Beyond the Classroom: Yaming Jiang (CFA’23,’26)
Recent MA art education graduate, Yaming Jiang (CFA'23,'26), switched roles from student to educator, teaching art to elementary school students in South Boston
Sparking students’ interest in art: My experience as a student teacher
Recent MA art education graduate, Yaming Jiang (CFA’23,’26), switched roles from student to educator, teaching art to students in Boston’s Joseph P. Tynan Elementary School.
Beyond the Classroom: Yaming Jiang (CFA’23,’26)
After noticing a large bulletin board in a hallway that had become damaged over time, Yaming Jiang (CFA’23’26) decided it was time to do something about it. The board, located inside one of the halls of Joseph P. Tynan Elementary School in South Boston, had torn pieces of cork from students occasionally pulling them off as they walked by. Looking at the shape of the torn cork reminded Yaming, a recent graduate of Boston University’s Master of Arts in Art Education program and student teacher at Tynan Elementary, of underground burrows made by small critters.
Yaming took on the task of transforming the board into a fun, engaging mural, inspired by the children’s picture book Over and Under. Yaming turned the board into a snowy forest scene, with animals hibernating underground. She explains how, during the planning process, she visited the Mass Audubon website to research animals native to Massachusetts and picked several of them to put into the mural.
“On the morning I finished the mural, a student walked by and excitedly told me that it was Groundhog Day—and that the groundhog had predicted six more weeks of winter. That moment felt like a meaningful coincidence,” says Yaming. “I am very glad to be able to leave my paint marks on the walls of the school where I am student teaching, and that the students and teachers love the mural I made for them.”
In CFA’s Beyond the Classroom series, Yaming shares how heartwarming it is to see her students fall in love with art, how BU School of Visual Arts‘ curriculum and faculty helped her obtain this teaching opportunity, and what she’s learned about herself as she navigated being both a college student and student teacher.
Q&A
WITH YAMING JIANG (CFA’23,’26)
CFA: Yaming, what are some highlights or most treasured moments in your role as a student teacher?
Yaming: I feel proud when I see students making awesome art pieces. I love seeing students getting excited about art. I would say being able to spark students’ interest in art would be my biggest accomplishment. And also, I just want them to feel loved.
CFA: Did any resources at CFA or BU help you prepare for success?
Yaming: Our professor, Jana Silver, connected us with art teachers working at Boston Public Schools. I am grateful for the opportunity to student teach at Tynan Elementary School and at Josiah Quincy Upper School, where I student taught last semester.
CFA: How did the coursework at CFA connect with this experience?
Yaming: The elementary methods and secondary methods classes I took in my first year gave me great insight into the responsibilities and routines of being a teacher. All of my professors are very helpful and passionate. I feel so lucky to have them.
I feel proud when I see students making awesome art pieces. I love seeing students getting excited about art. I would say being able to spark students’ interest in art would be my biggest accomplishment. And also, I just want them to feel loved.
CFA: In what ways do you think this career opportunity has helped you prepare for your work beyond BU?
Yaming: The BU art education program prepares students to be competitive candidates with strong professional knowledge and sufficient field experience.
CFA: What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Yaming: This is a long story, but I gave up painting in acrylic and oil paint at the beginning of my senior year of college (Yaming is also a graduate of BU’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting program). I have only used watercolor and gouache painting for very small-scale paintings since. I am good at what I am doing, but I never thought of challenging myself in mediums and scales that I’m not super good at until I got the chance to paint this mural. Now I have more trust in myself that I am a good artist capable of working in different mediums and scales. I learned about the excitement of challenging myself and that I have the potential to get good at things that I have given up. I’ve learned to trust in myself, and I would give that advice to other students. Trust yourself.
CFA: What’s next for you, Yaming?
Yaming: I graduated this May with my master’s degree, and I am looking into a full-time art teacher position!
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