Teaching becomes artistic when we understand in a detailed and scientific way how it affects learning. Art requires creativity. Artful teachers are creative in the ways they expand learning. To enhance learning, it generates new and unresolved issues that become seeds for the next class or course. The teacher's world is dynamic, filled with uncertainty and challenge, and teaching strategies are guided by a compass, not a road map.
Artists grow and stay inspired through play, experimentation, and practice.
This is so important for teachers, and it draws again on their ability to always remain learners. This orientation can give us the space we need to experiment and to fail. When unexpected things occur, they are embraced by artists as valuable opportunities to learn, the specks of irritant or dust that lead to pearls. Finally, there is between artists and their material a special relationship. With teachers, the materials are our students and the special relationship is the need we have to create communities of learners.