My Teaching Philosophy

An effective teacher must have a great understanding of the subject matter being taught as well as underlying pedagogical theory. It is an educator's responsibility to stay current in a field of study, engaging in research and participating in scientific societies, conferences, workshops, classes and/or life-long mentoring that can improve subject matter knowledge. I must be able to make good choices about what to teach and how to structure and organize material to form a rigorous curriculum. At the same time, it is important to stay abreast of current theory and research in the field of teaching and pedagogy.The following beliefs and principles summarize my teaching philosophy:

i) I am responsible for building a relationship with students. I should be accessible to all students, making sure that I talk to individual students both inside and outside the classroom and that I am available to students after class. With university level students, a strong mentoring relationship is essential. Therefore, I must respect all students without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap or national origin.

ii)I will encourage students to study abroad, experience another culture, to learn a second or third language and will include readings and lessons to create an inclusive course of study, and create units to deal with issues of bio-cultural, linguistic and ecological diversity.



iii)I emphasize active learning. I encourage my students to think actively and critically through the question-and-answer process and continuously motivate them to seek their own answer by asking questions for themselves. I also strive to make every activity in the course, including quizzes and exams, conducive to learning subject material and to developing critical thinking.