The Teaching Method of Natalie Robinson Cole

Natalie Robinson Cole- Doing it "her own way"

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Natalie Robinson Cole (1901-1984) was an educator who believed in freedom in the classroom.  She taught minority students at the fourth grade level, mostly Mexican, Chinese and Japanese in urban west Los Angeles public school.  Although she wasn't an art educator, she used art liberally as part of her teaching method.  She felt that an artist existed within each child and it was the educator's job to reach inside the child and encourage the artist within.  

Although her methods emphasized freedom, students still received a lot of direction and guidance from her.  She praised and encouraged her students often, even if their work was mediocre.  

Robinson Cole had students work on topics that were relevant to them, often letting them choose themes and subjects.  This kept her students attention and kept them engaged.  She also made a deep connection with her students as they learned to trust her.  For Robinson Cole, the arts were a way of fostering creativity while learning other subjects such as spelling and grammar as they went.  

There was much discussion before beginning projects as well as discussion and collaboration between students during projects.  All along the way, Robinson Cole encouraged the children to "do it their own way" and not worry about how other people do it.  She also felt it was important to reach down in one own's imagination to produce work, rather than imitating someone else's (or an adult's) idea of what something should look like.  

Natalie Robinson Cole's book, The Arts in the Classroom (1940) was written as a guide for educators to implement arts in their own classrooms.  To say that her book is an instruction manual for the arts in the classroom, does it a great disservice.  On the contrary it's a beautifully written book with personal experiences as well as suggestions and guidelines for arts in the classroom.  Each chapter is a rich source of ideas and methods for reaching even the most difficult of students.  


Her book- The Arts in the Classroom

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Natalie Robinson Cole's book, The Arts in the Classroom (1940) was written as a guide for educators to implement arts in their own classrooms.  To say that her book is an instruction manual for the arts, does it a great disservice.  On the contrary it's a beautifully written book with personal experiences and stories as well as suggestions and guidelines for arts in the classroom.  Each chapter is a rich source of ideas and methodology for reaching even the most difficult of students.  

My hope for this website is for it to be a tribute to the work of Natalie Robinson Cole's book, as well as a resource of her method.  Each page in the menu is dedicated to the five chapters in her book: Creative Painting, Creative Clay Work, Design and Block Print, Free Rhythmic Dancing, and Creative Writing.