Teaching Statement
The 21st century multicultural classroom reframes how crucial it is for cultural institutions and art organizations to embody social equity and inclusion (SEI) principles in practice and commitment to its stakeholders. How can we, as people who are connected to these institutions, collectively act on these principles in teaching? I center this life-long work around advocacy of student-driven choice and voice in mentoring leadership, fostering community, and guiding care to create equitable, culturally responsive learning opportunities. This is a counter movement, an ongoing devotion to the pursuit of equity, solidarity, justice, and liberation. The pedagogy of hope1 is to be lived, shared, embodied–not just within a lifetime's framework, but interconnected across generations and the lifespans of a social change ecosystem2.
I accept that as a first-generation, nonbinary, neurodivergent Chinese-American learner, there will be moments in life challenging and rewarding to have experienced and continue experiencing. I’ve situated my role as a storyteller, to show up through art-making, sharing vulnerably, and transparently to mobilize change. To model these spaces, my teaching is based on creating access with BIPOC and POC students to brave learning space(s). In agential art learning environments, students are encouraged to actively challenge and question systems that oppress us, to remain curiously critical of the gaps, and to hold onto hope and care in face of challenges– all to advocate with one another towards our collective liberation3. I want students to see themselves represented and appreciated, in community, and in the world to thrive.
I welcome connections-mutual aid-grassroots models as imperative to organizing and decolonizing arts and education–to meet us where we are at. I am committed to learning as teaching with those I have an opportunity to share space with, honoring the shared conversations, knowledge(s), joys, challenges, and capacities we hold. I want my students to continue co-creating spaces of transformation, believing as creatives, we become educators. As educators, we become learners. As learners, we become storytellers. We transform and are transformed.
1. hooks, b. (2003). Teaching community: A pedagogy of hope. Routledge.
2. Iyer, D. (2022). Social Change Now: A guide for reflection and connection. Thick Press.
3.Lawton, P. H. (2020). The pleasure of your company: Artstories UK, a joyful community-based art experience. Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.2458/jcrae.4757
4.López, V. (2009). The hyphen goes where? Four stories of the dual-culture experience in the art classroom. Art Education, 62(5), 19–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2009.11519033