construct, emphasizes the power of the social and work environment and
how the individual is shaped by the roles of others and perception of his/her own role. Role
concept theory examines circumstances that affects groups of people (Biddle & Thomas, !966).
Analysis of the interview data suggests that the level of adjustment, satisfaction,
professional development, and the ability to fulfill goals in the dual careers of artist and teacher
is contingent on many factors. Among these factors are participants’ college preparation,
opportunities for professional development and the related support systems to facilitate it,
mentors, role conflicts, gender, and time. The results point to a realization that a successful
adjustment to both careers, for some, involves a gradual transformation of the goals and
satisfaction established during college years. These changes, evolving during the years of
teaching, involve a meaningful engagement with art, materials, but mainly with children.
Range of Satisfaction in Art Teaching Career
All of the experienced teachers expressed a strong sense of competence about their
teaching, conveying self-confidence that took many years to develop. This confidence enabled
them to put aside issues that loomed large in their early years of teaching--organization,
* Glossary: exp-experienced teacher, 20+ years; mc-mid-career teacher, 5-8 years; g- graduate student; ugundergraduate student.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
discipline, and classroom management--and concentrate on other attributes of teaching art-nurturing children, creativity, global perspectives on aesthetics and culture, even spirituality.
Some mid-career and experienced art teachers prioritize their role as an artist; others
prioritize their role as a teacher. Regardless of the primary role identification, all of these
teachers expressed satisfaction with their career choice for reasons both profound and mundane.
Experienced teachers Martin and Jerry convey this range of reactions:
Martin:
I think that we have a unique capacity to get in touch with a spiritual
side of ourselves and the kids we are with…. I try to come across to
kids, especially kids who are struggling, that there is something inside
that needs to come out … kind of like Michelangelo chipping away at
his marble. Every once a while you see light go on and this kid says
to himself, “Holy crow, I couldn’t believe that I could do this.”
Jerry held a more prosaic view: “I am happy with being a teacher. It has given me a good life. I
am going to have a hell of a pension.” Both of these experienced elementary school art teachers
have been able to pursue both roles: art teachers and artists. Jerry (exp) regularly exhibits his
mixed media constructions in Soho. Martin has a thriving practice painting murals in public
buildings. Both expressed the opinion that their renewed creative production was critical to their
professional satisfaction in both realms.
Mid-career teachers also expressed a strong sense of their satisfaction with their careers as
art teachers in spite of recognizing the lack of status afforded art teachers in their schools and in
society. “I love being a teacher…. I have a job that I enjoy. I feel like it is worthwhile.” These
comments are from a teacher who is pursuing a doctorate and receives a second income from a
financially successful career as a book illustrator. He acknowledges the lack of incentives for his
own development as an educator or as an artist from his school’s administration and recognizes
the precarious position of the arts in his school system, despite his efforts to develop a highly
visible program in the district. All of the experienced teachers and five of the mid-career
teachers expressed a high level of satisfaction with their career choice as art teachers.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
Professional Development as Artist and/or Teacher
Mary, a mid-career teacher, discusses, on the one hand, her enjoyment of working with
students but on the other decries the lack of time she has for her own artwork. Recently married
and a new homeowner, she cannot both teach and create. “When you are teaching in a public
school, full-time, that [art making] is not recognized at all. It is not validated in any way at the
school. You have to really do it on your own.” She believes that schools should value art
teachers as professional role models and provide the time and space for them to both teach and
create.
Jacob (exp) has developed professionally as an art teacher in a way that is unique among
his colleagues. Jacob has been deeply moved by historical events, particularly the Holocaust.
His historical and spiritual orientation has shaped his pedagogic mission with his high school
students. His goal is to make his students more humane through art. He has been recognized by
County, State and other professional educational organizations. Many teachers complain about
the lack of opportunity for professional development. Once they have achieved tenure, they
receive the pay increments available to all teachers as a matter of course. What distinguishes
Jacob, who has reached a point where he feels “absolutely satisfied” as an art educator?
