Let’s imagine I’m a student tasked to paint a sunset. I focus on blending the perfect orange, learning through trial and error. But what if I pause to reflect? A sunset could mean the end of the day. It could also mean sadness when something ends. But it could also mean hope, and the beginning of something new. I might say, this reminds me of when my best friend moved away. It was sad, but it also felt like a fresh start for her. In that moment, I left with more than just technique. I left with a deeper way of making sense of the world.
That’s the heart of concept-based teaching championed by Lynne Erickson. It’s a shift from only learning techniques to exploring ideas like connection, identity, and perspective. It’s what Lynne Erickson calls “teaching for transfer” – giving students mental tools they can use in art, in school, and in life.
Why is our art classroom the perfect place for this?
Because art is conceptual, emotional, and personal. It gives students a language to find and express their voices. Concept-based teaching gives that voice direction and depth. Instead of asking, “draw a house”, we can ask, “what makes a space feel like home?” It’s not just about lines and shapes. It’s about memory, feeling and storytelling.
How does this look in practice? Take the concept of perspective. Instead of teaching just about vanishing points and technical drawing rules, we might ask, “How can art show someone else’s viewpoint?” Students might draw the same scene as scene as seen by a child, a bird, or a pet. What begins as a drawing exercise becomes a lesson in empathy and perspective-taking.
When we teach art through big ideas, we nurture more than just skilled artists. We cultivate thinkers who connect, question, and see the world anew.
This article is adapted from Ms Loh’s video in the STAR (Singapore Teachers’ Academy for the aRts) Thought Leadership Video Series. Watch it here:
