SchoolArts Themes

The guiding questions below are designed to spark reflection and storytelling about your teaching practice. Feel free to follow your own direction, highlight specific lessons and student experiences, and share what feels most meaningful to you!

2026

September: Connection

• How do you reconnect with students at the start of the school year?
• How do you build a sense of belonging and shared culture in your art room?
• What “first projects” help break the ice and establish trust and community?

October: Storytelling

• Who are your students? What are their views on society and life, and how do they express those through art?
• How do you learn about your students’ identities, interests, and backgrounds?
• How do you honor diverse voices and narratives in your classroom?

November: Empathy

• How do you foster empathy and help students understand and respect different perspectives?
• How can students support one another and be more inclusive in their decision-making?
• Can you share an experience or example of students demonstrating empathy in action?

December: Digital Literacy

• How do you define digital literacy? What does this look like in your teaching practice?
• What tools or platforms do students use to create or share their work?
• How do you address topics like AI, digital ethics, authorship, or media awareness?

2027

January/February: Student Voice

• In what ways do you give students more agency over their learning, decision making, experimentation, and creative solutions?
• What supports autonomy? (Choice-based centers? Open-ended prompts?)

March: Innovation

• How do you encourage students to experiment, try new ideas, and think outside the box?
• Have your students used a material or medium in an unusual way?

April: Contemporary Art

• How do you engage students with contemporary art, ideas, and practices on a local, regional, national, and international level?
• How do you incorporate local or living artists into your curriculum? Do you have a lesson that focuses on specific contemporary artist or artists?

May: Resilience

• How do artists overcome challenges and obstacles? What can students learn from artists’ experiences and stories?
• Was there a project that “failed” or went off track? How did students (or you) bounce back?
• How do you build resilience in your profession? How do you nurture or maintain your passion for art education?

Summer: Process

• How do you use late spring or summer to maintain your skills, creative ideas, and keep art explorations alive? What resources or ideas will you share with students?
• Which projects focus on self-discovery, creative risk-taking, and/or the joy of art-making?
• What projects have you taught that emphasize process over product (the finished result)?

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Questions? Email Frank Juárez, Editor-in-Chief of SchoolArts magazine.