Jacob:
When I walk into that school building, I know that this is not just a
job... that I’m there not just as a teacher, but as a confidant, a
supervisor. It’s a complete involvement, it’s physical, it’s emotional,
it’s intellectual, it’s spiritual. My product is a young person and who
walks away at the end of the day carrying a little part of me and I
guess that’s why I’m there.
Professional development can take many different forms, depending on whether one is
referring to a teacher or an artist. Below is an analysis of the interview data of two respondents
who reveal representative cases of two extremes: professional development as an art teacher and
professional development as an artist, while teaching full-time. One significant characteristic
that both career tracks share is their lack of an established structure, as can be found in most
business careers.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
One of these teachers, Janice (exp), is the President of her state’s art education
organization. She is committed to the development of better elementary school art teachers. She
brought:
the perspective of a parent wanting to establish an environment in schools that is
really pro-child…part of it was wanting something else to do besides just teaching in
the classroom. That was my creative outlet… It is an enormous amount of time and
effort It’s like working for a cause that you believe in.
Janice’s reputation has paved the way to new opportunities: she works in other districts as
a paid consultant to promote integrated curriculum, in addition to her full-time teaching position.
Much of her work is unpaid; it isn’t unusual for her to devote full weekends with other teachers
in the organization to design art curriculum. What drives her? “It is important work.” Janice
personifies Brown and Korzenik’s (1993) ideal that the best art teacher is one who teaches in the
service of learners, whose main goal should be the service of children’s needs and the interests of
schools.
The flip side of professional development here is revealed by what distinguishes an art
teacher who has prioritized the development of his professional art career. Charles (mc)
exemplifies such an individual, since he exhibits his work nationally and internationally, in
museums and galleries. His work is reviewed often and has been included in a dissertation
study. What is the role of a successful, young artist in New York City?
You have got to put yourself in a situation where things can happen … you have to
shake hands; it becomes a job… You see someone like Julian Schnabel who was just
able to market himself … it is a lot about P.R. I just think that administratively and
politically I’m operating with people who do not operate on my level. They do not
have the same concerns that I do.
He does not plan to remain a K-12 teacher.
Both Charles and Janice represent unusual cases of professional development compared to
other art teachers in this study. In terms of public achievement, the intensity of their
commitment, and the amount of time involved, these two individuals have bolstered their
professional roles entirely on time spent outside of their paid, teaching work environments.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
The teachers spoke about professional development from two perspectives: development
as art teachers and development as artists. Only two participants discussed development in terms
of a career ladder towards greater responsibility in administrative posts. Bennet (1987) found
that almost three-fourths of the 94 teachers in her study think of themselves as less promotion
conscious than other subject teachers. The art teachers in this study discussed teaching
satisfaction in terms of working with art materials and children in classrooms. They expressed
ambivalence about promotion to administrative positions. It is unclear if the ambivalence about
traditional school-wide administrative promotion is due to feelings of being a non-academic, low
status subject teacher with little chance of promotion or if art teachers are not interested in such
posts for other reasons. These other reasons may be, besides the loss of contact with children and
materials already cited, (1) art teachers thinking of themselves as different from other teachers,
(2) moving to an administrative post would result in greater loss of time that could be spent
creating art, (3) becoming an administrator would cause individuals to lose the sense of
themselves as art people, which may have already been compromised when they became
teachers. For almost all of the art teachers and art education students in this study, the term
“professional development” meant development as an artist.
Role Conflict
The divergent pull of two different educational preparations and career paths, those of
artist and teacher, can result in role conflict. Role conflicts arise when a person perceives the
expectations of a role incompatible (Biddle & Thomas, 1966). The artist/teacher conundrum is
rife with potential role conflicts. The mid-career teachers are particularly affected by this
performance role conflict
Experienced elementary school teachers (4) discussed the physical exhaustion of teaching
about 600 students per week. One teacher resolved this by completely giving up the artist role.
