Independence, with Support - Part II

One of the biggest draws of choice-based pedagogy is the goal and the dream of independent students setting and working towards their own artistic goals. This powerful vision for learning is entirely possible. The most successful teaching strategy I’ve found to support my high school student’s success is making the possibilities for art-making really, really clear. Knowledge of what “work” in the studio and how to use the studio is empowering, while lack of understanding makes choice-making overwhelming.

To teach my students the possibilities for studio work, I teach them four types of work I’ve defined. There are LOTS of choices inside these categories, but the structure makes it manageable for students.

I’ve written more about these types of work here, and the awesome (I think!) Google form I created to help students think through their ideas and plan for work. However, I’m interested in incorporating more tech-free teaching methods, so I made physical forms for students to fill out. I’ll print them and have them ready to use, then ask students to discuss their plans with me before they start work.

Images of the forms are below and here is the link to my Canva file that you can use and modify.