Teaching Philosophy
"The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change" ~ Carl Rogers
Being an educator has been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding roles of my life. On the very first day of class, I knew teaching was the profession for me and still feel that way after 20 years. I take great pride in helping shape, prepare and inspire students’ educations and careers in psychology. I believe that through teaching, I am helping to improve the quality of mental health services for our future. Teaching in higher education has been a most rewarding and fulfilling experience.
As a student, I was fortunate enough to have many professors in both my graduate and undergraduate studies that inspired my professional growth and development. As an adjunct, I have been privileged to receive mentoring and support from my department chairs and peers that has furthered my teaching skill development and guided my teaching philosophy. My teaching philosophy has matured over the years, as I too learn while I teach. I consider exemplary teaching to be a developmental process, one that is malleable, where my pedagogy and teaching methodologies evolve based on reflection through feedback, learning outcomes, current research, and changes in the field. I believe a teaching philosophy should be based on a reciprocal feedback system. I learn, I teach. I teach, I learn. They are reflective of one another. My students change, so should my approach to teaching. Change also occurs when new courses are assigned, or out of a desire or need to develop new content. At the core of my pedagogy are five interrelated principles and values: Diversity & Inclusion, Knowledge & Skill Development, Active Learning Through Classroom Engagement Techniques, Effective Course Management, and is Student Focused.
As a student, I was fortunate enough to have many professors in both my graduate and undergraduate studies that inspired my professional growth and development. As an adjunct, I have been privileged to receive mentoring and support from my department chairs and peers that has furthered my teaching skill development and guided my teaching philosophy. My teaching philosophy has matured over the years, as I too learn while I teach. I consider exemplary teaching to be a developmental process, one that is malleable, where my pedagogy and teaching methodologies evolve based on reflection through feedback, learning outcomes, current research, and changes in the field. I believe a teaching philosophy should be based on a reciprocal feedback system. I learn, I teach. I teach, I learn. They are reflective of one another. My students change, so should my approach to teaching. Change also occurs when new courses are assigned, or out of a desire or need to develop new content. At the core of my pedagogy are five interrelated principles and values: Diversity & Inclusion, Knowledge & Skill Development, Active Learning Through Classroom Engagement Techniques, Effective Course Management, and is Student Focused.
Diversity & Inclusion
I believe that students learn best when given an inclusive environment based on respect for others’ differences and appreciation for unique individual contributions. My student population has been a mix of both traditional and non-traditional undergraduate students, both majors, minors, and non-majors. The current student population is becoming increasingly more diverse in terms of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, creed, ancestry, veteran status, marital status, and/or disability, but there are still too many barriers’ students face. Every classroom is diverse, much like our world, and each student is unique and has value. What students have in common is a goal to pursue an area of study and obtain the necessary skills and education to have a successful career. I have a firm belief that everyone should have equal access to an education and opportunities to succeed, not regardless of these differences, but because we embrace these differences. Systematic inclusion and equity must be addressed not only at the institutional level, but within each department and within each course. Through my course policies and procedures, classroom engagement, and teaching methodology, I am committed to cultural diversity and creating an inclusive classroom environment. On the first day of every course, I review my classroom policies, and set an expectation of equity and respect for each other’s differences. To increase students’ awareness, within my course material I include information on underrepresented cultures, and I educate on psychological issues surrounding various minority groups. These topics are reinforced through assignments, videos, and lecture material. As part of course engagement on diverse topics, I approach students of various cultures, races, ethnicities, ages, religions, sexual orientations, and disabilities, with compassion and curiosity, which can lead to insightful and meaningful classroom and online discussion board exchanges. This current generation of learners face different challenges than previous ones, and there are greater demands placed on them. With easily accessible information through technology, higher expectations are placed on the breadth and scope of their knowledge and access to finding information and producing work in a timely manner, while trying to manage the distraction that technology can also bring. On top of being full-time students, countless undergraduates are also balancing heavy work hours and campus activity involvement. We are also seeing an increase in students who have learning disabilities, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. In addition to being culturally diverse, I believe it is important to adapt my course delivery methods and curriculum, to better serve my diverse group of learners. I draw upon Vygotsky’s framework by making use of scaffolding, skilled peers and instructor support and observational learning, to accommodate different learning styles and learning disabilities (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998). Diversity is a core pedagogical value of mine that embraces inclusion through student engagement by understanding a multitude of perspectives, identifying challenges, and discovering solutions that work effectively for my diverse student body.
