teaching as a form of art

When I was asked to enroll for education after my high school, I was very upset. I love ‘the arts’ and I planned to pursue my studies in the artistic field. I was forced to, and I forced myself to love this course. However, after almost 4 years doing this, I realized that I am starting to love teaching. Surprisingly, I now believe that teaching is a form of art as both is subjective and inspiring. There is no specific right and wrong answer to both. For example, teachers can have various styles of teaching and still be highly effective. It is just like when I am painting. I have to plan what I want to draw, have a purpose – scenery, portrait or anything. Then, I will try various ways to paint on the canvas: watercolours, soft pastel or try the wet on wet method. While doing it, I stop and reflect on the process and continue until I manage to produce a painting that will communicate the story behind it and inspire people around me. Based on my readings and experiences both in Malaysia and Australia, my art work shares many similarities with teaching; a lesson plan is required before teaching as it will determine the flow of the lesson. Then, I have to identify the key concepts, objective of the lesson and ways of doing it. Next, is to do it. I will definitely try various ways to teach and manage the classroom from behaviour management to communication strategies. All the theories and methodologies will come very handy at this point. Realizing the importance of reflecting in my teaching practices, I will then reflect on my own teaching and evaluate my performances to ensure better teaching strategies in the future. This, of course, could be positive or negative, however, I will continue teaching as I believe a good teacher inspires and helps shape a better world. I have now started to love teaching. I learn incrementally everyday about teaching and how I can make myself a better teacher from the experiences gained from the discussion with people around me and school visits.