The other had no children at home and a very helpful partner who relieved him of repetitive
domestic responsibilities. All (12) of the experienced teachers discussed the conflicting
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
pressures that the two roles presented in the course of their teaching careers. However, these
experienced teachers expressed a sense of role conflict resolution. This success seems to be due,
in part, to their ability to prioritize their roles in a personally meaningful way. The ability to do
so is a critical component toward the attainment of the professional satisfaction previously
described.
Mary (mc):
I am a teacher, I am a wife, then it starts to get murky.
Mary has conflict both within her teaching role and between her roles of artist,
teacher, and wife. Mary’s experience conveys many facets of the role conflicts inherent in
the life of a mid-career, female art teacher. Her roles of teacher and wife do not permit her
the time or space to pursue painting. Her husband likes to see her paint, but does nothing
to lessen her other responsibilities so that she can paint. Her teaching role leaves her
conflicted because she does not feel that her artist role is validated in the school.
My perception of myself as an artist has deteriorated…. I am working in school and
my colleagues are teachers. I miss a lot of the vitality and excitement about painting
and working on art and seeing art and talking about art. So in a way I think that has
faded away.
Returning to the professional issues of Charles, the artist especially devoted to an
exhibition career discussed in the last section, highlights role conflicts that can be experienced by
an art teacher. He objects to non-teaching school activities: “The bullshit faculty meetings where
you talk about nothing and it wastes your time.” Engel (1976) points out that professional artists
may not have the proper temperament to be happy and successful teachers. Charles points to
what he maintains is the shortsightedness of school administrators who try to discourage him
from attending art world events (such as gallery installations and presentations) that he feels are
critical to his being a successful artist and teacher. LaChapelle (1991) discusses the singlemindedness of purpose that the life of a professional artist demands, which may run counter to
the demands of schools.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
An interesting question that arose during data analysis referred to the art teachers’ and art
education students’ role priorities: who considered their primary role to be that of an art teacher,
and who viewed their primary role as an artist? Their responses can be seen in Appendix B.
Status
Art education students and art teachers in this study universally viewed being an art
teacher as a low-status position within the school structure, within the broader society, and when
compared with the full-time status of professional artists. This may be due to several factors:
(1) The pervasive attitude in American society that art is a frill (Fowler, 1996).
(2) The high visibility of the art teacher in school depriving him/her of the mystique
surrounding artists (Reitman, 1990).
(3) The small number of art teachers who rise to administrative positions and are,
consequently, in decision-making roles (Bennet, 1987).
An interesting finding of this study is that in spite of recognition of diminished status,
when compared to other careers, and the disappointing view of schools as places that prevent or,
at least, discourage teachers’ artistic growth, art teachers are a satisfied lot. This study confirms
Ritenbargh’s (1989) finding that art teachers, in spite of feeling a lack of prestige from both the
educational and general community, had a positive view of their roles.
The satisfaction voiced by both experienced and mid-career teachers is particularly
surprising in light of their universally voiced view that art teachers lack status when compared to
other educators, and in comparison with artists:
Mike (mc):
An artist is seen generally as somebody who is special and probably
somebody who doesn’t have much money, but somebody who has a
more special status than a teacher
Jerry (exp):
Realistically, it is quite ambivalent … in my district art, music and
gym teachers provide contractual prep periods for the classroom
teachers.
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
Martin (exp): I introduce myself to people and I say, “I’m an art teacher,” and they
always ask, “In the high school?” and I say no, I teach little squirts …
there is a kind of twinge, like how tough can that really be…. If I were
to say, “Yes I’m a painter and I work in a loft in Soho,” people would
say, “Oh, wow.”
