“Legacy is fundamental to what it
is to be human… without a sense of working to create a legacy, adults lose
meaning in their lives. Legacy helps us decide what kind of life we want to
live and the kind of world we want to live in.”
Susan
V. Bosak, legacyproject.org
If you are fairly new to teaching
art, you may not have given much thought to your legacy, but those of us who
are seasoned teachers may find ourselves devoting considerable reflection to
this idea. I was reminded of this while binge listening (a real term!) to the
sound track to the smash hit Broadway musical, Hamilton. The theme of Legacy is what drives Hamilton’s narrative – Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story?
Though that is a bit of an
exaggeration when applied to art teachers, we do care about what happens to our
students. We do want to feel that we have made a difference in our students’
lives, even though we rarely get to know that personally once students move on
from our art rooms and schools. Yet we
don’t have much time for reflection in the middle of dealing with our immediate
concerns, such the class right in front of us, the next one coming and lesson
plans and grades that are due.
I became an art teacher because of
the sense of purpose it gave me and because I hoped to make a difference in my
students’ lives. Over the span of thirty years, I taught in only three schools,
purposely so that I could stay with my students as long as possible to watch
them grow. Now I hope my legacy will be
my efforts to share art education best practices and advocate for art teachers
through SchoolArts. It’s certainly the best job I’ll ever have.
At the end of Hamilton, his widow Eliza speaks to him: “Can I show you what I’m
proudest of?” In her case it’s an orphanage, but what will it be for you? What
are you most proud of? What will be the story of your life as an art teacher?
What will your legacy be?
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