School Type: Private	School Setting: Suburban
Level: K-12	School Design: CSRD/Other Non-Traditional
Content Presented By:
Teaching for Artistic Behavior Partnership

Summary

The practice: PERSONAL CONTEXT -- Choice-based art education regards students as artists and offers students real choices for responding to their own ideas and interests through art making.

Choice-based art education allows students to choose topics and materials for exploration, provides relevant and brief instruction, and covers a broad range of topics in art history, techniques, and materials. The results are a collaborative learning environment, increased motivation to learn, and the development of artistic behavior, such as problem-solving and decision-making abilities. This model of teaching can be applied in public schools as well as private studio art classes, as this story shows.

• Private art classes for students of mixed ages
• Using professional artist's experiences to design choice-based teaching strategies
• Adapting the classroom environment to meet all students' needs and interests

Professional artist Cheryl McCabe has offered private art classes in her home using choice-based teaching strategies for years. This approach has helped students find their personal voice while learning techniques and skills. McCabe created a successful learning environment by examining her own needs as a practicing artist and providing a setting that meets the artistic needs of her students. The special needs of one difficult-to-teach student motivated McCabe to expand choices for all her students. In so doing, McCabe learned more about teaching, as her students learned more about being artists.

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