My earlier post on the musical set me thinking about my art learning experience in a school vs self directed learning.

The key advantage in self directed learning is that you can shop for a teacher who teaches well. Sampling lessons makes a lot of difference in deciding what to consume. This works if you know specifically what you need to work on. It does not work if you lack direction in your journey. It also does not work if you lack discipline to sit down and paint. The other key is to pick up something harder to paint so that there is progress and change.

Being in a school meant for me someone is going lesson plan, to demonstrate, correct and provide me critique. This is the education that I am paying for. I don’t need the teacher to be funny in lesson delivery or empathetic why I didn’t do homework. I want this “pass up art work” weekly so that I am made to practice. This is why self-directed learning is hard. You are not accountable to someone whose job is to make you deliver.

Art is tough business. Making the learning process joyful or making a persons more excited about art isn’t actually pushing the student to be a better artist. If you are lucky, you get a teacher who shares concepts and demonstrates skills. The critique and feedback is most important in a school environment. If you are lucky, you will get great critique that is useable.

Doing art is something you don’t have to socialise. But art cannot exist in a bubble. A teacher forces socialisation, shares what is great or not so great and creates that tension to enable change.