"Good morning to the artists!" Katherine Douglas is captured by documentary film makers Ben and Earl Powell greeting her students at the beginning of the school day. Children enter her classroom and begin preparations for art-making. Katherine's principal George Frye elucidates on the TAB art program in his school, "This is where the foundation is established. Individuality can be lost along the way. I think it is very important to recognize we are individuals. We're not making robots here."
"Teaching for the Creative Spirit" was filmed at Central School, East Bridgwater, Massachusetts in 2001. This documentary film showcases children's art education learning activities inside Katherine Douglas' TAB classroom. Katherine tells her students, "Artists are people who build things and make things about what's on their minds and about what they are really interested in."
When doing the work of the artist, children become intentional about the curriculum activities they are engaged with. In so doing, all kinds of mental processes take place, including imagining, conceptualizing and organizing. Artists do all kinds of executive thinking functions. Katherine understood to achieve these educational goals the curriculum must be open to choice.
In her early days while organizing a summer art camp, Katherine's mentor David Frazer asked her why she was controlling the children's project outcomes. He suggested to Katherine that she teach the children how to handle drawing and painting materials and allow the unfolding of their art ideas to begin afterward. That conversation has guided Katherine in her development of TAB. As we continue to watch "Teaching for the Creative Spirit," we can see the fruits of Katherine's labor.
TAB remains a simple curriculum concept. Make materials and tools accessible. Develop studio learning centers. Engage children with inspiration, time-sensitive instruction, individualized support and patience. Let the children lead their learning.
This blog post created with permission and inspired by Katherine Douglas.