Teaching Dossier

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Two primary concerns form the foundation of my approach to teaching. First, I strive to stimulate students’ interest in exploring new thoughts. With this in mind, I design my lectures to faciliate active engagement with concepts, frequently incorporating debates and small group exercises. In my classroom, students are encouraged to examine their own value systems in relation to topics at hand. The development of personal connections to class material can help students to assimilated and critique what they learn. In this process of inquiry, I see my task to be the elucidation of the philosophical systems from which different perspectives emerge and try to remain open to differing viewpoints.Second, I strive create a teaching environment in which students can feel safe enough to experiment with new perspectives and challenge their own thinking. As I encourage students to introspect and to theorize about their experience, this process can entail a degree of anxiety and I have found that each classrooms may require a unique balance of comfort and stimulation in order to begin this work. Toward this end, I develop and adapt pedagogical approaches in response to the needs of each class of students. I am careful to be sensitive to issues of race, culture, sexism, heterosexism and religious diversity and to address the shortcomings in the literature and in the history of psychology with respect to these issues. My lectures often are utilized to add research from other cultures and perspectives to complement textbook readings. To foster a safe classroom environment, I present myself as one source of information for them to consider instead of as an irrefutable authority. At times, I ask for student participation in the shaping of the class structure and dynamics. By communicating respect for my students’ opinions and decisions I believe that I create an atmosphere that is conducive to exploration. My purpose is to help students view their own experiences as valid sources of knowledge, to guide them to integrate new information into their understanding of the world, and to better contextualize the information they already have.

Above all, I teach psychology because self-reflection is key in my own value system, and because, through teaching, I can pass on to others my love for the critical analysis of human experience. To me, the engagement in this process is the most important element of my teaching and, indeed, is the core concept I strive to impart to my students.

COURSES DEVELOPED