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Amy Atkinson
Current PH.D. Candidate at Concordia University in Art Education
Part Time Faculty, Art Education, Concordia University
Co-Editor, The Canadian Art Teacher Journal
Digital Content Developer, Secondary Visual Arts, Ontario Virtual School

Previously
  • Secondary Art at SIS, Shenzhen, China
  • Head of Humanities at YCIS Qingdao,
  • Secondary Art at ISE, Thailand,
  • Senior Teacher and Curriculum Development at Serangoon Gardens, Singapore
  • Secondary Art Teacher at Barrie Central Collegiate, Canada
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ABOUT ME:
Hello!  I'm Amy Atkinson - but all my student's call me Miss A.  I've been teaching Visual Arts for the past 11 years in Canada, Singapore, Thailand and China.  Before that, I taught ESL in Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.  I have been a lifelong teacher (therefore also a lifelong learner) starting my teaching jounery as a competitive swimming coach, lifeguard, and a community art and craft class teacher on the weekends.   

After studying Fine Art and Art History at UofT, I travelled the world teaching English.  Travelling is when I really found my love for art.  Touring art galleries in Tokyo, taking an obscene number of photos of the Japanese country side and those beautiful yellow gingko leaves in fall, sitting inside the Royal Palace in Seoul with my easel and paints, taking private lessons in brush painting at Yongsei University just made my soul sing.  It opened my mind up to what was possible when one is inspired and excited about what they do.  I also explored my technical side, taking a post graduate certificate in Information Technology and working in the IT industry as a Web Developer and front end programmer.

I began teaching IGCSE at Serangoon Gardens in Singapore.  And then moved into the IB DP curriculum and the international teaching community at International School Eastern Seaboard in Thailand, YCIS Qingdao and Shekou International School in China. 

As a teacher my strengths are based on enriching the student experience; inspiring, motivating and creating inclusivity access the arts. I adore my time in the art studio with my students, challenging each other with ideas and designs developed through the design process. I enjoy scaffolding and writing curriculum that flows through the secondary levels with a focus on the design cycle, (PROCESS), as well as skill development.  Including planning opportunities for students to practice and demonstrate ATL skills is an integral part of a task or assessment. Doing this allows students to take ownership of their work and recognize their successes beyond the remits of the grade boundaries. To that end, I also created a few strategies, such as 'Pop Art Challenges' to further encourage student ownership and develop confidence in their artwork as well as the understanding of the subjective nature of art.   On a more practical level, as a working artist, I know my subject thoroughly, am constantly inspired myself by my students and take great pride that I am able to work with my students to design units that all students engage with.

I am currently taking my educational experience to the next level and am working on my Ph.D in Art Education.  My focus is on exploring excellence within the secondary VA course: what does that mean?  how can it impact the way we think about teaching art?  how can it support art teachers?  I am also exploring, in a different yet entangled tangent, spirt of place and the importance of environment in the creative process from a perspective of indigenous knowledge. 
 Working with Ontario Virtual School, I am looking into how to develop innovative strategies to straddle our new hybrid learning environment, while enhancing creativity and inclusivity and exploring technology.  And in my spare time, in my artistic practice, I am looking for ways to increase sustainability in my visual art process.
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​ARTWORK DETAIL IN HEADER BY Sec4 VA O Level SGS STUDENT JEANNIE SRIPHIROMRAK
FINAL O LEVEL IGCSE WORK