I decided to take the Media Arts AQ to gain a deeper, more practical understanding of the subject. Media Arts is a field where I never hesitate to dive deep and immerse myself, and I think that this is a must for teachers in this field. They must also keep up with evolving tools and trends. My intention is to help students with their post-secondary career pathways and teach them the value of storytelling and artistic intent. I think those are the two main focus points of my teaching philosophy.
Thus far from Module 1, I think that I have established that my main goal is to help students tell meaningful, personal stories, and I’m starting to connect this idea to the official curriculum expectation of communicating purpose and artistic intention. One of the core teaching principles, providing structure and giving timely feedback, are especially important in the open-ended, multidisciplinary environment of a media arts classroom. These are parts of my pedagogy that I continue to improve with intent.
Commitment to Students and Student Learning
What I’ve concluded is that students crave structure. I’ve found they thrive when clear, detailed directions are provided. Providing choice is effective, but it has to be framed parameters and directions. Just as I, a teacher, look to leadership.admin for clarity and guidance, students want the same from me. In Media Arts, this becomes especially important because the projects are often open-ended and multidisciplinary.
Professional Knowledge
Being able to guide students depends on a teacher’s own comprehension and commitment. In Media Arts, I think that would mean having a practical knowledge of the software & hardware [tools of the trade] as well as the ways in which they can be used to tell a story/convey meaning. Then, allowing their students the opportunity to experiment while offering support and solutions, like tech support and a sounding board all in one.
Professional Practice
Of all the areas I want to grow in, timely and meaningful feedback is the one I find most challenging but also the most importantly. Students care deeply about marks; They are quite invested in that numerical rating scale. We live in a world that quantifies everything. I’m very committed to qualitative feedback, but I’ve learned that assignments must also be clear about expectations and quantity: How much is enough? How will this be marked? This can be especially difficult when trying to assess and evaluate art.
Leadership in Learning Communities
If we want students to collaborate, respect each other’s work, offer and take constructive criticism, and build healthy work relationships, we have to model it and it has to be consistent. I’ve found that leadership in a school is much more about daily, reliable modelling from staff than it is about long lectures about ‘what to do and what not to do.’ With media arts, collaboration and mutual respect can come in the form of: film teams, audio recording/podcasts, collaborative photography projects, etc. These require a heightened understanding of flexibility that students will earn best through observation.
Ongoing Professional Learning
I think ongoing professional learning works best through passion. When I’m genuinely interested, I dive much deeper. In the field of media arts, the tools and trends are always evolving. Teachers MUST keep up. But to reiterate, I think that it’s most honestly done when you can see yourself in the material. I try to model it for students, especially those who seem disengaged. For example, recently, one of my students, synonymous with procrastination, struggled to start a science writing piece on solar panels. Knowing he had an ‘anti-authority’ outlook, I offered “This tech is often the key to going ‘off-grid’. That means no rules, no bills, no boss.” The look on his face told me I hooked him.
It’s also a big reason why I’m taking this AQ. I think that Media Arts is a field where I wouldn’t hesitate to dive deep.
If I were teaching Media Arts at the senior level, one of my main goals would be to teach students how to tell meaningful, personal stories. I’ve noticed that the curriculum doesn’t come right out and say that ‘good storytelling is key’, but I think it’s the piece that holds everything together.
A3.3 prompts students to “communicate their purpose and artistic intention” which, to me, sounds like having something honest to say and expressing it well.
In my experience of songwriting, there’s kind of an unwritten rule that ‘if it works around the campfire, it’s a good song.’ I think that the same is true in all art mediums. I was searching for ‘authenticity in storytelling’ and ‘...story matters most’ and in a Time article about Toy Story, the writer Andrew Stanton said:
“they looked back at films that had staying power even after their outdated technology left the 'strings showing,’ such as Snow White, The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. ‘We said anything that we break ground with, computer graphics-wise, will be subservient to getting the story right,’ he adds, ‘because that’s what history has shown wins.’”
Here is another great video that I remember watching when it came out 2 years ago featuring digital creator Casey Neistat talking to Jack Conte [co-founder of Patreon]. They break down Casey’s success on YouTube and his reliance on storytelling.
Casey Neistat's SECRET to Filmmaking
Digital Spaghetti. “Casey Neistat's SECRET to Filmmaking.” YouTube, 16 May 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exk8GrGwxGs.
Dockterman, Eliana. “How Toy Story Changed Movie History.” Time, 19 Nov. 2015, https://time.com/4118006/20-years-toy-story-pixar/.
Ontario Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: The Arts, 2010 (revised). Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2010. https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum/secondary-arts. Accessed 14 June 2025.
St. Clair College. “Media Convergence.” St. Clair College, https://www.stclaircollege.ca/programs/media-convergence. Accessed 14 June 2025.
Beyond helping my students gain an understanding of the tools that are utilized in media arts related industries, my main focus would be two-fold.
Help them narrow in on their post-secondary pathway
Teach them the value in storytelling/artist-intent
High school is another stepping stone towards establishing your lifelong career. As a student progresses from elementary school to high school, then to post-secondary school and into the workforce, opportunities to explore freely and discover start to diminish as personal and professional responsibilities increase. High school is the last official free education that they’ll receive before having to begin incurring more costly decisions. The high school program is all encompassing providing the opportunity for students to develop “literacies that contribute to students’ ability to explore, negotiate, communicate, interpret, and make sense of the changing realities of contemporary culture, technology, and society.” (Ontario Ministry of Education). When they move on to post-secondary education, the focus is much more on the practice and implementation of skills, ““...taught by artists working in the field as media makers, you will learn about film, video, electronics and interactivity, creative coding…”(OCAD University). Realistic Project-Based scenarios that mimic industry tasks is a method that could help students identify which avenue within the realm of media that they’re drawn to. This is especially effective when the projects are collectives, including multiple roles across the media landscape. The topics and tasks can vary [commercial product pitch, local historical documentary, awareness campaigns, etc]. I’ve personally only scratched the surface of this type of work in my 4 years as an elementary school teacher. Next year I aim to collaborate with my grade 8 teaching partner to start developing a program that includes much more of this type of learning, spanning across two classrooms.
This approach to media arts education is also deeply rooted in my philosophy about the impact of art. I look at art as a reflection of reality. Now, Oscar Wilde famously said that ‘life imitates art’, and I agree that by the way life is perceived is through art, especially by those looking at the past; The impression that people have of the past is guided by the media that they consume. But, I prescribe more to art being a mirror, if maybe slightly skewed. I’m always the most intrigued when a piece of art evokes the thought ‘That’s exactly how I’ve felt!’ or ‘Huh! I’ve never thought of it that way before!’ I believe that the approach of Project-Based Learning lends itself to clarity and delivery since students understand that their work has a clear and genuine purpose. Outright teaching of storytelling, constructive criticism and feedback loops are also integral and effective methods. In the end, I believe that a high school media arts teacher is a guide and a consultant in all things media technology and theory, but they’re also a facilitator of self-discovery. They help their students discover their voice and their path.
Boston University, Center for Teaching & Learning. "Project-Based Learning Teaching Guide." Boston University, www.bu.edu/ctl/ctl_resource/project-based-learning-teaching-guide/
OCAD University. Integrated Media Program. Ontario College of Art & Design University, https://admissions.ocadu.ca/program/integrated-media
Ontario Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: The Arts, 2010 (revised). Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2010. https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/arts1112curr2010.pdf