Teaching Philosophy
As a teacher, I am successful if I provide my students with a road map of the terrain they can expect in their future endeavors, a tool box to be used on their journey and a personalized compass.
From my experience in theater, I have learned that no matter how much a director may want to leap on stage and “do it right,” she cannot. Instead, she must help the actors learn to be their best in a variety of unpredictable situations. In the classroom — whether that classroom be in a university, a high school, a theatre, a coffeehouse, or a factory (all places in which I have taught) — the teacher also must remember that he can’t do the work for the students, and he won’t be available later in their life when they need the skills he provided. Like a theater director providing a foundation from which actors work, the teacher must direct his students toward thinking skills that can be applied to a variety of circumstances.
The classroom should be like a good rehearsal: Relaxed and fun (which are not synonyms for easy), where students feel safe attempting to learn something they did not know before. They will make mistakes, but those risks should be encouraged because they usually lead to greater rewards. The goal is to finish the class with the ability to “perform” with their newly-acquired knowledge in a real world environment.
Just as different actors need different direction, different classrooms and students have different needs. Teaching is as dynamic as improvised comedy. A talented improv troupe listens carefully to their audience and tailors their show accordingly. The talented teacher also interacts with different classrooms differently. One of my classes, for example, was excited by classroom discussion while another class with the same curriculum during the same semester was far less talkative. For the class that was reticent to talk, I created a variety of hands-on exercises for them to practice. When presented with the same exercises, the other class focused more quickly on the purpose of the assignments and assimilated knowledge through discussion.
Though my classes are personal and personalized, and though I recognize that my student's work, like mine, is in a constant state of improvement, I know that I am required to judge their work. When success is defined as a real and attainable goal, most students are eager to meet the challenge. Writing, specifically, is something that I believe we can all do well. Furthermore, I believe we all should. While I try to balance on the thin line between authority figure and encouraging friend, I hope that my passion for my subject and my job forgives any mistakes that I, like everyone else, may make.
Good writers, good actors, or completely fluent English speakers will not pop, glistening and ready to perform, from my tutelage. Writers, actors and speakers develop over lifetimes. I can, however, inspire my students with an appreciation for the subject, convey the boundaries within which they will be expected to work, and explain techniques that can help them achieve their goals. I hope, most of all, that their thinking about the subject continues after my class ends. If my students discover what motivates them and how to think for themselves — like actors ready and eager to “knock ’em dead” when the curtain rises — I am confident that my students will succeed.
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