“Spring Bloom” is a painting I made at a time in my life when I felt 
that things were coming together and really making sense. Art has been a wonderful outlet for expressing how I am feeling during certain periods of my life. I think that art is a great metaphor for how we should look at our students. Every piece of art that is made is like every child you will come across. No two are the same, and each and everyone carry very individual and unique qualities.
My educational philosophy is that students learn best through trial and error and hands on experience. Being a student myself, I find that I learn most when I am able to figure things out on my own and store information the way I see fit. I can really relate to the constructivist theory of learning. Each individual student will take in information as they can relate it to other parts of their lives. If what we teach them has no meaning or significance to anything else in their lives, students will be less likely to retain the information.
As previously stated, each student has unique set of qualities and I believe in allowing those qualities show through in the output of their work. Giving students opportunities to make their own discoveries by allowing them to create and produce, will also give them the opportunity to learn something new and significant each and every time. In the field of art education especially, it is our duty as educators to allow students to express themselves freely and expand their creativity. Although we may expect the same level of work from all students, we can be open to the fact that different minds will produce different types of work. If educators create an environment where ideas can be expressed freely, I believe students will appreciate their education and value themselves a much more. Much like the painting “Spring Bloom”, education should be a process in which students are able to flourish and bloom into members of society that will contribute individual and truly unique ideas, making this world a more colorful and diverse place.