Teaching Philosophy
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Connection to People – Connection to Place – Connection to Experience
“For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”
― Paulo Freire
My teaching philosophy centers around a praxis of connection. I am committed to engaging the dynamic connection of people, place, and experience, where teaching philosophy and practice are inextricably linked and abstract ideas and embodied action intersect to create a meaningful educational experience – i.e. a praxis of connection. It is only in the enacted experience of education that a teaching praxis comes to life, embodied by the participants – teachers and students – in the connection of people, place, and experience. My philosophy of teaching, then, involves specific focus in each of these areas of connection.
Connection to People
Connection to People
I believe all education is a relational experience of giving and receiving the gift of shared wisdom and experience during a period of study or related to a particular subject of learning. As a teacher, therefore, I’m committed to practicing hospitality by creating inclusive educational environments in all contexts of learning, be those in person, online, or in writing. I believe each person has a vital contribution to make in an educational community, but I’m also sensitive to the pressures within learning environments, particularly for historically marginalized students (e.g. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+). I start each course, then, with a statement of inclusion that reflects on my positionality and invites students to do likewise. I also express my commitment to foster inclusion and accessibility by clarifying expectations for respectful classroom engagement as well as my adaptivity for supporting the diversity of student experiences. Indigenous ways of being and knowing continue to inspire my commitment to teach with practices of ethical relationality throughout the various aspects of a student’s development, both in a course and throughout their education.
Connection to Place
Connection to Place
Education is always connected to place, be it scattered across multiple contexts in an online course or in the specific locale of a classroom on campus. Whatever the format, teachers and students represent their own contexts while also sharing a context of learning together. Good teaching, therefore, attends to the complex situatedness of education as a practice of fostering better engagement with the world. As a teacher, I incorporate reflexive practices that engage place, such as reflective land acknowledgements and discussion on important local social issues that relate to the course curriculum. By incorporating place-based pedagogy I support student development as they connect learning to their own contexts. For international students, this has provided opportunity for them to engage their new place. I have also invited them to connect their learning to their home country as a way of supporting their experience of dislocation. Indigenous land-based pedagogy has been particularly important for teaching towards this connection to place in ways that respects local First Nations and invites students to consider reciprocal relationship to the places of their learning.
Connection to Experience
Connection to Experience
Connection to Experience: I’m committed to the integration of experience within education. Good education is informed by a student’s diversity of experiences, be those within a specific course or the lived curriculum of other formal and informal learning experiences. I design courses and support students towards making reflexive connections across curriculum and life experience. I engage the diverse representation of students by ensuring a diversity of voices are included in course content in both academic sources and classroom examples. I support inclusion by offering a range of student experiences both in the classroom and in assignments, including the option for choice within the type of assignments students complete. I approach group discussion and classroom activities attentive to student dynamics, giving careful attention to marginalized students who may be feeling vulnerable when certain topics are discussed (e.g. racism) or when interaction with other students raises concerns. In these cases, I invite conversation and flexibility at any time within a course in order to support students.
Connection to people: Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
Connection to place: Photo by Dylan Ferreira on Unsplash
Connection to experience: Photo by Mark Klausen
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