Here I have created art works to help to keep my thoughts through my reflection on educational “space” (or environment) that educators should create to help students through difficult times and struggle. We are not here to hand thing to them on a silver platter, but we are not here to just be a spectator either! I have read a story before, and it is a very good metaphor for how to treat educational “space” and use its functions to help students grow, cross over the threshold.

“Once a little boy was playing outdoors and found a fascinating caterpillar. He carefully picked it up and took it home to show his mother. He asked his mother if he could keep it, and she said he could if he would take good care of it.
The little boy got a large jar from his mother and put plants to eat, and a stick to climb on, in the jar. Every day he watched the caterpillar and brought it new plants to eat.
One day the caterpillar climbed up the stick and started acting strangely. The boy worriedly called his mother who came and understood that the caterpillar was creating a cocoon. The mother explained to the boy how the caterpillar was going to go through a metamorphosis and become a butterfly.
The little boy was thrilled to hear about the changes his caterpillar would go through. He watched every day, waiting for the butterfly to emerge. One day it happened, a small hole appeared in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle to come out.
At first the boy was excited, but soon he became concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard to get out! It looked like it couldn’t break free! It looked desperate! It looked like it was making no progress!
The boy was so concerned he decided to help. He ran to get scissors, and then walked back (because he had learned not to run with scissors…). He snipped the cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly quickly emerged!
As the butterfly came out the boy was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body would shrink and the butterfly’s wings would expand.
But neither happened!
The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It never was able to fly…”

This particular art piece is the reflection of my inquiry regarding using art space for everyone who experiences it as a place to grow and transcend. To build a cocoon is to hide from the harsh environment while at the most vulnerable state; a state of growth. And one would only grow stronger, and completely change through the process.

Like a caterpillar, one experiences one’s environment by crowing through it. By going through the liminal space of the cocoon, one doesn’t not change the environment one experiences; but through the growth and transformation within the cocoon, one will then experience everything differently; dancing in the air and see all through a different eye.