The art education students also perceived art teaching as a low status occupation. Jenna’s
(UG) boyfriend, in business, does not think that art teaching is challenging or important. Suzy, a
graduate student: “…parents of Asian Americans kind of look down on stuff like this. My mom
said that she thought I was doing higher education…. Either she doesn’t listen or doesn’t accept
it completely.” Reitman (1990) suggests that the high visibility of teachers who work in
institutional-like settings results in a lack of mystique, afforded by many, to artists. Everyone
knows teachers and knows that they must conform to certain routines, dress codes, and
behaviors. Artists, who generally work in isolation, are not seen as having any such restraints.
Support Systems
If art teachers don’t feel valued by the external world, many find support from those closer
to them.
Families. Family members often provided tremendous support for respondents when they
declared their decision to become art teachers. Common reactions were: “thrilled,” “couldn’t be
more supportive,” and “relieved.” There seemed to be a widespread fear among parents of art
students that a fine arts career would not result in a regular salary. This seemed to be particularly
the case among working or middle-class families. Three of the married men and one man in a
domestic partnership acknowledged their supportive wives/ partners, who encouraged them to
create art after school and on the weekends. Although the fathers in the study claimed that they
were “involved,” they said that their wives/partners assumed the primary responsibility for
childrearing and/or housekeeping. “There was never a time when she/he said, ‘When are you
going to come inside (away from art)?’”
The women also noted the involvement of the men/partners in their lives. To the women,
help was noted very concretely, specifically doing the dishes. Jen’s family gave her time to
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
paint: “Nobody says go wash the dishes.” Carrie (mc) sings her husband’s praises and notes that
he will do the dishes so that she can paint. Two of the men discussed leaving their studios to
meet the requests of their partners to participate in social life. The draw of solitary time in the
studio was most tempting. Researchers studying the lives of artists repeatedly note that the traits
of social and physical withdrawal for periods of introspection required for artistic productivity
are typical of artists (Getzels & Czikzentmihalyi, 1976; LaChapple, 1991; Mayer, 1988).
Schools
If families were the protective harbor of the practicing artist/teacher, schools were arid
wastelands if one was thirsty for support and encouragement as an artist, with one exception. All
but one of the art teachers in this study maintained that their schools did not care if they pursued
their personal artwork or not. In fact, some voiced the view that it was “safer” not to stand out as
a creative artist. The art teachers recognized that this pertained to other teaching disciplines as
well. There was a lot of complaint about the rigidity of school policy on two fronts: the ironclad scheduling decisions (1) inhibited professional development by discouraging teachers from
attending professional conferences or art exhibits, and (2) required them to teach large number of
students all day with no time built in for their own artistic work. Artistic production was seen as
an entirely private affair. Mid-career teachers in this study were most vocal in their complaint of
the regimentation in schools. The experienced teachers did not express much criticism. The
experienced teachers seem to try to minimize the negative aspects of the school by focusing on
their relationships with children and adolescents inside their classrooms.
Research Question 1a.
What are the differences and similarities between the way these two groups (art
education students and art teachers) understand their artist and teacher roles?
Fine Art Courses and Faculty
Most, but not all, of the experienced art teachers maintained that their college fine arts
studio courses provided them with the most significant preparation they had for teaching. They
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The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
said that an extensive familiarity with art materials and mediums not only gave them confidence
in the classroom, but enabled them to be flexible and spontaneous with different student
populations and inconsistent school budgets. These statements coincide with a body of research
that posits that the teacher’s development as an artist should be a primary goal of art teacher
preparation (Ball, 1990; Staub, 1990; Szelekey, 1978; Wright, 1990). These successful studio
courses provided what Weinberg (1988) describes as a basis for individual development and trust
in one’s art knowledge and intuition. However, Mike (mc), the art chairperson in his high
school, had a very different perspective. He was the only teacher who valued his education
courses (taken on a graduate level) over his undergraduate university fine arts courses:
Ed. classes that I found the most interesting were the ones directed towards more
general issues in education. There was more sense of a learning community and a
sense of people really trying to make a difference in terms of issues in education
with children, trying to have a vision.
