About Portraiture Education

Apropos of Design

A Storyteller’s Canvas

As a lifelong learner, teacher, and educational leader, Christopher A. Dignam, has embraced the blending of disparate disciplines to promote innovative instructional design.

A core tenet of his shared leadership philosophy has centered on creating welcoming, innovative learning environments that consider the social, emotional needs of learners, and provide multiple modalities for learning.

The most meaningful learning occurs through discovery and by stirring the natural curiosities of learners. The most meaningful teaching and leading occurs when educators are naturally inspired by their craft, motivated within their environment, and engaged in reflective practice to achieve improved outcomes.”

The Calling

Founded in 2020, Portraiture Education was established to provide a medium for reflecting on the dynamic nuances of leading, teaching, and learning that comprise the aesthetic whole of the educational experience.

Portraiture Education serves to capture and present an authentic picture of the complex relationships, social discourse, and culture of external stakeholders, parents, students, staff, and educators as a collective community of practice.

Meaningful learning occurs as the result of piqued interests and a love of the subject matter. This is true whether the learning is focused on athletics, learning to play an instrument, or comprehending the words of a text. When those who lead, teach, and learn are inspired, a community of practice is formed, and an environment that nurtures educational values is established.”

Improvisational Spirit

Learning is both introspective and interactive. Learning is also active and fulfilling. In its most organic form, learning is artful, spontaneous and non-scripted, elevating the spirits of those who learn, teach, and lead.

While learning takes many forms, Portraiture Education employs narration and storytelling to examine the intricacies of the many processes of creative, innovative learning for developing a portrait of the whole.

Improvisation is critical for eliciting creativity. Improvisation generates original ideas and stirs the imagination of learners, teachers, and leaders alike. It is through this empowerment that learners, teachers, and leaders are capacitated to flourish and demonstrate abilities.”  

Experimental Mindset

Portraiture Education serves as a gallery of learning to showcase the science of thought and the passions of knowledge. It is through blended boundary crossing and experimentation that learning is realized and achieved.

The experimentation of ideas, the exploration of concepts, and the analysis of discovery are catalysts in facilitating meaning and understanding. When learners are provided opportunities to test their original ideas, they are empowered to self-discover and -actualize.

When we learn, we do so by observing and studying a number of content qualities, akin to the color spectrum of visible light. These spectra are reflected in pigments on the painter’s palette, creating hues that comprise a portrait of the whole.

Portraiture Education was created to exhibit the many facets of learning that comprise the aesthetic whole of the educational experience; an educational experience of spirit and mind.”

About Portraiture Next

A Spectrum of Possibilities

AUDIO: Book of Life

Referenced links and documents:
About Portraiture Education, Christopher A. Dignam, Portraiture Education, CANE Dubh Publishing, 2022

A Spectrum of Possibilities, Christopher A. Dignam, Portraiture Education, CANE Dubh Publishing, 2022

Book of Life by Chris Dignam

Can You Hear the Music by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

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