Throughout my blog stories, I’ve written about key moments in my life and career that led me to where I am today, and particularly about moments and influences that led me to my love of teaching. One moment that continues to be important takes us back to 2008 when for the final assignment of my graduate program, I wrote my Teaching Philosophy.

Any of us who are educators (and with the many different titles that exist within this definition) have some version of a document like this that answers fundamental questions about our educator identity, how we define learning, and what we want students we work with to experience in the spaces we collaboratively co-create. Mine is several pages long, but for today’s post, I want to focus in on pieces that are most important to me as an educator.

In my teaching philosophy one of the first things I write is how in the creation of spaces like these, learning, and the acquisition of knowledge is a continuous process, and that I stand to learn as much from students, as I hope they can learn from me. One of the guiding questions I ask is: How can I ensure students are able to bring all of themselves to the classroom?

The answer, in part is through role modeling. In my practice, I have always felt a particularly strong connection to Dr. Parker J. Palmer’s work on the undivided self, in which “every major thread of one’s life experience is honored, creating a weave of such coherence and strength that it can hold students and subject as well as self” (Palmer, 1998, p. 15). This is exactly what I strive to do, because If I don’t bring all of myself to the classroom, I can’t expect students to do so.

It is also this notion of the undivided self that I see as the umbrella that arches over who I am, how I teach, and my focus on Strengths-Based learning and education. It also greatly influences  the way I interact with students, and the way I integrate my theatre background, the diversity of my identities and student affairs pedagogy into my work. 

When students work with me, I want them to see someone who is passionate about what he does. I also want them to see learning as:
• Collaborative
• Adaptable and Tailorable
• Holistic
• Empowering
• Exploration and Inquiry

With this in mind, questions that help guide my work as an educator include:
• How can I make the learning experience collaborative?
• How can I make the learning environment inclusive of diverse learning needs and multiple ways of knowing?
• How can I help students make connections between in and out-of-classroom experiences?
• How can I create an environment where students feel empowered by their learning?  
• How can I help students learn to work from a strengths-based perspective, work effectively in teams, and ask powerful questions?