He maintained that general education courses were even more important to his career than art
education issues. “Because you’re going to be all by yourself in a world of educators. There’s
not going to be another art educator in sight, probably.”
Four of the mid-career teachers referred to particularly good studio instructors in college
as mentors. Several studies point to the key role of faculty members in facilitating development
in college (Pascarella & Terezini, 1991). The word “respect” was used by both Carrie and
Lauren (both mid-career) to describe how the teachers they considered mentors treated them.
Just the women used this word, “respect,” to describe how their mentors treated them. In their
extensive study of education and identity issues, Chickering and Reisser (1993) found that
mentors had a key role in assisting students to clarify values and career goals. Carrie (mc): “I
had absolutely amazing teachers [college fine arts] … but I had three that were exceptional, that
mentored me. R.B. treated me with such respect, reverence…nurturing and loving.” Lauren
(mc): “The teachers in high school empowered me as a woman…I had teachers who treated me
with the same respect that they would treat professional artists.” Josselson (1987) found that
17
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
women whose career growth was seminal in their development had mentors who took a personal
interest in their careers and significant others who validated its importance.
Some fine arts professors came under scathing attacks. This criticism seemed to arise out
of the contention that some art professors did not prioritize or even address the teaching,
mentoring, or nurturing aspect of their role as college teachers. Instead they were seen as artists
who actually looked down on teaching. This may partially evolve from the pervasive
devaluation of the teaching profession emanating from art colleges (Bennet, 1987; Chapman,
1982; Madge & Weinberger, 1973).
Art education students clearly want to be able to make connections between their studio
courses and art education courses. Two of the more philosophical respondents, one
undergraduate and one graduate student, concurred that there should be a direct, explicit
relationship between their personal art production in their studio classes and the education
concepts that they were learning in their art education courses.
Max (g):
I feel that the theoretical part of the art program is very much kept
apart from the studio program. We should be taught to look at our
artwork in context with some of the theory that we learn…. There
should be some sort of dialogue between the two.
Jenna (ug):
Why not have a couple of art classes where I am creating, but it is an
art education class. I’m creating for myself, make it an art educators’
class.
Perceptions of Art Education and Education Courses and Faculty
Most of the art education students and art teachers were clear about what the nature
of their general education and art education courses should have been: (a) professors
present theory that is linked to practice and model it in their classrooms; (b) professors
should have some K-12 teaching experience and be aware of the current issues facing
teachers in schools; and (c) students in education programs in college should be grouped
with other art education students, not with students preparing to teach other disciplines.
18
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
Pascarelli and Terenzini (1991) found that the college students who reported the greatest
cognitive development also tended to believe that faculty were concerned with teaching
and student development.
The graduate students at Urban University seemed to have a greater appreciation
for the theoretical nature of their art education courses than did the undergraduates at
Suburban. Perry’s (1968) study of undergraduate college students is instructive in
identifying actual changes in ways of knowing and understanding that went beyond
learning course content as students developed through a continuum of four stages of
intellectual development toward a greater appreciation of theory and ambiguity.
The one
subject in their teacher preparation that both groups, students and teachers, agreed was
important in their college preparation was their study of the perceptual stages of
development in order to understand what children are capable of and interested in at
different ages.
Different Perceptions of Teacher Roles Relating to Children.
Only the art education graduate and undergraduate students spoke specifically
about children’s artwork. They were amazed by its innocence and inspired by “the energy
and brilliant ideas of the children.” The art teachers did not directly refer to children’s
artwork, but they surely spoke about children. In speaking about their primary goals as art
teachers, a progression emerged. The art education students spoke primarily about
stimulating expression and creativity; two also focused on multicultural goals that would
result in social change. The mid-career teachers primarily spoke about promoting an
engagement with materials and promoting expressiveness and creativity. Some of the
19
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
mid-career teachers and all of the experienced art teachers saw their primary mission in
broad, more philosophical terms, embracing cultural literacy, aesthetics, spirituality, a
sense of history, and gender equality. Both groups of art teachers were eloquent when
speaking about the nurturance of children that is a part of their roles as teachers.
