What An Art Teacher Taught Me About Literacy

This is my dear friend, Rosemarie Gidaro. She is the head of Arts of St. Jean de Brebeuf CHS in our Board. I've known Rosemarie for about 13 years, since I was 17 and a student at another high school where she taught. I thought it was a great twist of fate that a former teacher would become a colleague from whom I would learn a great deal.



What I learned from Rose is the importance of self-authentification. She pushes students to be honest in their work so that their true voice emerges in their work, regardless of the medium they are working in or the subject matter. It seemed to me that this was most important and that skill would develop along the way so long as what the students were doing was meaningful and authentic to and for them. It's what keeps students engaged and motivated. When I had transitioned to the secondary panel, I think I got it all wrong. For me, skill was paramount and once there was a certain level of mastery, then students could use those skills in a variety of application. Even though she runs a very well-structured program, Rosemarie affords her students a great deal of freedom and it allows them to develop their voice, be it on canvas, in clay or through the lens of a camera. Skill is learned in context and the student voice is made more clear and precise along the way. Art is a highly metacognitive exercise and students obviously benefit from reflective and reflexive practices. It refines skills and instills a sense of pride in one's work. Surely, this is what we need to be doing across all areas of the curriculum as far as the teaching of literacy is concerned.

I have come to define literacy a little differently as far as the needs of the 21st century go. Literacy, I believe, is about interpreting and participating in a means of expression. Simple. Highly interpretive. I think these two points are critical for the kids we teach these days. Whether they go onto the study the arts at the post-secondary level, Rosemarie's students are quite proficient in their ability to talk not only about their work, but others' as well because of the deliberate emphasis of developing one's true voice as a vehicle for skill development. What is in demand in this marketplace are individuals who can be creative and original, making something new out of pre-existing knowledge. In order for anyone to be able to do that, one needs to have a firm grip on his or her authentic self and a refined and proficient use of skill, regardless of using a laptop computer, pen or paintbrush.