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What Are the Biggest Misconceptions About Teaching Art?

Many people who aren’t in the field of art education LOVE what we do in the art room, and think art in general is GREAT, however, they have some pretty off base misconceptions about what happens in art class on a daily basis. Since we all know these funny cliches aren’t an accurate representation of what really happens in the art room, I thought it would be fun to make a list of them to see if we’ve really ‘heard it all.’ For example, one student told me, “I bet you get paid less than my classroom teacher because you are the art teacher, right? ” My. Blood. Was. Boiling.

Feeling undervalued is a big deal, and I feel like art teachers are constantly fighting an uphill battle to be taken more seriously…Let’s band together here with some solutions, and hopefully share a laugh in the meantime.

Art-Room-Misconceptions

When other people think of art class, they instantly think about….

Ok, I am already chuckling. Please share some common misconceptions you’ve heard from society, parents, or colleagues about making or teaching art in the comments section below. How does it make you feel?  How have you responded to help them better understand and value what you do?

This should be good.

PS. For the record, I’ve seen some amazing art projects done with coffee filters, so no judgement zone here, mmkay?

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Balsley

Jessica Balsley is AOEU’s Founder and a former AOEU Writer and elementary art educator. She is passionate about helping art teachers enhance their lives and careers through relevant professional development.

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