A few posts back I mentioned that I was working on my statement of teaching philosophy. Here’s a very early “beta” version of the new statement. I’d appreciate it, if you’re interested, if you’d have a look and leave notes in the comments. I’d especially be interested in any part of this statement that isn’t perfectly clear; as we all know, some things can be clear in our own minds when we write, but to the reader, not so much.
One note: I will eventually expand each of the “six precepts” below with a sentence or two of what I actually do in real life to implement each one. But I haven’t gotten to that yet. STATEMENT OF TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
“Listen!” said the White Spirit. “Once you were a child. Once you knew what inquiry was for. There was a time when you asked questions because you wanted answers, and were glad when you had found them. Become that child again: even now.” -- C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
Inquiry and learning are the highest forms of human activity. Indeed, to inquire and learn is to access that which makes us uniquely human: The ability to look within and outside ourselves, question what what we see, take action to frame and explore those questions with disciplined creativity, and take satisfaction in finding the answers and in the collateral questions that arise. The goal of an education is to lead students into this kind of life, both by instruction and by example, preparing them for meaningful work and childlike wonder at things larger than themselves. My calling in life is to be a teacher -- to contribute to helping students reach the goal of being truly educated and to lead them into a lifelong state of satisfying inquiry and learning.
My teaching is driven and informed by six basic precepts:
1. Every student has inherent value and the capacity to learn.
2. Every student should be held to high academic expectations and given responsibility for their own learning in every course.
3. If students’ expectations and responsibilities are high, the professor’s availability, flexibility, and willingness to help must also be high.
4. On the one hand, since courses are the formal framework for student learning, they should be characterized by: (a) Grading practices which are fair, constructive, and transparent; (b) Learning activities which are well-conceived, organized, and effective; (c) Rules which are transparent and fairly enforced, but also with flexibility and mercy in mind.
5. On the other hand, since learning does not take place only within a course, the professor should interface with his students and college so that: (a) The professor’s scholarly activities are vital and made accessible to students. (b) Informal conversations about teaching and learning are held in the clear and made accessible to students. [Note: Insert reference to Twitter and this blog here.] (c) The professor’s personal and family life is visible to students, and the professor presents himself as a complete person engaged in teaching and learning. (d) The professor engages himself with the lives of his students and of the college.
6. All aspects of teaching are drive by the professor’s own love for teaching and learning and by the fundamental, inherent value of the student as a human being.
