Author: Christine Hogan Title: student Role: Student Location: North Easton, MA Date: 10-14-03 I had the same nun teach my art classes all through elementary and junior high school. She had a very specific lesson planned each time and so help you if you didn't follow her directions to the letter. There was no variation in technique, color, or materials allowed - basically no creativity was allowed in the art class. This strikes me as being the ultimate contradiction. By allowing for student choice, providing learning centers in a varying media and content areas, and creating an assessment system that easily displays individual progress, John Crowe has set up the ultimate setting for fostering creativity - the core value of art. Through having opposite experiences I understand how his program is so successful. I was the type of student who would have enjoyed art class anyways but if my peers had been given this opportunity to direct their own learning they would have gotten so much more out of their elementary art experience.

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