My Teaching Philosophy
I believe in creating safe environments in my classroom. I try to build a relationship with my students that motivate them towards becoming active and engaged in the learning activities. Students’ inter-personal relationship is very important to me, I treat my classroom as a small society where everyone has a crucial role and have an important contribution to the well-being of the whole community. Through my courses, I lean towards adapting the role of a facilitator and motivating my students make their own connections with the content material, through this I aim to develop their critical thinking, radical problem-solving skills and understand their learning through a personal lens rather than the scenario provided by me.
I want to teach with the goal to make my students realize that classroom learning goes way beyond the walls of any class or university. It prepares them for the real world; Hence, I believe in collaborative and shared learning, discussion panels, pair and group projects where students not only learn from there instructor but also from one-another. I agree with Lev Vygotsky’s theory of Socialization, that humans learn from socializing, they thrive in social interactions and need that for a positive growth mindset. I integrate this theory into my teaching philosophy, any human or student need social interaction, the validation from their peers and appreciation from the society they live in.
My inspiration to continue on this pathway of communicative learning is founded and established on the constant feedback I receive from my students, they have mentioned that they like the calm atmosphere I create in the class, they appreciate the follow-up questions I ask them about instructions and even their personal lives some time.
My ultimate goal for my students is to become kind, self-aware and empathetic citizens of our society and world. I want them to see beyond what they have been conditioned to think and be able to use their learning as a efficient tool to think and act critically.
Finally, an important aspect of my teaching philosophy is to teach without any prejudices, teach with my whole heart, be able to make mistakes and learn form those. I want to keep on learning about my students and from my students. And keep trying new things that keep me dynamic and not stagnant on my teaching pathway.