Week 3 Reading Response- Maxine Greene

Choose 1 idea about education that is meaningful to you (we all have philosophies of education). Find a quote about education (probably from a theorist) that connects with your philosophy. In a post, unpack that quote. Think about what it makes possible/impossible in education. What does the quote say about the teacher, about the student? How is it related to your own philosophical understanding of curriculum and of school?

“The arts, it has been said, cannot change the world, but they may change human beings who might change the world.” – Maxine Greene

I was drawn to this quote because of its connection to the arts. Because I am an arts education student, I strive to integrate the arts into everything. I interpreted this quote as Maxine saying that the arts alone can’t and won’t change or inspire the world but the arts can inspire and change students who will go on to change the world one day… they’ll be the next generation of teachers, politicians, lawyers and doctors. I think this quote makes arts education and creativity in the classroom possible, even with non-arts inclined teachers seeing the possibility for greatness through it. To me, the quote says that teachers need to encourage students towards arts education and make a better effort themselves to incorperate it in the classroom. It also says that arts education can so seriously impact students that they could possibly change the world with it. This is almost my exact educational philosophy. I believe that all students should have an arts education as equal in the classroom as math, gym and science. Music, Dance, Drama, Literature and Visual Art are all recognized subjects in the Saskatchewan curriculum and should be taught like it.