Teaching as a Form of Artistic Expression

M. Wayne Cunningham is a past executive director of the Saskatchewan
Arts Board and the former director of Academic and Career Programs at
East Kootenay Community College.

Memorial University education professor Barrie Barrell has written a
brief but comprehensive volume that will appeal to aspiring teachers or
professionals searching for motivation and innovative instructional
methodologies. His central thesis is that teaching should be viewed as
an art, with its “technical and craft methodology as subservient to
its fundamental purpose and potential.”

In expanding his treatise, Barrell draws on fundamental principles
espoused by R.G. Collingwood, John Dewey, V.A. Howard, S.K. Langer, and
Elliot Eisner, among others. He also acknowledges, in a mostly
jargon-free style, the contributions to education made by curriculum
experts, educational psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists,
systems managers, and critical theorists. His opening chapter on the
ecology of teaching analyzes current theory and practice and finds
wanting the scientific model of teaching. In making the case for the
artistic method, he presents a persuasive blend of theoretical
constructs and practical guidelines for success in classroom
instruction, teaching techniques, and student learning.