Jason Knarr

Teaching philosophy

Important skills I want to teach my students

The fine arts are the perfect way for students to experiment with working laterally, creatively, and emotionally. They can push themselves to create content that has no right or wrong answer but that does have a personal connection. Students can see real progress in their work simply by trying, practicing, and pushing themselves to find more creative solutions.

Another very important skill comes through helping students learn to take risk—and even possibly “fail.” By fail I mean that the outcome might not be as successful in it’s production, but the learning and experience that is gained in the process is much more important and valuable.

Teaching methods that reach these goals

By being able to work with students individually, and not having a class standard for every project, I can help each student work with his or her strengths and unique insights. A project’s success isn’t based on how it measures up to the rest of the class, but instead on how much effort, creativity, insight and risk that have been invested by the student.

My favorite projects

I teach five different classes, and each has the potential for two to three preps per class. There are so many mediums I love to work with and so many classes have a unique makeup that it’s impossible to pick a favorite project.

What I like best about teaching at Seven Hills

I love the trust of the administration to allow me to create and invent new content to keep my curriculum fresh and innovative. By allowing me the latitude to tweak my course to meet the needs of a particular group, I can showcase the particular strengths or interests of each set of students I encounter each year.

I also love the student body’s trust and cooperative skills. The Seven Hills student is almost always willing to work though a challenging idea or new medium. I love having the opportunity to present them with those challenges, and watch them succeed. It’s also great to see so many alumni come back to visit, and to hear about their achievements and their growth.