How Do We Measure Growth?

This painting will be in the ART EDU Exhibit at Art Center Waco, August 8 – 31. I am honored to be included in a show of Art Educators in the area (though I am retired from teaching school.)

When sunflowers grow, there is an irregular movement of lines and shapes to captivate the viewer.  None of the stems grow in the same direction.  The leaves curl and turn where they find space between the stems.  The sunflower blooms may all turn toward the sun in the morning, but by evening they have turned in a variety of angles, some dropping off, and some new buds opening.  If you tried to measure their growth, it would be difficult.  They bloom at different times. 

As Art Educators, how do we measure academic growth in our students?  As a retired teacher, I have seen educators try to answer this question for years.  And the teachers of The Arts usually struggle the most with finding methods to grade a creative, fluid subject in a concrete way.

Like the sunflowers, students in The Arts grow in irregular ways; some in one direction, some in the other.  Some students rise to the top and shine above the masses, while some may become buried beneath layers of leaves and need more motivation to create. 

How do we measure growth?  I don’t think it can be thoroughly measured in numbers or letter grades.  Growth in The Arts may be best measured in positive feelings, appreciative emotions, self-expression, self-actualization, and self-esteem.  And maybe the one who measures it best is not the teacher, but the student!