TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My interest in teaching theories and practices that challenge the formal expert/pupil paradigm, champion lived experiences, and critique the systems around us began during my Peace Corps service in rural Honduras. I quickly learned how important it was to integrate personal experiences, interests, and life-relevance into any teaching, using approaches such as Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle and philosophies such as Freire’s “conscientization,” and hooks’, “engaged pedagogy.” These approaches taught me how to become a partner in learning, providing spaces for voice in what communities wanted and needed to learn. I saw that cooperative learning could transform lives. I believe strongly in moving learners past surface factual learning and into deep personal exploration and growth. I see teaching as an opportunity for students to think differently, be critical, and challenge their beliefs and assumptions.

Teaching ​Style

Teaching Methods

• Every class and group of students presents a unique community of learners that vary in experiences, interests, abilities, and ways of learning and communicating
• I believe that it is essential to create a safe environment for students to challenge themselves and others. I often meet individually with students at the beginning of the semester to learn their personal trajectories, goals for learning, and interest in the class
• I spend significant time on activities at the beginning of the semester designed to build community within the classroom and allow students to create relationships. By prioritizing community building at the beginning of a class, students create stronger bonds, participate more fully when content is challenging, and feel a greater sense of equality in group activities and assignments.

• ​I limit formal lecture to short segments or move lecture and preparatory content to an online format so that there is ample time for discussion and practice activities
• I use a variety of methods including large group, small group, partner, and individual activities
• Classroom activities range from simple brainstorming exercises to in-depth case study evaluation and group projects
• To assess learning I use a range of methods, from low-stakes quizzes for basic concepts to a semester long project for complex concepts
• In my classroom, the most important thing is that students show mastery of the course objectives

Practical Experience

• 19 years of teaching experience 
• Development of over 45 undergraduate and graduate courses and programs (including both face-to-face and online platforms) in collaboration with diverse faculty.
• Extensive experience in the development of teaching materials and resources.
• Flexibility in class style including lecture, survey, research, and skills-based courses.
• Flexibility in platform including face-to-face, hybrid, online, and MOOC (massively offered online courses).
• Experience with multiple learning management systems including Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, Coursera, and Sakai.
• Experience with a diversity of audiences ranging from non-literate to highly educated and from informal to formal contexts.