#1396: Mapping Our Journeys: From Artist to Teacher

In this collaborative artist book, we engage in reflective narrative to explore our learning journeys including what drove us as students and artists to want to pursue teaching. We employ connected arts learning to conceptually ground our reflections and artwork in our culturally connected and creative educational opportunities. The context of our learning community is central to this project. We are a cohort of students and instructors at UCLA VAPAE, where we are participating in a sequence of three classes that span a full academic year. As a close cohort, we have developed community norms, made art together, and explored culturally sustaining and teaching, socioemotional learning, and supportive classroom environments. We’ve also shared our surprises, struggles, and successes as we were placed at school sites and taught for the first time. Through our artistic reflections, we hope to share a window to ourselves as a community of artists and teachers.