A STATEMENT OF MY

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY  

I feel that my teaching philosophy can be adequately summarized in the following manner. First, I believe that a quality education is one in which students and professors interact and discuss ideas in an environment that is encouraging and challenging for students. Students should be encouraged to open their minds and think critically about issues that ultimately affect them. This openness and freedom allow students to explore the applicability of what they study in class. Furthermore, students should be challenged to accept responsibility for their education. A true interactive relationship between professor and student requires that the professor hold students accountable not only for the material presented in class, but also, for thinking critically through that material and applying it to everyday situations. I also feel that an interactive relationship means that professors and students learn from each other. I like to tell my classes that although I am their instructor, I too will learn from them. This encourages them to be not only a student, but also a teacher in their learning process.

Similarly, I feel that learning is a process that should not end in the classroom. Intellectual, physical, spiritual, social, and personal growth should all be encouraged in a quality education. I feel it is my responsibility to challenge students to grow in all aspects of their lives. I encourage my students to go beyond thinking of their education as merely a credential stepping stone needed to pursue a career. I want them to realize that learning is a process that is important because it helps them live productive lives that directly benefit society. With this in mind, I feel it important to stress the significance of honesty, reflexivity, respect, and hard work both in and outside of the classroom.

I also feel that respecting diversity and differing viewpoints will contribute to a student's education. Honest discussion of differing perspectives encourages everyone to become productive, critical, and honest thinkers. Furthermore, curriculum stressing diversity prepares students to face a world that is continuously heterogeneous in terms of beliefs and values. It is critical that students learn to adapt, accommodate, and understand others in such a world. Fortunately, my teaching experience has allowed me the privilege of teaching individuals from various racial and ethnic minorities, as well as those with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. These experiences have made me more sensitive to the needs of a diverse student population, a feeling that I try to cultivate in my students as well.

My training as a sociologist as well as my commitment to become a better teacher has made me sensitive to the fact that students learn material differently. Some learn better by reading on their own; others benefit from visual aids during class lectures; while still others benefit greatly from class exercises. I have made a concerted effort to critically engage students through the use of more visual aids and class exercises that require students to critically synthesize reading and lecture material with events from their own lives. I believe that critical engagement with the material enhances the student's learning ability, ultimately teaching them to be more productive and critical thinkers. I am very comfortable with the idea of using computer technology in the classroom, and am currently working to make this a reality by learning how to incorporate multimedia in my classroom presentations. I feel that technology mediated presentations should ultimately enhance, not drive the lessons, and, therefore, realize that there are times when the technology could draw attention away from the material. I am attempting to learn how to use the technology to foster critical engagement with students to prevent these problems. Lectures using such technological enhancements should, for example, require students to think through the material being presented by posing questions that force them to link the lecture and reading material with their everyday lives to solve problems.

Finally, in keeping with this last statement, I stress the importance of learning and application. I am continuously learning and applying what I have learned to my everyday life. Education should be applicable, and I try very hard to challenge students to critically apply the knowledge that they have gained in their lives as well. Doing so ensures that they become better thinkers as well as productive members of an increasingly diverse society.