2008 Woodie Awards
Letter to the Editor
Impact reporter receives constructive criticism
Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Opinion
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Dear Ms. Kristen Arata,
As I leafed through last week's Impact edition your opinion article entitled, "Teachers make effort to earn respect in classroom" caught my attention. As I read the article, I could not help but feel some sort of pity and frustration. I felt you were being unjust with your experience of this art class and instructor. Your assumptions of the qualities of what a good instructor must possess are tainted by our ideological and sociological culture.
Unfortunately, society sublimely in doctrines us to categorize art into two categories - good and bad. When in reality there is a large MIDDLEGROUND, which is neither good nor bad, just poorly done. In addition, society tends to downplay the analytical and importance of art as a true academic course. I can assume that more than half of the students on campus expect an art class to be an easy grade, since many would argue that art is interpretational. Therefore, if you can't tell what it is or associate some personal experience to it, then it must be abstract. Of course, people fail to realize that an abstract work is a work of ordered chaos rendered by using the formal elements. Even though an abstract appears to be done in an unorganized manner, in reality the work is very carefully thought out and executed.
Nevertheless, back to your article; there were some points which you contend and that I would like to address. Your first claim that "maybe the instructor is jealous of the rising talent within their classroom, the type just waiting to burst out and become more successful than their mentors" sounds more like an immature excuse for why a person may fail a class. Sometimes it is hard for one to accept the blame for their failures and in order to save face, one projects that blame on others. Secondly, if there were indeed a rising talent in the class, no amount of harsh words or criticism would be able to contain it.
Thirdly, a student's success is not dependent on the instructor's ability to teach, but rather on the student's will to learn. Even if you are an art genius, there still exists the opportunity to learn and cultivate your artistic talent.
As I leafed through last week's Impact edition your opinion article entitled, "Teachers make effort to earn respect in classroom" caught my attention. As I read the article, I could not help but feel some sort of pity and frustration. I felt you were being unjust with your experience of this art class and instructor. Your assumptions of the qualities of what a good instructor must possess are tainted by our ideological and sociological culture.
Unfortunately, society sublimely in doctrines us to categorize art into two categories - good and bad. When in reality there is a large MIDDLEGROUND, which is neither good nor bad, just poorly done. In addition, society tends to downplay the analytical and importance of art as a true academic course. I can assume that more than half of the students on campus expect an art class to be an easy grade, since many would argue that art is interpretational. Therefore, if you can't tell what it is or associate some personal experience to it, then it must be abstract. Of course, people fail to realize that an abstract work is a work of ordered chaos rendered by using the formal elements. Even though an abstract appears to be done in an unorganized manner, in reality the work is very carefully thought out and executed.
Nevertheless, back to your article; there were some points which you contend and that I would like to address. Your first claim that "maybe the instructor is jealous of the rising talent within their classroom, the type just waiting to burst out and become more successful than their mentors" sounds more like an immature excuse for why a person may fail a class. Sometimes it is hard for one to accept the blame for their failures and in order to save face, one projects that blame on others. Secondly, if there were indeed a rising talent in the class, no amount of harsh words or criticism would be able to contain it.
Thirdly, a student's success is not dependent on the instructor's ability to teach, but rather on the student's will to learn. Even if you are an art genius, there still exists the opportunity to learn and cultivate your artistic talent.