BECOMING AN EDUCATOR
Kail Nikitas, Moderator
Panelists:
Petrula Vronkitis, Art Center College of Design
Lucille Tenazas, California College of Arts and Crafts
Meredith Davis, North Carolina State University

The panel was made up of three very successful designers/educators who have a long history of being committed to the advancement of design education. These women are affiliated with prestigious institutions that are unique which resulted in three different perspective topics of "Becoming an Educator." Petrula, Lucille, and Meredith brought to the conversation issues that reflect their professional philosophies and practices. A school's obligation to best prepare students to be qualified educators; an individual's commitment to making a difference in a student's life; and the need for an educator to continue practicing along with their academic obligations. Petrula's position was that educators must be actively practicing design while they simultaneously taught. An active practice ensures that faculty best serve their students by showing through example in their own work, what is taught in the classroom. Petrula also discussed the curriculum at Art Center having a strong professional agenda. There is not a "Professional Practice" course in the course listing, because practical issues are woven throughout the student's experience. Most of the instructors at Art Center are actively designing. As a result, students have a range of role models from which to choose in deciding how to position themselves in the design field. In addition, Petrula mentioned that some of her students have become clients in her studio. The experiences have all been successful which she attributes to the level of professionalism that had already been established in her classroom. Lucille Tenazas discussed the belief that we are predisposed to teach. That being an educator was something as "familiar as our own skin." We have to do it and that it was not a choice but a necessity. She also discussed the process of teaching not in the context of being a leader and having followers but rather being "fellow travelers," collectively asking the same questions, making the same mistakes, and learning from one another. Meredith Davis, brought to the table the issue of how the marketplace currently drives the need for more design educators. She reminded us that because design is permeating mass culture and enticing students to enter the professional, more design programs, with a questionable quality of education, are emerging throughout the states. In many cases the faculty who are teaching in these programs are recent MFA graduates with little to no experience in the field. A cycle is starting that must be addressed. If we demand that our students be rigorous in research and exploration in their studies, it is only fair that all educators have behind them a body of knowledge and experience before entering academia and influencing the future of our profession. In conclusion, there were three instrumental points regarding "becoming an educator." The first, being prepared to teach; the second: recognizing that it should be a passion to teach; and the third: making sure that once in the classroom, you continue to grow as a thinker and maker so that you can offer the best education possible.

 

back