Knowledge & Skill Development
It is a fundamental belief of mine that knowledge is more valuable when shared with others. As a dynamic professor, I strive to create an inclusive and interactive educational atmosphere. One that is creative, challenging and promotes analytical, oral, written, and critical problem-solving skills, that will lead to academic achievement and professional success. To facilitate students’ attainment of these skills my lectures and assignments are goal-oriented, and I engage students in participatory and analytical pedagogical practices to assist with achieving learning objectives. New material is introduced through lecture, further developed through literacy activities, and crystallized through research. I draw heavily on continuing education courses and research to stay current on changes in the field and utilize my clinical counseling experience to demonstrate the practice of psychology and share my expertise. To provide opportunities for my students to engage a deeper level of processing and not just retention, I connect that material to real life experiences. After a class session, I use reflection of discussions, assignments, and assessments to weigh student’s learning outcomes and skill development against my teaching strategies. I want students to know, whether they are going into the psychology field or not, that what they are learning is practical knowledge and will be of value regardless of their career path.
Active Learning Through Classroom Engagement Techniques
Learning should be an active process, with the goal of acquiring knowledge and the ability to apply information now and into the future. To create an active learning environment, my teaching style makes use of a variety of creative instructional strategies to increase student engagement. One of the most effective ways I have found to engage students is through riveting class discussion starter questions and unique group activity experiences. During lectures, I incorporate student centered learning through experiential activities, interactive demonstrations, and multi-media that illustrates new concepts that have both an entertaining and educational approach. Another teaching technique I consistently use in all my courses is case-based learning and interactive group activities. In my experience, providing my students with lessons based on my actual client experiences, real-world examples, or giving them a hands-on experience, provides a means for students to apply the information. Case studies help engage those students outside the psychology program, and sometimes leads some to consider minoring or even switching majors. I want students to be excited about and see the potential use for psychological concepts in every career field and in their personal life. I believe my passion for psychology and enthusiasm for learning drives my lecture delivery so that students want to more actively participate, listen, and converse. I craft assignments, projects, and papers creatively so that they are challenged. I use innovative technology, such as interactive case studies, so that students continue to be engrossed with the material outside of class. It is my strong belief that quality instruction and teaching effectiveness also requires excellent student engagement techniques and course management skills.
Effective Course Management
I feel that at the heart of running an effective and efficient classroom, takes planning, organization, clear communication, and integration of technology. At the course developmental level, I spend a significant amount of time organizing and preparing every aspect of the course through detailed lesson plan strategies. Making use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), these guide my goal “to develop expert learners who are, each in their own way, resourceful and knowledgeable, strategic and goal-directed, purposeful and motivated” (The UDL Guidelines, n.d.). The organizational flow of the class is outlined in my syllabus, where course objectives, classroom policies and grading criteria are made clear. With each assignment or activity, I believe it is important to discuss or include my rational. I want students to know why I am asking them to do something, and for what purpose it will serve in their learning. I believe planning, teaching, and assessment as a mutual process that should reflect the course objectives. Assessments are a necessary means of measuring learning outcomes and gauging students’ understanding of the material. With any major project or paper, I provide rubrics to clearly communicate the expectations of the assignment, so that students can effectively demonstrate their learning. The use of online technology is an integral component of contemporary society and an important tool for keeping materials organized and communication clear outside of class time. I use the Blackboard course management system heavily and efficiently so that students always have access to course information, resources, and can track their progress. I view effective course management as a continual process of instructional planning, practice, and reflection, revising my courses as new advances in psychology and more effective teaching methods come about.
