Teaching Philosophy
I am not a natural at teaching. This is a statement I have uttered countless times to those inquiring why, for years, I didn’t follow in my family’s footsteps to become a professor. Mostly, however, it’s something I regularly told myself during my initial teaching experiences, and it’s something that kept me from returning to the profession for several years.
When I decided to reenter the classroom as a First-Year Seminar professor in the Fall of 2019, I still felt that I wasn’t a “natural,” someone who, with seeming ease, masters the classroom environment and consistently delivers exceptional instruction. I made up my mind, however, to believe that I could grow into my role as an instructor. I could and would improve. Although I would enter as a novice and experience a beginner’s struggles, I decided to believe that with effort, intention, and experience, I wouldn’t remain a novice.
I don’t think I would have reentered teaching had I not committed to Growth Mindset, a concept developed by Carol Dweck, which holds that with practice and persistence, almost any skill can be improved. As learners, therefore, we are not stuck with our current levels of ability. They are simply a starting place. We can all grow and find our way in what was once an impenetrable subject matter, skill, environment–or in my case–profession.
Growth Mindset is at the heart of my teaching. Not only is it what empowers me to persist as a new professor–it is also the mindset shift I most desire to foster in the first-year students I have the privilege of teaching. When students believe they can become capable of a skill or quality that previously eluded them, they will be better equipped to navigate higher education, transfer skills across disciplines, and, ultimately, self-actualize in an ever-evolving post-graduate job market and cultural landscape.
I also see Growth Mindset directly supporting Lifelong Learning and Integrating Learning, two pillars of the First-Year Learning Communities Program. Our program strives to help students discover their own intrinsic motivations for learning and holistic self-improvement–inside and outside of the classroom, during and after their college years (Lifelong Learning). At the same time, we explore connections between various academic disciplines and professional fields, helping students understand and utilize the real-world skills developed in their classes–and truly, to realize ways in which all skills can be real-world skills (Integrated Learning).
Because Lifelong Learning and Integrated Learning encompass complicated networks of both intellectual and tangible connections, a growth mindset for the student and the instructor (also a learner) is key to finding the edge to persist and become resilient in the face of obstacles (both internal and external) and remember that although we are all beginners at some point, we don’t have to stay beginners.
See also: Teaching Portfolio
Teaching Practices
The following are a few of the strategies I use to facilitate Growth Mindset, Lifelong Learning, Integrated Learning, and student success and wellness.
Reflections
Over the course of a semester, students complete multiple informal and formal reflections about their mindsets, academic habits and performance, and community engagement. Through these reflections, students become more self-aware of their thinking processes while developing a deeper understanding of the specific actions, thoughts, and circumstances contributing to their academic success and personal wellness.
Real-World Connections to Research
Using short (1-2 page) assignments, I task students with connecting a topic they’ve researched to a current situation they’re personally experiencing. This type of activity fosters a traditional academic skill (researching, summarizing, and citing a credible source) while giving the students an opportunity to choose how they will apply what they’ve learned from that source to a specific need.
Example: Stress Management Activity
Interdisciplinary Activities
Working with Learning Community faculty with the goal of Integrated Learning in mind, I’ve designed in-class activities to engage students in concepts from their large lecture course in a low-stakes and (hopefully!) fun manner. Additionally, these activities are small-group compatible, meaning that they can be used to foster peer bonding and help students “warm-up” for larger class discussions.
Example: Music Mad-Libs; Getting Creative with Playlists
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