Self-care for preservice and in-service art educators: A matter of survival in the profession

Abstract

This article presents an overview of a case study that uses an arts-based research intervention to support the development of self-care strategies for preservice and in-service art teachers towards improved work-life balance. Three recommendations are provided: (1) the necessity for teachers to individualize practices of self-care; (2) creating communities of care to support the collective design and use of self-care practices and (3) defining boundaries that promote a healthier work-life balance. The author shares reflections on how these recommendations influenced her own pedagogy at the university level, preparing preservice art educators and sustaining the practices of in-service art educators. Assignment prompts, exemplars of self-care artist trading cards and juggling act visualization artmaking activities are presented as well as a discussion on how to model self-care practices for art educators.