[Connor O’Toole] Gov.bc.ca

Did you hear that phones are banned in the classroom?

Big Idea: Digital Distractions – Social Media and Device Management

Alright, let’s talk about the phone ban. I was in high school just before the peak of social media and phones being problematic (graduated 2019) and can say it was damaging for a lot of classes. However, there were far more students who would be productive despite the phone being accessible than students who would be off-kilter as a result. Social media has taken a further grip on the classroom in years since and I cannot speak entirely to it, but I can’t see things changing that much compared to how it was a few years back. So what is the cellphone ban really doing? 

The cellphone ban seems to target students who would otherwise be unengaged in class. This does make it valuable, as it cuts these students off from distracting friends and themselves through social media and online content. However, it feels like more of a patchwork fix due to a problem spiralling out of control. People have slacked off in class since time immemorial. Taking phones away can help with the issue, as social media is designed to be addictive, but the core of the issue is engagement.

Cellphones are now one of the most vital parts of civilization; they are a monument of connection for students and can become something they rely on for safety and comfort (outside of delivery of social media). Just because we grew up without the need for constant connection to parents, loved ones, and friends is it right to strip that away? Or is it just a repeating symptom of the times when the older generation sees the younger as soft in some way?

What I’m trying to say is that the act of taking away phones outright is a bit overkill in my opinion, thus the ability for teachers to choose if it is necessary is much appreciated. All of the art classes I have attended in our link to practice have not required the removal of cell phones outright. Perhaps a phone has been confiscated after repeated offences but overall it is no different from how it was when I was in high school. The phone is an incredible tool for learning and in the art classroom, it is practically required at times. If I want to show students something and don’t have computer access, or if students want to show me something it is always going to be the best option. No classroom can have an infinite amount of reference books. So many students work from images on their phones or want to listen to their music while working. Taking away the phone in the art classroom detracts from the learning as a whole. Art is self-expression. How are you supposed to express yourself if you have no way to access the things you want to reference and show? 

Modern culture is not being put into reference books, it is within memes, album covers, comics, photos and so much more. Taking the sources of inspiration from the students will not lead to more creative and interesting pieces. It will just conform them to the resources of the classroom.

Another Brick in the Wall

Big Idea: Supporting Innovation and Inquiry in Education

Inquiry in some ways questions the current status quo when it comes to our education system. As much as we can strive to create unique learning experiences there is always a seed within my mind that says “Is this really what the students want to do?” 

I spoke with one of my professors about the purpose of the school system. We agreed on the fact that in theory, the education system is meant to lift people up to higher knowledge and social classes. However, in practice, there is still a lower class and a large lack of education within our country. So obviously there are a great number of students who slip through the cracks within our system. Our current education system is not the end-all-be-all, if we thought that then society would cease to progress. Thus schools like PSII are of great value and studying the methods they use can help us progress within the public school system.

Image Credits: B A Y S A L (all rights reserved). This image has been appropriated extensively in memes, thus I am not sure if the artist is only intent on people not making money off the image or that it is shared so extensively online with minor edits that he has merely given up on striking all unauthorized uses down. If requested I will take down this image.

Inquiry will not suit every student, but for those it does, it can do amazing things. Due to the nature of public school, we cannot have classes on every possible subject. My high school didn’t even have textiles or ceramics. We are inherently limited by the fact that we must teach a large class on a subject. This is why inquiry is so important. For those who have interests outside of the basic curriculum, and the drive to follow through, the ability to pursue these interests may shape the rest of their lives. 

For all students, choice is valuable. It increases engagement (as mentioned in my previous blog post) and gives a sense of control within a system where you have someone overlooking you all the time. Therefore incorporating aspects of inquiry into the curriculum can be a net boon for the system, particularly within the arts. The question becomes “how much can I trust my students to pursue their own education” as there will always be those who excel in environments and those who struggle.

Students go to institutes like PSII with the expectation of inquiry being the forefront and focus of their education. Is it right to try and push students who may have no interest in Inquiry towards it in the public school system? I believe it is right to push, as inquiry connects greatly to the skillsets required to navigate the adult world. If people do not think for themselves and dive into their topics of interest we end up with an apathetic populace, and apathy is the true opposite of love, not hate.