Student Focused
It is important to me students feel I am approachable and accessible to interact with them both during and outside of class. I am available to give each individual student learning support when requested and want my students to feel my expressed interest in them as individuals and in their academic and career success. When meeting new students, my goal is to build an interpersonal student-teacher relationship, and I base my methods from Carl Roger’s person-centered theory (Haertl, 2008). I use strategies of rapport building to get to know each other, build trust and collaboration, have empathy for everyone’s diverse nature and situation, and have unconditional positive regard to reassure students that learning is a process and that mistakes are learning opportunities. I want my students to not only experience me as their teacher, but me as a professional counselor, mentor, and encourager, by creating an environment where we can collaborate to attain our goals as simultaneous educators and learners.
Online Teaching
Technology is evolving at a rapid pace becoming an immense part of our everyday lives, and a more important and integral part of education. During the pandemic of 2020-2021, I was able to swiftly convert my on-campus courses to online courses, as well as be a resource and assist other faculty with their transition due to my eight years of online teaching experience. I was also quick to revise my online courses to accommodate the impact of the pandemic on students’ lives. In the 21st century, our students expect technology be incorporated in the learning process, to communicate, inform and inspire. From my educational training and online teaching experience, I understand the theoretical impact and practice of utilizing technology and multimedia to enhance student learning. My online course framework revolves around what I call the “3 E’s”. For online learning to be successful, a course must be designed as efficient, engaging, and effective. My experience through designing an online course from infancy and producing all the multimedia, has taught me the importance of knowing the inner workings of the LMS, current apps, and technology tools to assure a seamless and smooth platform for students to work efficiently. I apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to create and build a learning environment that is equitable and inclusive to address the needs of diverse student populations by providing multiple means of engagement, representation, action, and expression (The UDL Guidelines, n.d.). It is also imperative the content flow within each module and throughout the course and be extremely well organized, so that students have clarity on the expectations and course requirements. In a virtual classroom, students are required to be more independent thinkers and learners, than in a traditional on-campus course. To keep students engaged and on-task, I assist students by having continuous communication through announcement reminders, an organized and visual schedule, and timely responsiveness to student questions via email. It’s also important that the course content be presented in a way that will keep students engaged in learning the material. While the use of multimedia tools can help engross students, for information to be processed on a deeper cognitive level and be effective, I have learned that multimedia must follow best practices by incorporating the principles of coherence, contiguity, modality, redundancy, personalization, and the basic elements of visual design. The more effective the information is presented, the greater the retention and application of information. I believe if an online course is developed in a way that is efficient, engaging, and effective, online learning can be equally successful as traditionally delivered course experiences, while allowing the flexibility that our current student learners require to balance their work, family, and educational lives, and to help them meet their professional career goals.
Final Thoughts
My own education, clinical counseling practice, and many years of teaching experience has helped shape and form my pedagogical views and methodologies. It is through these five interrelated principles and values, that best explains my current and ever evolving teaching philosophy in the classroom and online. More importantly, it is the students themselves that have shaped my teaching philosophy and me. I teach, I learn. I learn, I teach.
References
Haertl, K. (2008). From the Roots of Psychosocial Practice-Therapeutic Use of Self in the Classroom: Practical Applications for Occupational Therapy Faculty. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 24(2), 121-134. doi:10.1080/01642120802055168
Johnson, D., Johnson, R., & Smith, K. (1998). Cooperative Learning Returns to College. What Evidence is There that it Works? Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 30(4), 26-35. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00091389809602629?journalCode=vchn20.
Johnson, D., Johnson, R., & Smith, K. (1998). Cooperative Learning Returns to College. What Evidence is There that it Works? Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 30(4), 26-35. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00091389809602629?journalCode=vchn20.