Teacher Candidates' Art Exhibition
On Wednesday, February 29, art work by the students in Polly Stringle’s Intermediate/Senior Visual Arts course was on display in the main lobby and in the cafeteria of the Faculty of Education building.
The exhibition also included a community mural that was created by pre-service students in a workshop at the Equity and Social Justice Day on January 29th. The mural will become a permanent installation in the cafeteria.
Associate Dean Margaret McNay welcomed faculty, staff, and students to the exhibition. In her opening remarks, McNay made special mention of the exceptional contributions that Professor Polly Stringle has made to the Faculty’s community. She also acknowledged the high quality of this year’s exhibition’s art work; the “social consciousness” present in much of the work confirmed the quality of teacher education in the BEd program.
Overall, the 26 students enrolled in the full year Intermediate/Senior Visual Arts believe that much of what they learned about teaching in art came from how Polly Stringle taught them. In describing her year in the course, Naomi Barbagallo explained that Polly “modeled so completely what it is to be an instructor.” Jenny Kassen added that Polly “established in our class a sense of community. Right away, we knew that we belong there. We learned in her class teaching art was not just about instructing how to draw. It’s about how to get students to express themselves.” Both teacher candidates agreed that Polly’s compassionate and supportive teaching style was a useful model for their own future teaching. “There’s no safer place than in Polly’s classroom,” Kassen noted. “The work that she does brings out the best in everybody.”
