701 West Encanto
Phoenix, Arizona 85007 email
My Educational Philosophy: An eighth century Chinese scholar, Han Yu, defined a teacher’s role as spreading wisdom, imparting professional knowledge and resolving doubts (mentoring) and I cannot agree more. I believe that a teacher’s primary goal is to help students become wise, discriminating individuals who think both critically and independently.
Educational philosophy can vary depending on many factors. Questions need to be asked. What are the learning needs of the students? What are the aims of the institution and educators working within it? Do the educators have the capabilities of meeting both needs of the students and the institution? In this personal statement of my educational philosophies I will attempt to address the answers to these questions and explore my aims in servicing students in the future.
My teaching philosophy is reflective of my overall commitment to social justice and change through education. As a facilitator in the learning process, I pay attention to classroom dynamics and seek to create a supportive environment for students, within which they feel safe taking risks and making mistakes.
Based on its Latin roots, the concept of “education” implies an enlightenment or leading out of “the dark.” At the simplest level, knowledge helps us to distinguish the edible from the poisonous, the sharp from the smooth, and the friend from the foe. With respect to higher education, that journey “to the light” is often described as the pursuit of truth.
In Arizona, where our communities of students are from diverse academic, cultural, socioeconomic, ethnic, and physical/learning backgrounds, this search often reveals multiple truths and multiple realities and is a road of balance and integrity. The successful student is one who has come into contact not only with truth, but also has touched on practical, moral and contextual development as well.
In our global society, an educational journey demands a climate of academic freedom, in which all members of an academic community have both the opportunity and the responsibility to investigate topics with open minds, to evaluate the evidence with rigor and integrity, and to report the evidence of their findings without bias.
My role as instructor is to guide, providing access to information rather than acting as the primary source of information, the students' search for knowledge is met as they learn to find answers to their questions. For students to construct knowledge, they need the opportunity to discover for themselves and practice skills in authentic situations. Providing students access to hands-on activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce the lesson being studied creates an opportunity for individual discovery and construction of knowledge to occur.
Equally important to student self-discovery is having the opportunity to study things that are meaningful and relevant to one's life and interests. Developing a curriculum around student interests fosters intrinsic motivation and stimulates the passion to learn. One way to make learning relevant to student interest is to invite student dialogue about the lessons and units of study.
I see my role not as an infallible expert, but as someone engaged in reciprocal learning and dialogue with students. Within the classroom, I actively involve students in experiential application of concepts and theories. Central to my teaching philosophy is the belief that students attain mastery over subject materials when they engage with the material across different modalities and contexts. I believe that my teaching philosophy is one dedicated to student empowerment and growth.
My teaching style includes the utilization of tangible examples to illustrate complex materials, taking into consideration the diverse backgrounds of students in my class. For example, when teaching about micro- and macro- structural forms of inequality with regard to race or class, I will arrange for speakers to come to the class to share their personal experiences and perspectives. In this context, students have the opportunity to dialogue with individuals who may have had experiences, barriers and opportunities quite distinct from their own. Of course, such experiences may also serve to validate and/or challenge students who do share some of the perspectives and experiences of the speakers.
My role as instructor is to guide, providing access to information rather than acting as the primary source of information, the students' search for knowledge is met as they learn to find answers to their questions. For students to construct knowledge, they need the opportunity to discover for themselves and practice skills in authentic situations. Providing students access to hands-on activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce the lesson being studied creates an opportunity for individual discovery and construction of knowledge to occur.
When analyzing various theories and models, I encourage students to consider whether or not universal application is appropriate, or if factors such as gender, class, culture, etc., place limits on their applicability and relevance. I encourage students to share their unique experiences with one another when they feel comfortable doing so. I will sometimes share my own viewpoints with students or play devil’s advocate to spark classroom debate.
When students come into university courses they are but a few steps away from their professional careers. How can we prepare students to succeed in this competitive environment? The answer is, at least in part, to move them out of their comfort zone by presenting them with realistic problems that have undefined boundaries and solutions and that require cooperation as well as competition. The goal of this is to help students to learn to be critical thinkers and effective problem solvers so that they can be effective competitors in their careers.
A component of that effectiveness is integrity and a commitment to continual renewal, reinvestigation of the available evidence in new light and dedication. My teaching style is an outward reflection of my personal integrity and dedication to the process of education. In the same spirit, the institution as a whole needs to operate with honesty and integrity in all of its internal and external dealings with its own faculty and students.
The question of who is served by higher education is extremely important for both the individual and the society. The concept of reserving the benefits of education to a select group is antithetical to the pursuit of truth and the health of society. A commitment to educational access and success for a richly diverse population is essential in order to address the complex economic, political, and humanistic problems of our time.
The darkness of bigotry, racism, and sexism are as hazardous to human happiness, health and development as are ignorance, disease, and violence. In contrast, our abilities to understand and appreciate each other are the foundation of working together as stronger individuals in a healthier society. I see education as a social resource for replenishing knowledge and skills for creative and technological development in the creation of a global society. It is my mission to provide leadership that supports student access, equity, and success
MCCCD Course Completion Form
701 West Encanto
Phoenix, Arizona 85007 email