Mike (mc):
[primary mission as a teacher?] Part of it is to be an example, a light
and a friend to students. Another part is cultivating a sense of
appreciation, bringing into their lives aesthetic experiences….
Donald (mc): I accept all those kids for who they are.
Martin (exp): I think that we have a unique capacity in this setting to get in touch
with a spiritual side of ourselves and the kids we are with. I can’t
come out in this setting and directly talk about that, not from a
religious connotation, obviously.
Mentors
This study confirmed research that points to the key role of faculty members in furthering
student development in college (Chickering & Reisser, 1993; Daloz, 1986; Kegan, 1994;
Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). As students move into career roles, faculty members had a great
deal of influence in facilitating, or not, the adaptation of occupational identities. Both male and
female teachers spoke poignantly about college art professors who treated them like colleagues
and the resultant confidence that this gave them in their ability and talent as artists. The respect
afforded them by these faculty members served as a model for how they would treat their own
students.
When we listen to the voices of the participants, we can hear that faculty members can do
more than influence; they can facilitate developmental change (Daloz, 1986; Kegan, 1994). A
supportive faculty member “gives permission,” “empowers” students to lay claim to burgeoning
or uncertain artist identities. One becomes an art teacher by completing a state- and universitymandated certification program. However, no such clear procedure exists to become an artist. In
light of the amorphous nature of considering oneself a member of the career path termed artist,
20
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
students particularly look to faculty members’ approval as a form of sanction, a mandate that
says, in effect, “you are good enough to be one of us.”
Conclusion
Role theory assumes that one’s performance develops out of the prescriptions and
behaviors of others. The demands of certain careers sanction conforming behavior (Biddle &
Thomas, 1966). The public school art teachers in this study complain of a lack of autonomy
while in school, a quality that is a critical component of career satisfaction.
Keeping in mind
that an individualistic personality is characteristic of the young artist, this suppression presents
particularly keen challenges for some art teachers. In light of the deterministic affect of public
school teaching on creative output, it is understandable why art teachers feel especially indebted
to outside support in order to create art. Mid-career teachers in this study were most vocal in
their complaint of the regimentation in schools. The experienced teachers did not express much
complaint. One is left to wonder if this difference is due to greater conformity and resignation
due to the demands of the role over time or if experienced teachers have found ways to ignore
the unpleasant or mundane aspects of school routine. The experienced teachers seem to try to
minimize the negative aspects of the school by focusing on their relationships with children and
adolescents inside their classrooms. These experienced teachers were most likely of all the
educators interviewed to claim an artist/teacher identity.
It is clear that simply promoting an artist teacher model for art education students is
inadequate to develop artist/teachers. University teacher education programs could provide
logistical advice, perhaps offered in an “exit course,” of how experienced artist teachers have
balanced dual careers. These programs could offer opportunities for students to come together as
artists, providing time and space for students to share and exhibit their artwork. Diverse models
of art teachers, such as the “artful” teacher, might be presented to students. Faculties from
education departments need to have a strong liaison with faculty in fine arts departments for the
benefit of students. This study uncovered a lack of communication between fine arts and
21
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
education departments for undergraduate students. Faculties for the two departments need to
meet as artistic educators who are preparing artistic educators, seeking common ground to
mentor students. It is important for faculty to recognize their power in affecting student
affiliation with prospective art teaching and artist careers.
