Abstract
As teachers, we often experience fears of uncertainty and failure. These are moments of not knowing, or moments of the as-yet-unknown. We of en resist these moments by filling them with the known and patching them with standardized solutions, planning, and explanations. Schools impose rules, curricular designs, and classroom management on teachers. To resist these constraints, teaching can be a performance of un/doing, a place of anguish, of chance and risk. When Bart writes “Pretender” on his apron, he disrupts the ordinary relationship between teacher and students by sharing the unspoken vulnerabilities of teaching, learning, and art making. As a symbol of the teacher’s vulnerability, it also signals the possibility of failure as a generative stance for artistry and growth.
