Teaching Philosophy - Reading

What is my teaching philosophy? I don't believe I have a concrete answer to this just yet. After reading Elizabeth Natalle's first chapter of Teaching Interpersonal Communication I have come realize how important a philosophy is within the classroom. For her she pushes her students for excellence, and hopes with education and guidance they will continue on as 'good people' (16). I know most instructors and professors hope for these qualities in some way or another. So I know my philosophy will follow suit, as well. But I have realized that what makes a good professor great is the ability to transform and enlighten a student in a way that will last with them indefinitely. I would like to be one of these instructors. I want to inspire and encourage. I want to make a lasting impression that will benefit a student's life. I want them to gain skills and knowledge they can use to improve their own lives. I hope with deeper thought I will be able to articulate a proper teaching philosophy.

I-It, I-Thou

Reading Buber again definitely puts my world into perspective. It's so easy to put someone or something into an 'it' category. Unfortunately, most of us to this most of the time. However, if we want to be an "I" we must treat people as a "You", according to Buber.

To facilitate such an in-depth topic I struggled on how to make it fun and also make sense. One tip I used from Train Smart was an open loop. I put a quote from Buber on the white board. I didn't address it until the end of class, after we had gone through the activities and discussed what the reading meant. Once I made my way to the quote it seemed as though more lightbulbs went off in the room. Now going over a quote from Buber himself made more sense than it did at the beginning of class. It was a great tool to use in this instance.

Unruly Students

I am writing - a few days late on my experience with ill-mannered students. I have found that when students don't respect the professor or myself my blood begins to boil. I am trying to figure out how to simmer down my emotions when these types of situations happen. One idea Dr. Reeder and I came up with was to be prepared for anything. So unfortunately, in some classes you as the instructor (or assistant) must strategize and be on your toes for anyTHING.

One plan that helped was turning the environment into a reflective opportunity. The students had a chance to write down what they saw as needing improvement from the last class. After doing this the room became a lot more still and the students seemed ready to participate in a respectful manner.

Facilitation

Last week I facilitated an upper level undergraduate class. The chapter was on the Relational Self. I struggled with what to do to make it more interesting because it was a short chapter and within it had quite a bit of compacted information. What finally came to mind was MUSIC. I used different songs that shape people's reality either of themselves, a significant other, a possibly dating relationship, or of an ex relationship partner. It worked rather well. As they walked in the music was playing and it created a different atmosphere for creativity to start. In fact, that class the students got really deep with their dialogue. I was certainly impressed. Also, another tactic I think helped was having everyone around the table. It is a large class and so people will stack up instead of open up the circle. Having everyone around the table to share really allow flow to the conversation.

Train Smart

Rich Allen offers excellent advice on training/instructing. Out of all 25 different techniques and tips what I realized is the emphasis on trust. Allen continually encourages trust and safety within a training atmosphere. But what's so unique is Allen does not come out and say, "This is a safe place. We can all trust each other. Thus, learning will occur and everyone will win." No. Instead, throughout all twenty five tips Allen elicits trust from the different techniques. As a result trust is gained and the environment can fully develop as an educational session. This makes perfect sense when thinking about two people - one says to the other "Just trust me"... well, that person can't trust the other if there isn't any foundation where trust has been established. Thus, Allen's ability to gain trust with students/audience is essential in creating a safe atmosphere.

I can definitely see myself using the different tactics Allen provides. Throughout most of the book the author suggests how to move the audience around the room. Often presenters lecture for minutes or hours on end. Once the trainer moves into 'lecture speed' (as I call it) then the audience can take a backseat and relax for the next few hours or so. Unfortunately, when this happens the audience also takes a backseat to learning, as well. To fix this problem the twenty five tips move students and the trainer to instill a form of creativity in the mind and body. As a result the blood gets flowing for the students and learning can take place.

Just as a reference (for myself) and for others reading the 25 train smart suggestions are as follows:
1. Acknowledgement
2. Bridges and Zones
3. Comfort Levels
4. Task Completion
5. Contrast
6. Precise Directions
7. Resource Distribution
8. Teach It Standing
9. Participant Inquiry
10. Adequate Response Time
11. Specify Response Mode
12. Question/Clarify/Question
13. Managing Disruptions
14. Creative Note-Taking
15. Positive Language
16. Involve, Don't Tell
17. Ownership
18. Pause for Visuals
19. Press and Release
20. Purposeful Body Language
21. Visual-Field Variations
22. Vocal Italics
23. Music Matters
24. Guiding Attention
25. Verbal Specificity

Looking over all of these in list form they seem like common sense; however, from many lectures I have attended 'common sense' may not be the right word because hardly many professors/trainers use these tools. I hope more instructors gain these tips because truly they seem common sense to me.