Are there any current or former Art Teachers out there?

Are you inquiring because you are considering becoming an art teacher? If so, you might want to make this clear in your question.

One of my best friends is an art teacher at a High School and she loves it. You’ll have to learn a bit of ceramics and the different types of art like canvas painting and all that. You should talk to a councilor so they can help you. Once you start taking courses you can start deciding on what age group you want to teach, there’s really no rush for that. Start out with a basic art class and go from there. If you’re still in High School you should definitely be taking art classes there if this is something you’re seriously considering as your career.

@Jeruba I fugured that was a bit obvious, but I guess not. XD
@kheredia I’m out of high school.

MAKE SURE you take plenty of studio courses as well as your education courses.
A lot of my fellow graduate students knew plenty about education but little about actual art making…which is dumb. You don’t want to be teaching high school drawing classes and not know about perspective, etc.
On the other hand, knowing a lot about art does not prepare you to teach it. It’s not that easy. Message me if you have anymore questions!!!

I’m former. Navy now. Go figure.
You need to make sure someone teaches you CURRICULUM. Not just how to make lesson plans, and how to teach. I got out there and nobody could help me decide what to teach, they all said, “You’ve got to figure it out for yourself.” Ooo, Philosophy’s fine, but not when you have a deadline to meet and brains to mold.

As far as age group, each age group has its ups and downs. Elementary, you can tell them anything and it’s new, and they love doing whatever you throw at them.

High school, they have a base knowledge, so you can teach them more complicated things. This is good, I tried teaching color theory to 3rd graders. Didn’t go so well.

College, man, I don’t know, but I aim to retire one of these days, and go back to teaching painting, this time at a university.

Good luck finding a job, it’s a lion’s den out there. Don’t get the first one that bites. Art teachers die in their jobs; pick a keeper.

@unused_bagels About curriculum…YES YES YES.

@kikibirdjones thanks, glad someone can back me up on that.

No problem! There’s a lot they don’t tell you!

I agree about getting as many intro-to-media courses as you can, because you don’t know what you might be expected to teach. Take as much art history as possible. Make smart choices about travel. Hit a museum (of any size) as often as you can.
I worked as a docent/security/sales clerk/educator for a local museum my junior/senior year. A history or science museum would be great, too. It was great fodder for interviews, and I worked with all kinds of populations.