“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” During my early years, I heard my grandfather say this quote from Benjamin Franklin quite often. I teach business courses in three public colleges in Ontario, delivering lectures via various modes. The quote above is a perfect explanation of my teaching philosophy which revolves around engaging the learners by nurturing and challenging them to grow beyond the text. This article is an attempt to develop awareness of my teaching self and find areas for improvement. A brief discussion follows.
After reflecting on my teaching style and noticing the most common feedback in my teaching evaluations as “knowledgeable and empathetic”, I assessed my orientation to teaching by completed Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI). It was no surprise to see Apprenticeship and Nurturing as the strongest, followed by Developmental as my dominant perspectives. I am aware of my students’ ability to learn concepts from the already available traditional and modern learning resources. Hence, I work more as a facilitator who adds value by asking questions to make them think beyond what they know, presenting problems to seek solutions from them, and discussing examples to explain what experts do in similar situations. This also makes my students identify themselves as a learning-focussed cohort instead of performance-oriented individuals. It is quite obvious then, that TPI shows Transmission to be the back-up and Social Reform as a recessive trait for me. The tool has also helped me in understanding the underlying purpose in my classrooms, which is to teach them through hands-on-experience.
I keep myself and course content updated as per the industry needs, which allows me to adopt the most suited combination of delivery mode, instructional and lesson plans, teaching equipment and evaluations for each course. For example, for Marketing classes, I prefer using Flipped classroom but evaluate the students on the basis of the knowledge developed as against Entrepreneurship where I teach in traditional classroom but test their potential to be self-starters. I am also a strong supporter for augmenting pedagogical content knowledge for which I attend workshops and am also pursuing this Online Learning and Teaching program.
I believe that the mental processes can be nurtured, hence majorly adopt Cognitivist learning theory in my teaching. This approach concentrates on developing comprehension, analysis, generalization, evaluation, decision-making, problem-solving and creative thinking skills among the learners. The programs I teach focus on increasing employability of the students in business fields where decision making and problem solving at a quick pace are a pre-requisite. I like to have my students well-engaged and well-trained in the courseware which metamorphoses them into confident individuals, quick learners, multitaskers, and independent decision makers.
I make extensive use of Bloom’s taxonomy to develop learning outcomes, create curriculums, construct instructional designs, and devise lesson plans which progress the learner from remembering and understanding new concepts; through application and analysis; to evaluating existing information or sometimes, especially in courses such as Research Methodology and Entrepreneurship, even creating new knowledge.
An equally important characteristic of my classes is the adoption of the most important approach required for any setting – the human approach. I accommodate students of different abilities, by adjusting my teaching methods. Providing patient guidance to students who find the course material difficult by meeting them outside the classroom is a common aspect of my teaching. I also feel strongly for indigenous peoples and have a series named “Learn from the Indigenous” as part of some of my courses wherein I ask the students to invite an inspiring indigenous person for a talk.
In the end, I would like to say that though I am considered brilliant in course content, I want to compliment it with as much or even better pedagogical expertise. Until then, I will continue being known as a teacher who explains what and shows how to do and guides the students so they can determine when and why to do.
References
- Bates, A. W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Vancouver, BC: Tony Bates Associates. ISBN-13: 978-0-9952692-1-7
- Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Vol. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company
- Nigam, S. (2023). Philosophy of Teaching [Unpublished assignment submitted for EDDL 5111]. Thompson Rivers University.
- Pratt D. D., Collins J. B. (n.d.). Reflecting on TPI Results. Retrieved on Sep 27 from http://www.teachingperspectives.com/tpi/#/reflect-items
- Shulman L. S. (1986). Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14. https://doi-org.ezproxy.tru.ca/10.3102/0013189X015002004
- Tondeur, J., van Braak, J., Ertmer, P., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2017). Understanding the relationship between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and technology use in education: A systematic review of qualitative evidence. Educational Technology Research and Development, 65(3), 555–575. doi: 10.1007/s11423-016-9481-2
Shailly Nigam 