Submitted by Jillian St.Aubin My Teaching Metaphor Submitted by Jillian St.Aubin

My teaching metaphor Teaching is like painting on a blank canvas

My educational goal To help guide and influence students to become life long learners and critical thinkers.

An artist is a person that spends their life making creative pieces of work that often make the world around them look at something using critical analysis. Artists are responsible for taking a blank canvas and making a significant contribution to the world of art that will hopefully influence the world for a long time.

Teachers, like artists, are taking their blank canvas which is the student, and are essentially creating a masterpiece. Students take in the knowledge and life lessons that the teacher preaches, and it effectively will stay with them for the rest of their lives and help them become successful adults. Teachers are designing the student to become life long thinkers and learners. Like artists, teachers become invested in the growth and care of their work, and help to guide it in the right direction.

Kim (2012), discusses that “There are predetermined roads and children are supposed to follow the directions of their teachers to move from previous destination to other destination on the journey to their final goals” (Kim, 7)

What outside factors influence “painting on a blank canvas?”

Artists often look at the significant world around them for inspiration. Teachers must take into consideration the student’s life outside of school for the most successful results; such as family and interests. Teachers and parents are like co-artists. Parents entrust their children with teachers for usually 6 hours a day to help in the guidance and growth of their children. Teachers and parents must work together to paint the complete picture.

Often the older art gets, the more significance and value it gains. The student, as they get older, will build off of the concrete knowledge that has been bestowed upon them by their past educators, and critically analyze the facts in front of them that will ultimately help them become life long learners.

references Kim, M. (2012). European Journal of Teacher Education. Cultural–historical Activity Theory Perspectives on Constructing ICT-mediated Metaphors of Teaching and Learning, iFirst Article. 1-14.