This study revealed ways in which individuals adapted to and garnered meaning from the
artist and teacher roles in their lives. The emergent issues that shaped these roles were:
satisfaction of art teaching career, role conflict resolution, professional development and support
systems, and status. Sub-question 1a, which focused on how students and experienced teachers
view their roles differently, revealed different perceptions of college preparation and
relationships to children,
The art teachers in this study maintain that they view their professional development
mainly as artistic development. They saw this as an important, yet personal matter that was of
little or no interest in the schools where they taught. The support system that participants
considered to be the most critical to facilitate the development of both artist and teacher roles
was the family. Schools and colleagues played a minor, or non-existent, part in participants’
ability to pursue the dual roles of artist and teacher. Almost all of the participants in the study
believed that art teachers should create art to be good art teachers. They expressed the view that
making and teaching art were parallel activities that complement each other. It appears that in
spite of the power, influence, and constraints of role, some art teachers seem to resist
socialization by maintaining a strong sense of their artist selves, whether in an idealized state or
in actuality, or in viewing teaching as an art form. Whether this is due to strength of identity in
artistic people or points to the weakness in the theoretical assumptions of role concept theory is
unclear.
We are often accused of isolation in our respective academic worlds. This study suggests
several areas for future research. Are we preparing art students for idealized art teaching
positions that we wished awaited them upon graduation? How do we socialize our students in
college? Are we providing them with a realistic and resilient sense of themselves as artists and
22
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
teachers, prepared to teach in public schools for a public that may be indifferent to the arts? Are
we inadvertently preparing fine artists who become art teachers to conform to standards-driven
schools or to become leaders in a move toward authentic models of learning and assessment?
What can we learn from art teachers who leave teaching? Are we providing students with sound
theoretical models that will serve them throughout long teaching careers?
References
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education. London: MacMillan
Astin, A. (1993). What matters in college? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ball, L. (1990, January). What role: artist or teacher? Art Education, Va.: National Art
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Bennet, C. (1987). Art teachers’ careers and career perception. Unpublished doctoral thesis,
University of Oxford, England.
Biddle, B. J., & Thomas, E. J. (1966). Role theory: Concepts and research. New York: Krieger.
Brown, M., & Korzenik, D. (1993). Art making and education. Chicago: University of Illinois
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Chapman, L. (1982). Instant art, instant culture: The unspoken policy for American schools.
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Chapman, L., & Newton, C. (1990, September). Teacher Viewpoint Survey: The results and
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Chickering, A. W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco:
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Daloz, L.A. (1986). Effective teaching and mentoring: Revealing the transformational power of
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Engel, M. (1976). The continuing education of teachers of the arts. Art Education, 29(5), 4-9.
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Getzels, J. W., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1976). The creative vision: A longitudinal study of
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Appendix A
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR ART TEACHERS
Background Questions
Before getting into the subject of this interview, I’d like to ask you some general background
questions.
1.
Please describe your formal education since high school.
2.
What were your major area(s) of study?
3.
About how many credits (if you recall) were you required to take in art courses? Education
courses?
4.
Can you please share with me your age?
5.
How do you describe your occupation?
6.
Do you recall a time when you first thought of yourself as an artist?
7.
Can you provide me with a general employment history pertaining to teaching art?
Thank you for providing me with this history. Now I’d like to ask you questions about your
career and professional education.
8. When and why did you decide to become an art teacher?
25
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
9.
Please describe your experience in the Education Department. Classes? Faculty? How
classes are taught?
10. How would you characterize the teaching approaches in the studio courses at your
university? Faculty?
11. Can you describe a typical relationship with an arts professor?
12. Did your college experience change in any way when you became an art education student?
13. Explain if you think there is a relationship between creating art and teaching art.
14. In what ways do you find these pursuits similar? Different? Are different talents and
abilities involved?
15. What do you think is your primary mission an art teacher?
16. Do you think that your gender was in any way a factor in your career choice?
17. Do you think that you received any career guidance or advice based on perceptions about
gender?
18. What was or is your primary mission as an artist?
19. How do you feel that your studio courses prepared you to be a teacher? An artist?
20. As a university student, did you plan to continue your career as an artist after you became a
teacher? If so, how did you consider that you would accomplish this?
21. Do you feel that your college studio instructors reacted the same or differently to majors in
the arts than to majors in art education?
22. How did your pre-service program match your expectations?
23. How does the artistic philosophy that you developed as an artist affect your philosophy of
teaching or education? Does it affect your actual teaching approach?
