Oh the Teaching Philosophy...

I think it makes sense that a teaching philosophy would always have to be in flux, would always have to be reflexive to the changing environment, would always have to be progressing. It seems like a teaching philosophy grows and changes as you as a person, as a teacher, grows and changes. My personal teaching philosophy has never really been stable. It tends to shift with my various passions at the time. I remember last year I was really in to enabling students to fully express themselves. Now, my teaching philosophy is being effected by my experiences on Raider Writer and with 1301. I think that students need instruction, and that they need to be treated like adults who can articulate their ideas and who should be expected to put in their best effort. My ideas are slightly effected by psychology, and the research in the field that shows that teacher expectations are a good predictor of the student's output. If we expect our students to do shallow analysis and shoddy work, perhaps the students think that is ok. If we expect higher standards, and if we relay and enforce those expectations within the classroom setting and within our grading, perhaps the students would recognize the different expectations and therefore respond differently. Also, my teaching philosophy is being influenced by my own classes. I have always been involved with ethnic literature, and the ideas that are focused on in these classes influence how I want to teach. I do not want to teach to the canon, to the traditional. I want to challenge students to challenge their pre-conceptions, and the ideas of unified opinions. I want students to see the different ideas that comprise our society and make it so variegated. Especially in Texas, I want students to recognize that they, too, live on borders. In my teaching method and my materials, I hope to challenge students to move outside of their comfort zone, and to do it well.