Teaching Philosophy
What attracted me to teaching is the ability to change students’ lives through education. Higher education serves as a gateway to endless opportunities. My mother said it best: “In life, you can lose your job, lose your home, lose your vehicle, or even lose your health. One thing that can never be taken away from you is your education.” That advice has stuck with me throughout my adult life and motivates me to further invest in myself and others through academics. With education comes so much more than a paper-endpoint. I want to produce students who demonstrate the difference between knowledge and development. I not only want them to obtain new information (knowledge), but I want them to be able to dissect and comprehend the various methods (development). Using the following methods, I hope to create well-rounded, educated and career-ready students:
Enculturation: Instruction should not simply be autonomous and abstract. True learning outcomes derive from students being able to adapt and apply new information within the culture that it is being used. Situated cognition blends “knowing” and “doing” to create a hands-on, interactive valuable classroom experience. I want to embed students in a relevant, unfamiliar activity that allows them to apply and mold their basic knowledge of a given subject to solve a problem. As an instructor, it is my goal to create an encultured environment as well. My style of teaching has students participating in the culture of academia (traditional lectures, research articles, textbook definitions), as well as the culture of the practitioner.
Learning Communities: I aim to transform my classroom into a learning community as opposed to a group of soloist students. I want my students to not only learn from me, but to learn from one another. Learning communities (group work) builds students’ self-esteem and encourages accountability to themselves and to one another. As a teacher, I work collaboratively with my students to achieve learning goals, kindle create thinking, create objective agendas and produce academic networks for them to continue past my instruction.
Demonstrate and Expect High Benchmarks: Through my standards and actions, I want students to know that I expect their fullest effort. I hold myself to that same standard. While some tasks may be challenging, true value comes from how you overcome and approach that encounter. Simplistic experiences will not prepare them for life after school. Failure only comes if they don’t give 100%. To encourage aiming high, I address their progress throughout a given course and provide them a roadmap to be successful.
It is my hope that the above methods not only a strong structure for learning but also an environment where students can feel proud of their academic achievements. Most of my initiatives can be measured though quantitative methods (test scores, retention, readiness). While those quantitative measures are valued and necessary in academia, my goal is to change the quality of my students, which cannot always be measured. While students having an “I did it!” feeling as the completion of the course, it is not my end goal. If any part of my teaching encourages them to say “I can do it!” throughout their academic and professional careers, then I can rest well as night.