Teaching Bio
|
Hi, I'm Erin Oliver, an active artist and educator seeking the opportunity to share my knowledge and skills with eager students as an Art Teacher, while also growing my understanding of the world through the exploration of a new culture that can further enhance my teaching. Moving around a lot as a child has instilled in me a curiosity for new people and places, and my short stints studying abroad have given me a strong desire to further experience the world outside of the US. I look forward to the challenges and learning opportunities enabled through international teaching, both for myself and for my students.
Since graduating from Temple University with an Art Education degree in 2005, I have gained a wide variety of experiences teaching in both traditional and non-traditional settings. For 6 ½ years I worked in public schools teaching art to all K-12 age ranges. 3 ½ of those years were at the high school level, where I taught all levels and a wide variety of art media, as well as collaborated with other educators on interdisciplinary lessons and field trips. I also have 2 years experience at the elementary level and one year in middle school.
I continued my journey teaching as an independent contractor for 4 years, while also expanding my personal art making practice. My time as an free-lance educator included instructing children and adults at local art centers, which enabled me to work with other arts educators to collaborate and create interdisciplinary programming. Additionally, I worked as a docent at a University Art Museum, where I engaged students in dialogue with the artwork right in front of them, a tremendous experience for both the students and myself. I recently completed my Master of Fine Arts Degree, while teaching sculpture and drawing courses as an Instructor of Record at the undergraduate level.
Throughout my career I have maintained a passion for teaching art while also becoming more involved in the local arts community. This has taught me how to work hard and balance life more effectively, and has deepened my connections with the larger arts communities. When I'm not teaching, or making art, I love to spend my time cooking, attending cultural events, or outdoors enjoying the fresh air while hiking, playing volleyball, or swimming. In addition to teaching art, I've also worked in alternative classroom settings such as outdoor camps, after school programs, and aquatics programs, teaching a variety of skills while also fostering team building, communication, and self-awareness within my students.
My various teaching experiences have allowed me to continue growing and has made me a versatile educator, adapting to the age, skill level, and needs of my students. My practical experience as an artist enables me to bring real-world skills and perspective back into the classroom for my students. I greatly value the dialogue and engagement with students that teaching facilitates, the exchange of ideas it provides, and seeing artwork come to fruition through the process. Enabling students to engage with new ideas and creatively explore themselves is what makes the fine arts such a special tool. I look forward to sharing these experiences with the zealous and rigorous students of the international school community. Being immersed in a wide variety of circumstances throughout my career, I am ready and excited to take on the new challenges teaching abroad brings to my life!
Since graduating from Temple University with an Art Education degree in 2005, I have gained a wide variety of experiences teaching in both traditional and non-traditional settings. For 6 ½ years I worked in public schools teaching art to all K-12 age ranges. 3 ½ of those years were at the high school level, where I taught all levels and a wide variety of art media, as well as collaborated with other educators on interdisciplinary lessons and field trips. I also have 2 years experience at the elementary level and one year in middle school.
I continued my journey teaching as an independent contractor for 4 years, while also expanding my personal art making practice. My time as an free-lance educator included instructing children and adults at local art centers, which enabled me to work with other arts educators to collaborate and create interdisciplinary programming. Additionally, I worked as a docent at a University Art Museum, where I engaged students in dialogue with the artwork right in front of them, a tremendous experience for both the students and myself. I recently completed my Master of Fine Arts Degree, while teaching sculpture and drawing courses as an Instructor of Record at the undergraduate level.
Throughout my career I have maintained a passion for teaching art while also becoming more involved in the local arts community. This has taught me how to work hard and balance life more effectively, and has deepened my connections with the larger arts communities. When I'm not teaching, or making art, I love to spend my time cooking, attending cultural events, or outdoors enjoying the fresh air while hiking, playing volleyball, or swimming. In addition to teaching art, I've also worked in alternative classroom settings such as outdoor camps, after school programs, and aquatics programs, teaching a variety of skills while also fostering team building, communication, and self-awareness within my students.
My various teaching experiences have allowed me to continue growing and has made me a versatile educator, adapting to the age, skill level, and needs of my students. My practical experience as an artist enables me to bring real-world skills and perspective back into the classroom for my students. I greatly value the dialogue and engagement with students that teaching facilitates, the exchange of ideas it provides, and seeing artwork come to fruition through the process. Enabling students to engage with new ideas and creatively explore themselves is what makes the fine arts such a special tool. I look forward to sharing these experiences with the zealous and rigorous students of the international school community. Being immersed in a wide variety of circumstances throughout my career, I am ready and excited to take on the new challenges teaching abroad brings to my life!