My Teaching Philosophy
I have taught across a wide range of levels. I have taught at the university, the community college, at high schools, and middle schools. I have also taught English as a foreign language in France. Every level, every context is different, and going from one to the next as an instructor requires various adjustments, but the principal act, teaching, remains constant. Naturally, the challenges presented by a tenth grader are not the same as those posed by a college junior, but my task remains the same.
I believe there are two basic principles in teaching: engage the student, and challenge the student. Always engaging and challenging every student can be difficult as we teachers are often handicapped by our material, by a student's willingness to fulfill her role, or, of course, our other obligations (research, professional commitments, etc.). I believe, however, that the primary purpose of colleges and universities is the education of their students, not increasing our publication lists, and in this way we must make teaching our priority. Too often do students complain that their professors are "checked out," or "only care about their new book." Shame on us.
Despite any difficulties we encounter, as instructors we ought always to remain optimistic that we will engage and challenge every student in our classroom. I have found that the harder it is to do these things, the more rewarding it is to succeed.
I am most comfortable and most happy teaching at the college and university levels. Students pursuing higher learning are adults, they are fully accountable, and they have chosen to be in the classroom. Education has become a serious financial investment, with many students going into debt to hold that degree. I thus believe that students deserve our respect and our fair treatment. A college student is not a kid; she is an adult and she can handle our pushing her to do her best. Hence "challenge the student." My experience at all levels, in various languages, has shown me that students do not perform well in a lax classroom. They perform well in a casual classroom, to be sure, but not in a classroom that does not hold them to high expectations. I work hard to strike that balance between relaxed (casual) and demanding. I constantly strive to aim just over a student's head. She will reach. And she will learn. The most challenging aspect of this approach, I have found, is that not all students can handle the same level of pushing. It is thus essential that I get to know my students as well as I can, and as quickly as I can. I need to assess the limits of my students so that I know just how hard I can push them, where their potential can take them.
To learn my students' limitations, to find out how to help them overcome those limitations, I engage my students. Using a variety of media, a variety of teaching methods (group work, lectures, discussions, Socratic method, writing assignments, oral assignments and presentations), I show students that regardless of the subject matter, nothing is one-sided, and the more sides of a topic/concept/issue they can find, the more they will learn, and the more they will enjoy every step of the process.
I joke around with my students that mastering the subjunctive in Latin or that reading Homer will improve their souls. In a way, though, it really will: not because the subjunctive will bring them salvation, necessarily, but because of the doors the subjunctive opens to them. How many more texts will they be able to read, how many more ways of expressing themselves will they find thanks to the smallest grammatical concept, thanks to the most complex myth. The subjunctive is all well and good in a vacuum, but nothing exists in a vacuum. If Cicero didn't write in a vacuum, then neither does his use of the subjunctive exist there.
Teaching improves my soul. Every aspect of teaching makes me learn more, it brings me closer to the pursuit of Truth and Beauty. I don't care whether Truth can be found anymore (because in a postmodern world, what is truth?)--in fact, I doubt the Truth is that interesting--but, boy, is the pursuit fun. I want to bring my students along with me, even if it's just for 15 weeks.
my_teaching_online_philosophy
My philosophy for teaching online does not differ from my basic teaching philosophy, but the online environment adds extra challenges for the student and for the instructor. In many ways, teaching online has made me a better teacher in the traditional classroom. In any classroom, organization is essential, but in an online course, poor organization can have very serious consequences to the student's and the course's success. With the lack of physical contact comes a greater need for students to be self-starters. This comes naturally for some, but not for others. It is especially for these students that organization becomes crucial. In the end, good organization in the online classroom is an issue of trust. Students need to have confidence in me. There really is no room for the absent-minded genius professor who doles out assignments and changes or adds readings at every class-meeting. Because of the new freedoms and flexibility offered by a web class, the online classroom must be stable and reliable.
The freedoms of online courses, which include freedom of place, freedom of pace, and freedom to learn in new ways, can create new enemies (finicky technology, students cheating in novel ways, etc) if the instructor is not prepared for them. Organization is a mighty bulwark to many of these attacks, for good planning can prevent many forms of cheating, can ensure that the technology is working, and establishes trust between the instructor and the student.
I have taught my online courses from Pennsylvania, California, Minnesota, Canada, and much of Western Europe. I have had students complete my courses from a dozen states, and several countries. It is essential to keep these classes a priority, both for me and my students. It is easy to become distracted and to forget about that online class. This means that my duty to engage becomes all the more important. My web class doesn't meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 2pm. The only thing keeping my students from playing semester-long hooky is if I can engage them in the material, if I can make them see how it matters, how it affects them, and how they can benefit from sitting down to their computer and listening to my disembodied voice for a few hours.
To engage online is to challenge and make learning readily accessible. To get my students hooked, I employ interactivity, I use various media, and I highlight those aspects of their lives that are touched by literature written 2500 years ago. I want my students thinking about the class after they have logged off because online students have to shoulder more responsibility than they are accustomed to. In an online class, the traditional modes of contact are gone, which means it is my responsibility to create an environment in which students want to do the work, and want to help themselves in ways they haven't in the past. And so much the better: I get to challenge them, to make them think about issues they've never considered before, to push their understanding of the Antigone with a whole new angle. I get to teach.
My Teaching with Technology Philosophy
Teaching with technology is a tough game to play. So easily does technology become a gimmick, something we do because the school wants us to stay current. There are times when incorporating technology into the classroom is inappropriate. We can't just show a film or send students on an internet scavenger hunt because we didn't prepare something that day. That is irresponsible. If the goal is to communicate something meaningful, then any technology we use must also be meaningful. My varied experience has given me ample opportunity to teach with technology, or not.
Of course, teaching online is teaching with technology, and building a successful online class relies on your ability to effectively master the necessary technologies, to use media, online tools, and other methods of engagement to challenge students with the material; but what about the traditional classroom? When I was teaching English Composition at Cabrillo College, my classroom was equipped with only an overhead projector. This lack of equipment killed some of my options to inspire in-class writing exercises. I was able to bring in my own boombox to give them audio prompts, but films were out of the question. I needed to rely on overheads and blackboard work, mixed with large- and small-group discussions; I used photocopies of magazine ads, photographs, and art instead of PowerPoint presentations. In the end, it all worked out fine, because the most important technology in that class was the student's pencil and paper.
Similarly, students of different levels synthesize information in different ways, with varying results. I can show a Simpsons clip in the college classroom to discuss the ways Homer is a Hero, but seventh graders can't always see past the funny to find the satire, the criticism, or the idea. On the other hand, asking my seventh graders to build a working model trebuchet engaged them on various levels: they work with their parents, they learn about ancient warfare, and they learn to communicate with teammates. Sometimes, your students become your media, your technology.
The bottom line is that technology can help us or hurt us in the classroom. For me, as an online teacher, technology is my medium. But its use is often taken up to satisfy a request from the dean or department head. Without the thoughtful employment of technology, we neither engage nor challenge our students.