Dragons and art education: Pre-service elementary teachers memories of early art experiences

Many primary school teachers are not comfortable with making art, nor are they comfortable teaching art to children. Some are even uncomfortable using art to reinforce ideas and learning in other subjects. This article reports on an ongoing conversation with groups of pre-service primary/elementary teachers enrolled in a required university course in art pedagogy in the Midwest United States. This course is required for their elementary education licensure requirements. Over a twenty-year period, I asked these students to share memories of their early experiences with formal art education and informal art making. Their stories serve as the foundation of a fairy tale focusing on their relationship(s) with art, art education and art teachers. Some pre-service teachers reported good experiences that resulted in happy endings but many others shared stories of bad art education practices that have negatively impacted a pre-service teacher’s life for years. As pedagogical tools, these memories of art experiences by non-art professionals are useful because in nearly every single saga, art teachers play a central role as either heroes or villains. As a cautionary tale, Dragon teachers are the focus of this article.