Teaching Philosophy
A good teacher is one who makes themselves progressively unnecessary.
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My teaching philosophy revolves around the concept of “the one who does the work does the learning” (Doyle, 2011). If I spend my class time lecturing, my students are not actively engaged in the material, and are therefore less likely to retain information and develop critical thinking skills. Lecturing behind a podium puts an unnecessary barrier between my students and myself, which hinders their learning process. My goal as an instructor is to act as a facilitator, where my students are working through course content while I am there to answer questions, provide mini-lectures, and facilitate.
I incorporate a diverse array of activities into my courses that include both active learning and reflective practice in order to accommodate multiple learning styles.
I encourage my students to consider how and why different activities help them learn the material. I do make mistakes—new strategies that I implement don’t always work as planned, and I am transparent with my students about this; I promote us learning from the process together. |
Another key aspect of my teaching philosophy is that I feel I would be doing a disservice to my students if I failed to explain why I use certain teaching methods. My attitude is: if I expect them to engage in various individual, group, and whole-class activities, they should understand my evidence-based reasoning behind it. During the first class of every semester, I forego the traditional “syllabus day” for an interactive introduction and open discussion surrounding learner-centered teaching and why I implement it. Ultimately, my teaching philosophy involves a learner-centered approach that encourages learning through active learning activities, reflective practice, and honest discussions surrounding successes and failures.
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Professional Development
Teaching Certifications
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