Art and Design Teacher Education

Joshua van Gent

Enchanted Environments

As a teacher, my philosophy revolves around four core principles: equity, student-centered democratic learning, lifelong learning, and student personal growth. In my classroom, I aim to foster an environment where students appreciate and practice the values of mutual respect, inclusivity, and open-mindedness, with an eager willingness to explore the unfamiliar, and to interrogate what they already know.

As an artist, I am interested in the alluring nature of spirituality, consciousness, and what exactly it is that makes us human. Through my work, I explore the dynamics between man and the environment, drawing from personal experiences to fuel my practice. By contrasting natural and mechanical visuals, my work seeks to question the ways in which we relate aspects of the world around us to ourselves, our struggles, our desires, and our deepest thoughts. My practice is interdisciplinary in nature, which gives me the freedom to convey my ideas in their suitable medium without restriction.

The ‘Enchanted Environments’ project aims to enrich the Art and Design second level curriculum by enhancing learning for young people through engagement with their local environment. Through mediums including photography, sculpture, and performance, students will explore natural habitats, reimagining them to create magical scenarios. The project will draw on student’s perception of spiritualism and ritualistic behaviour patterns, encouraging them to engage with deeper forms of psychological thinking and expression through visual art. The project revolves around imagined rituals between the created creatures and the environment from which they were inspired.

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