24. What do you believe is the status associated with being an art teacher? An artist?
25. Are you comfortable with your change from art to art education?
26. How did the important people in your life react to your decision to become an art teacher?
27. Do you have any ambivalence about your decision?
28. What are your thoughts and feelings about being an art teacher?
26
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
29. Have you continued creating art since you began teaching?
30. Describe this production in terms of quantity and quality.
31. About how many hours a week do you create art?
32. Have you exhibited or sold your work? Please describe.
33. Where do you create art?
34. How successfully did your education prepare you for the rigors of teaching?
35. How do you perceive the artist/teacher issue at this point in your career?
36. How important is it for an art teacher to produce his or her own art?
37. Would your answer be the same for an English teacher (to write) or a music teacher (to
perform)?
38. How has your sense of yourself and your professional role as an artist and teacher changed
during your teaching career?
39. What circumstances have aided or limited your ability to create art?
• role of family with which you presently reside (if your parents or siblings help
you, explain)
• role of school in which you teach
• role of community where you presently live
40. To what extent do you consider yourself to be a “transmitter of knowledge, traditions and
culture” to your students or “a spark to creative thinking and innovation”?
41. How has your sense of yourself changed since you became an art teacher?
42. Do you plan to remain an art teacher? Do you feel that you made the right career choice?
43. Can you offer any advice to art teacher educators?
44. Can you offer any advice to art education students?
45. Can you offer any advice to art students?
46. Would you like to elaborate on any of your answers?
27
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
47. Do you have any other thoughts to share on these issues?
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR ART EDUCATION STUDENTS
Background Questions
Before getting into our subject, I’d like to ask you some background questions.
1.
Where have you attended college?
2.
At what point are you in your studies? Have you completed any student teaching?
3.
What have been your major area(s) of study?
4.
How many art credits or courses have you taken?
5.
Will you take more?
6.
How many education credits or courses have you taken?
7.
Can you please share with me your age?
8.
Were you working before attending college (since high school)?
Thank you for providing me with this personal information. Now, I’d like to ask you questions
about being a teacher and an artist.
9. Do you recall a time when you first thought of yourself as an artist? When and why did you
decide to become a teacher?
10. Do you think that gender was in any way a factor in your career choice?
11. Do you think that you received any career guidance or advice based on perceptions about
gender?
12. How would you characterize the teaching approaches in the studio courses at your
university?
13. Can you describe a typical relationship with an arts professor?
14. Did your college experience change in any way when you became an art education student?
15. Please describe your experience in the Education Department. Classes? Faculty? How
classes were taught?
28
The Teacher-Artist Model: The Reconciliation of Role
16. Do you plan to continue creating art when you become a teacher? If not, why not?
17. Explain if you think there is a relationship between creating art and teaching art.
18. In what ways do you find these pursuits similar? Different? Are different talents, thinking,
feelings and abilities involved?
19. What do you think will be your primary mission as an art teacher?
20. What was or is your primary mission as an artist?
21. How do you feel that your studio courses prepared you to be a teacher? An artist?
22. How do you feel that your education courses prepared you to be an art teacher?
23. Do you feel that your college studio instructors reacted the same or differently towards
majors in the arts than majors in art education?
24. How did your pre-service program line up with your expectations?
25. How does the artistic philosophy that you developed as an artist and/or art student affect
your philosophy of teaching or education?
26. What do you believe is the status associated with being an art teacher? An artist?
27. Are you comfortable with your change from the arts to art education?
28. How did the important people in your life react to your decision to become an art teacher?
29. Do you have any ambivalence about your decision?
30. What are your thoughts and feelings about becoming an art teacher?
31. How important is it for an art teacher to produce his or her own art?
32. Would your answer be the same for an English teacher (to write) or a music teacher (to
perform)?
33. Would you like to elaborate on any of your answers?
34. Do you have any other thoughts to share on these issues?
29