TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

In the disciplines of composition and communication studies, context is everything. Language and conventions evolve; what scholars consider “effective” or even “standard” may change, particularly as our global society elevates more and more previously excluded voices. Our students are navigating a critical moment where many online and offline spaces are negotiating what it means to practice “civility,” balancing free expression with safety and rights, and deliberating on what codes of conduct will be expected/accepted going forward. While educators don’t have all the answers, I do believe that the classroom is a great opportunity to promote global citizenship by modeling a democratic exchange of ideas. By creating space for students to wrestle with complicated, challenging issues, we might find that they go on to influence communities in positive ways through more effective questioning, listening, understanding, and responding.

In The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paolo Freire used the term “the banking model” to describe traditional views of teaching; in this practice, teachers are expected to “give” knowledge and students passively receive it. Since then, many more educators have introduced metaphors like “lighting a torch” as alternatives. Metaphors aside, I believe we each (“instructor” and “student”) come to the classroom as learners who agree to spend a set amount of time together in order to share a conversation and cultivate new understanding. We create a community and together decide, formally or informally, what our community agreements are going to be. We each make commitments to participate in own education and that of those around us. As an instructor, I see my role as an opportunity to invite students into a course of study, curating a selection of ideas that may offer some argument or new way of thinking to consider, respond to, and perhaps reject. Given my own courses of study, I may offer interpretations and/or guide with questions. “Instruction” is an opportunity and a privilege to model academic inquiry and nurture curiosity. It is an offering to help another person more effectively craft their ideas in thoughtful writing, speech, or other forms of response.

Part of teaching communication in a rapidly advancing technological world is building basic information and media literacy so that students are prepared to respond to the opportunities, changes, and challenges that come their way. We may not be able to teach students how to write about an issue that does not yet exist, but we can model critical thinking and communication skills that a student can build on well beyond when they leave our classroom.