Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Philosophy

For me, teaching is a calling and not just a profession. I have spent the majority of my career working with students who have been traumatized by previous academic experiences. Because of this, I see a lot of my job as teaching students that they can be scholars. They may not like a particular subject but they can do it, and they can be successful in all of their academic pursuits.

When I started teaching, almost 25 years ago, I thought that I had all the answers, and if I imparted the information correctly, in the correct manner, and told students how to learn they would master all the material. Those students who didn’t pass, clearly, did not follow my instructions properly. I have grown a lot since then.

During the 2000 – 2001 school year I was introduced to the modality of collaborative learning, and I also took several graduate level education classes, including a methods class in my subject area and a course on Curriculum development. Both of these classes introduced me to the idea of different styles of learning, and allowed me to meet other instructors who looked at the same subject matter in a completely different way. There is a core set of knowledge that needs to be imparted to the students in any subject, and I continually work to improve my teaching.

I have invested a great deal of time figuring out how best explain things in different ways than those that worked for me when I was a student. I want to get students to look at the “why” rather than just the “how,” though I know that often the how is where students can get stuck. I work to show students that there is a method and a reason to what we do, if I can help students see the pattern, the reason for what they are learning, then I have achieved my goal.

The one thing that has become clear to me is that the fact that I have answers is not really important if the students are not interested in hearing them. I have seen several ways of explaining this, but one of my favorites is from the 20^th century philosopher A.I. Heschel:

A living thought is like a seed. In the process of thinking, an answer without a question is devoid life. It may enter the mind; it will not penetrate the soul. It may become part of one’s knowledge; it will not come forth as a creative force.

Creating an environment where students are guided to ask questions that make me say, “I was just going to get to that,” is a lot of work, and requires several components. Not the least of which is allowing students to see me as a human being who is approachable and cares about them and their education.

Learning is a very individual experience, and each of us bring our past to the classroom, and that forms how we learn new material. I have found that students learn much better when they have a connection with other students and with me as the teacher. This allows them to feel safe, ask questions, be open to learning, and capable to make it through to graduation.

Students need to feel that they are safe and welcome in the class. On the first day of class I start welcoming students in with asking them to tell me about themselves. I have a note card that not only asks them their name, and academic history, but also an open ended question about how they feel about the subject material, and asking them to share one thing about themselves. I will read out the answers to the open ended question, anonymously, so that everyone can see that their feelings and often fears are shared by their fellow students. I have often struggled with names, so having notecards with student’s names helps me greet them by name when they come to class, and I also keep notes so that I can ask them questions about themselves and their lives, as they are willing to share. I have found that this is a wonderful way to help students feel more comfortable in class, and makes it easier for them to approach me with questions.

In order to help students form connections with their fellow students I encourage them to work in groups. When I worked at the University of Houston I was introduced to the idea of facilitated groupwork, and learned how much working with each other helps students better learn and retain information. I used to insist that students work in groups, and would put a great deal of effort into forming groups in class. However, over the years I have shifted to encouraging students to work with those around them, but allowing those students who are really uncomfortable working with others their space. I have found that, in this environment, there tends to be more collaboration.

Another important part of creating this environment is getting students actively involved during the whole of the class time. I usually start class with having students solving warm-up problems on the board. I work very hard to make sure that every student comes to the board during the semester, usually several times. I know that some students are uncomfortable doing this, so I will let them hang back for a bit, but I work hard to get them up, and show them that even if they make mistakes, no one is going to ridicule them, and mistakes are often the best way to learn.

To me, helping students learn how to learn from their mistakes is vital. All too often, the first impulse that we all have when getting back homework, or even worse a test back that we are not happy about we will either shove it in the back of our notebook or in the trash. There are several ways, beside getting students up to the board, that encourage students to learn from their mistakes. I have students do class work, as opposed to lecturing the whole class period. I assign problems that students can check, and remind them to check their answers so that they get full credit for the work they turn in. Additionally, I use the online homework provided by the publisher, with the opportunity to do the problems as many times as they need to in order to get the correct answers. I also have them do even problems from the text book to make sure that they are comprehending the problems. With tests, I allow students to rework the problems that they have gotten wrong for some points back, especially when I am teaching developmental classes. All of this encourages students not to give up when they are struggling with the material.

I do all of this because I feel that my job is not just about the particular subject matter that I teach, but is also about helping students grow into full-fledged academics. I have dedicated the majority of my adult life to helping students, in my small way, achieve their dreams. When I was an undergraduate, a mentor of mine used to say that when students thanked him for teaching them that they could learn difficult material, that was when he got paid. I have come to feel the same way. The paycheck is needed to survive, but the part that fills the soul is when you know you have touched your students and shown them that they can succeed.