Teaching Philosophy

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
Clay P. Bedford

You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo Galilei

You learn more, but there's still so much you don't know - that makes it interesting.
Robin Williams

I love teaching. That cannot be stressed strongly enough. The three aforementioned quotes express not only what I fully believe about this honorable profession but alsowhy I adore it so much. The moment when a student becomes aware, makes a connection, or otherwise understands something, and I am made aware that I helped them find that something, that is a precious moment. That is when I smile. That is when I know I am where I am suppose to be and doing what I am suppose to do.

I am aware that there are those in academia that prefer research over teaching. Some act as instructors because it is a requirement of their respective institution. Others view it in a more sterile way. They see it merely as a means to make a living; a career. As for myself, I see it differently. Teaching, educating, instruction, whatever you want to call it, has to be about more. It has to have a greater purpose than to just disseminate knowledge in order to fulfill a requirement or draw a paycheck. It has to be something you feel, you believe, and that you are called to do.

I have spent the greater part of my life pursuing an education. And I will be the first to admit, I was not always successful. I have struggled at times for various reasons. Life in general poses problems for any student in search of an education. Life poses problems for anyone in general. Still, I do not consider my struggles that vastly removed from any of my peers or the very students to whom I strive to instruct. Those adversities only strengthened my resolve in the end and taught me valuable lessons in the process. More so, they enlightened me as to what it means to want knowledge, to desire an education, to seek understanding, and yet have it just beyond my understanding. In other words, I know where most students are coming from in their struggles to become educated. And it is this connection that draws me to them; that makes me want to give to them all the opportunities that I have been given, but perhaps with just a little less struggle. I take great joy and satisfaction from this pursuit and I am committed to be the best instructor that I can.

I see my role as a teacher as primarily threefold: 1) to provide students with skills such as evaluating, synthesizing, and analysis of knowledge in order to better facilitate their success, not just in history, but in all fields upon which it touches as well as their lives in general; 2) To show
students how to look beyond the evidence of materials, and apply original, creative thinking skills in the interpretation of said knowledge; and 3) to impress upon the students the importance of becoming life-long learners; to continue to seek knowledge beyond that disseminated in any classroom.

For students of history, the aforementioned skills cover both the traditional and the emerging per Bloom’s Taxonomy. It is often the course of current history studies to attempt to interpret and instruct along a number of specific lines-feminist, social, economic, intellectual, world-just to name a few. I would argue this is not the best method. I would further propose that in order to evaluate history from any of these areas, it is best to first have a ‘common ground’ from which to operate. There are those who would argue against such an approach, suggesting that there is no ‘common ground’. I would have to disagree. I am a firm believer that initially, history should be taught without relevance to any specificity within the field. Students should have a solid grounding in traditional historical interpretations. It is only those who know the basics of history that can make the more informative broader leap into specified historical studies.

I must clarify that when I suggest a more traditional historical interpretive approach that I am not referring to rote memorization and regurgitation that evolve out of standardized lecturing. For numerous reasons, today’s learners appear to be more visual and kinesthetic (hands-on) as opposed to purely auditory (though this too still plays an important role in learning). Therefore, the standard fact-on-fact lecture is woefully ill placed in today's classroom. It is my strong belief that interactive learning which utilizes methods drawn from a variety of approaches and that appeal to diverse learning styles is much more effective. As such, I employ a variety of techniques to better engage my students including short lectures with visual aids, demonstrations, step-by-step hands-on exercises, discussions, and critiques. As an example, when I teach a class on the effects of the plague in Renaissance Europe, it is not enough to just give a lecture on the subject and then give the class an exam or random take-home assignment. Instead, I might first show the class specific visual examples to illustrate how the people of that time perceive the disease. Then I would ask the students to ‘try and forget’ that they are in the modern and ‘throw themselves back’ mentally. Next, I would ask the class to quickly write down their thoughts and feeling on the subject. We would then openly discuss possible attitudes, and concerns surrounding the issue at hand. I would also them to give modern comparative examples, thus relating it to their experiences. If possible, I utilize information obtained from modern medical organizations such as the CDC (Center for Disease Control) to explain how the plague reacted biologically with its environment, once again drawing a connection between the modern and the past. Continuous questioning throughout the process offers a twofold process of keeping the class on task and evaluating comprehension. The students would thus be utilizing creative and interpretive skills while assessing a given subject.

The process of skill acquisition is important. However, a lesson should be about more than just ‘getting it’. The second major role I have as a history instructor is to get the students to think for themselves in a continuous manner. At the same time I am communicating knowledge, information, and hopefully, comprehension. I am also striving to develop the students’ higher thinking skills: the ability to analyze, criticize, and synthesize (generate). In history, creative thinking is essential, and while it may or may not be true that creativity cannot be taught, it is my firm belief that it can be developed. My goal is to develop lessons and exercises that engage, challenge, and motivate the students, forcing them to think beyond the traditional limits. I strive to give them the ordinary, the fundamentals, and have them think beyond the implied boundaries. Offer the students a piece of history and tell them to see it for themselves, free of the constraints and limitations of specificity.

Finally, as a life-long learner, it is my goal that my students will come to understand its importance. I never want to hear a student say regarding my class that they ‘got through it’ or that ‘I had to do sometime’. If that occurs, then I have failed. What I desire is for them to see my class as the beginning of a journey that will carry them throughout their career, their life, and beyond. For myself, I have never ceased in my pursuit of knowledge, education, and thereby learning. Ultimately, what I am really seeking is to understand, as much as possible. It is a simple equation: knowledge is derived from education; education (if successful) teaches you how to learn. Learning leads to understanding. Therefore, given that there is always more knowledge to be had, there is more education to be sought and more understanding to be had.

My major for my undergraduate degree is in history. I minored in philosophy and theatre. I immediately went back to school when I realized that I was not satisfied. On my own, I have sought to educate myself in various areas. When not in school, I am always reading, studying, and doing. I have gained a certain level of expertise in many areas that I am not necessarily degreed. But recognizing that there was so much more to learn, and seeking understanding on my own was an empty pursuit. For what is knowledge if one cannot share or utilize it? What good does understanding do when it is only applicable to oneself? And there is always more to know; more to learn; and more to understand. Eventually, I went to graduate school, earned my masters’ degree. Now, I am in pursuit of a doctoral degree. And after I obtain my PhD, I plan to continue my education, whether that be in the form of more classes, seminars, lectures, reading the latest journals, or just looking, listening, and exploring. For as much as I adore teaching, as aforementioned, I equally desire to know, to learn, and understand. It is that desire for these things that above all else, I would hope to empress upon my students and inspire them.