Hey, Dont be a Dictator, Pretty Please?

Big Idea: Learning Design – Honouring Student Agency and Autonomy

Unfortunately, I was online for this class, which may have inhibited my learning from the presentation. Regardless, agency and autonomy for students are an incredibly important topic that this program has prepared us to speak on. 

Student agency and autonomy emerged across the board in our classes this term. Students are people too and forgetting that they deserve an equal standing within the classroom would be a cardinal sin of teaching. In 401 with Cindy, we broached a topic around classroom management that speaks to this topic imperatively. Classroom rules/guidelines, or whatever else a class may call them are vital to sustaining an effective teaching environment. The most important thing is to work with students to develop these guidelines.

Throwing rules directly at students may work but it is not a fair system. I would liken it to a dictatorship. The expectations within a classroom are far more likely to be followed if the students have input and a chance to make rules for you (the teacher). In an example, Cindy showed the students created a rule for the teacher to “not be a dictator.” This kind of rule is incredibly important for students as it gives them a way to speak on equal terms with their teacher and gives them an avenue to voice concerns they may have otherwise never spoken on. It is also of comedic value and adds to the classroom culture overall.

In my experience with our link2practice program, I have had the opportunity to speak with a good number of art teachers and interview them on how to engage students. One strategy that came up again and again was allowing for student choice. A great example of this type of student agency would be a project I had the privilege of working on with a grade 9/10 art class. This project had the option of pursuing a silkscreen process for creating a paint board work or a grid drawing process. Both resulted in a similar work but the methods of art-making were completely different. Both allowed students the agency to work from whatever subject they wished (some working from anime characters, their dogs, rappers, and much more) but required different technical skills. One side built silkscreens and worked with light reactive substances and the other explored technical drawing through the use of a grid to increase accuracy. This combination of student agency through both the subject matter and the medium engaged students far more than a single-pronged approach which may have alienated students uninterested in technical drawing (or vice versa).

If you want a responsive and engaged classroom student autonomy and agency are key. Throwing away tenets of democracy within your classroom just creates a miniature of the societies we study the faults of in our history classes. So what if your trains run on time?

A Brief Aside on the Conflict Between Artistry and Teaching in a K-12 Setting (Jesse Miller)

Image credit: Dr. Jörg Bittner Unna

As a practicing artist, one is expected to have social media, it is a tool for spreading your work like no other. However, this has the potential to directly clash with the teaching profession. Having accounts on tictok, Instagram, or whatever else allows for the possibility of a crossover with students also using these platforms. One solution would be using a handle, but if you already have a functioning practice it is a hard ask to just throw aside the reputation associated with your name and current customers.


For an experienced artist who would want to pivot into teaching, it could end up being difficult. Especially if they have a background in work with more mature subject matter (for example paintings scenes from warzones). Students will look up that teacher’s name, and will likely find explicit content. But what lines do we draw with explicit content? Gore, horror, nudity?

I have a core memory from high school of the day we tackled the holocaust in History 12. I watched naked dead bodies thrown into mass graves with no censorship on the class projector. That experience was incredibly important for understanding just what World War 2 was and how horrific it had been. Adult topics are not necessarily bad for students but managing the line between self-expression and giving people the opportunity to take advantage of students must be clear. The issue lies in how we can define people’s work when art is at its core subjective.

FIPPA and Social Media with regards to the Classroom (as an artist)

Image credit: Connor O’Toole

The Importance of Internet Education

In the modern world social media is ubiquitous.
However, ubiquity does not mean that limits should not apply.
Students filming and posting within school settings is a guarantee. There is also an extremely high chance they will be putting personal information online through social media, gaming, or any other method. I think there is no way or reason for us to stop this. Thus one of the things we can do for students is teach them how to operate safely in online spaces and the laws we have in place around such places.
Media literacy and proper online safety are some of the most important tools to place in the hands of the current youth. Unlike current generations who have had to pick up these skills outside of the classroom, this group has the chance to learn these things in a classroom setting. This means they can be operating safely from a much younger age than previously. With the dangers of catfishing, misinformation, and however many other evils of the digital age bearing down more than ever, these skills are truly vital.

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