What is your teaching philosophy?
I have changed this page somewhat because my previous document is the same one that I send out with my CV. In that form, it's not the best to present on a page such as this. While I work on a new one entire, I will post my outline, which I hope will suffice for now..
The bottom line is that I care for students more than I could probably (or would want to) express to them verbally. I left a lucrative career to become a college-level instructor because I felt that I could make a positive impact upon individuals' lives. I have been constantly amazed at how a few, vocal students have interpreted my actions as an educator to be somehow detrimental to their futures and done so for a personal reason. Indeed, I try to explain all of these ideals to my students before class begins (and several times during the course of a term), but it honestly seems like this is all forgotten the moment I describe my rigorous expectations or hand back the first assignment or quiz/test that they're disappointed in (indeed, most outside of academia would be utter shocked at what is said about and to professors who are trying to do nothing more than do their best to improve someone's entire future).
In summary:
Please note that I probably have a somewhat non-standard view of my "job" than how it is currently viewed in the trending students-as-consumer philosophy of education. I believe that no matter how the money is collected for my paycheck, I serve the public trust and have a duty to ensure that the students under my care can then serve the public back using the skills I have taught them. As such, tuition might help pay my salary but I believe the entity that I am responsible to is anyone someone under my tutelage may have to interact with professionally.
The bottom line is that I care for students more than I could probably (or would want to) express to them verbally. I left a lucrative career to become a college-level instructor because I felt that I could make a positive impact upon individuals' lives. I have been constantly amazed at how a few, vocal students have interpreted my actions as an educator to be somehow detrimental to their futures and done so for a personal reason. Indeed, I try to explain all of these ideals to my students before class begins (and several times during the course of a term), but it honestly seems like this is all forgotten the moment I describe my rigorous expectations or hand back the first assignment or quiz/test that they're disappointed in (indeed, most outside of academia would be utter shocked at what is said about and to professors who are trying to do nothing more than do their best to improve someone's entire future).
In summary:
- I believe that students have potential they haven't realized yet, and I believe I can help them realize that potential in order to improve their abilities as scholars and persons who will be responsible to care for others.
- I have knowledge and ideas I am duty-bound to convey to my students.
- I use a "walk around the tree," non-evaluativist method in order to proffer the idea that differing historical factions, so as long as they are working in good faith, are not divided by right and wrong, good and evil, but by differing anchors that fundamentally influence the ways they believe the world should work.
- I'm not a professor to be a popular person. If I am, that's great, but I won't attempt to become popular at the expense of my students' futures.
- I am also duty-bound to help students acquire new skills or to improve upon the ones they possess when entering my classroom. After all, the point of going to school is [nominally] to learn something.
- I teach toward those who want to be challenged rather than teaching to the middle. Put another way, I teach toward a common coin rather than a common floor. That being written, I will give all students the ability to pass my courses, so as long as they do the work required of them.
- I place great care on the ideal outlook that college-educated students should write well and believe that college educated students should be able to express themselves and their arguments clearly and concisely, built on a foundation of evidence and consideration for that evidence over emotion and feelings.
- I believe that the educational system most students have been exposed to has done them a disservice by promoting positive self-esteem at all costs rather than focusing on honest academic achievement, attributional retraining, and controlling ruminative thoughts. I want my students to feel good about their accomplishments because they actually accomplished something.
- I was responsible for personnel and the hiring of that personnel and I believe that I can help students prepare themselves better for the realities of a competitive, capitalist, at-will-based workplace.
Please note that I probably have a somewhat non-standard view of my "job" than how it is currently viewed in the trending students-as-consumer philosophy of education. I believe that no matter how the money is collected for my paycheck, I serve the public trust and have a duty to ensure that the students under my care can then serve the public back using the skills I have taught them. As such, tuition might help pay my salary but I believe the entity that I am responsible to is anyone someone under my tutelage may have to interact with professionally.