Teaching Statement
My passion for research and dedication to teaching stems from a deep personal desire to explore the mysteries of our world through literature, and it is my hope to encourage my students to develop a similar spirit of curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
I have taught in American and British university settings, and in both settings I have found that the classroom is not merely an arena in which a teacher transfers knowledge to students. It is an environment in which students should feel confident and motivated, where learning is explored, ideas are shared, and students grow in their knowledge both of the subject at hand and themselves. I want my students to be not just able to identify themes, motifs, and other literary features in a particular text, but to be able to take those critical reading skills and apply them to texts from the same period and from different time periods and genres. I also want my students to use critical thinking skills when considering how language is used in our society and our world in order to become better global citizens.
I desire to encourage deep, rather than surface, learning among my students. For example, I opened a tutorial on The Dream of the Rood by brainstorming the themes students found in the work. My students named three themes: religion, heroism, and riddling, which they picked up from the School of English lectures; their recitation was an example of surface learning. To encourage deeper learning, I tasked three groups to find textual evidence for these themes and to present their findings on how their theme provides a framework to interpret the text. In a similar exercise in the future, I would take this assignment further by discussing the ways these thematic interpretations complement or contradict each other.
My first-year composition classes at Texas Woman’s University comprise about twenty students. Even though Composition is for most of my students’ their smallest class, I subdivide it further into “Houses,” which increases the effectiveness of my teaching by creating a more collegial environment. During each class period, I shift instruction from large-group lecture or discussion to activities and discussions in each House. I then hold occasional “House tutorials” during the semester during which I can give each group of students more personalized attention. Students who may have been reluctant to speak up in the larger group are less intimidated by the House tutorial’s smaller size, and the discussions during these tutorials are both rich and rewarding. In addition to instruction in class, I hold regular student conferences that allow me to meet with each student individually.
Student feedback indicates that I am both an effective and popular instructor, not only because of my teaching, but also because of my care for each individual student. I am constantly reviewing my teaching methods to ensure that they are both fair and challenging. I arrange student conferences at the beginning of the semester to ensure that I get a sense of each student as an individual who has a life and interests outside of my classroom. My students at Texas Woman’s University have often commented that I am their only teacher who knows their names. I have received feedback that I “understand a student’s strength and weaknesses” and “genuinely care about what students are actually learning.”
Because my students are comfortable with me as an instructor, I often find myself taking a pastoral role with some of my students. My students come to my office hours both to talk about their essays and also to seek advice about time management. I empower my students to take responsibility of their education by being firm about deadlines, teaching research strategies and organisational skills, and making clear my expectations that students put in more than the minimum effort required to pass the course. When working with students who have disabilities, I discuss with each student his or her goals for the course, the extent of his or her abilities, and decide with the student upon accommodation best suited for him or her. My students appreciate that I not only explain how to do their assignments, but also my reasoning behind designing and setting those assignments. In doing so, I invite them into a more collaborative environment within the classroom, which has had positive results.
With the understanding that an enthusiastic and qualified teacher, good pedagogic practice, and motivated students are a recipe for success in any university or college classroom, my assignments are designed to support engagement with the ideas discussed in class and to ensure deeper learning. The goals for my classroom are to create a space in which students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning, to perform their understanding through a variety of assignments, and to gain critical writing and thinking skills.
I have taught in American and British university settings, and in both settings I have found that the classroom is not merely an arena in which a teacher transfers knowledge to students. It is an environment in which students should feel confident and motivated, where learning is explored, ideas are shared, and students grow in their knowledge both of the subject at hand and themselves. I want my students to be not just able to identify themes, motifs, and other literary features in a particular text, but to be able to take those critical reading skills and apply them to texts from the same period and from different time periods and genres. I also want my students to use critical thinking skills when considering how language is used in our society and our world in order to become better global citizens.
I desire to encourage deep, rather than surface, learning among my students. For example, I opened a tutorial on The Dream of the Rood by brainstorming the themes students found in the work. My students named three themes: religion, heroism, and riddling, which they picked up from the School of English lectures; their recitation was an example of surface learning. To encourage deeper learning, I tasked three groups to find textual evidence for these themes and to present their findings on how their theme provides a framework to interpret the text. In a similar exercise in the future, I would take this assignment further by discussing the ways these thematic interpretations complement or contradict each other.
My first-year composition classes at Texas Woman’s University comprise about twenty students. Even though Composition is for most of my students’ their smallest class, I subdivide it further into “Houses,” which increases the effectiveness of my teaching by creating a more collegial environment. During each class period, I shift instruction from large-group lecture or discussion to activities and discussions in each House. I then hold occasional “House tutorials” during the semester during which I can give each group of students more personalized attention. Students who may have been reluctant to speak up in the larger group are less intimidated by the House tutorial’s smaller size, and the discussions during these tutorials are both rich and rewarding. In addition to instruction in class, I hold regular student conferences that allow me to meet with each student individually.
Student feedback indicates that I am both an effective and popular instructor, not only because of my teaching, but also because of my care for each individual student. I am constantly reviewing my teaching methods to ensure that they are both fair and challenging. I arrange student conferences at the beginning of the semester to ensure that I get a sense of each student as an individual who has a life and interests outside of my classroom. My students at Texas Woman’s University have often commented that I am their only teacher who knows their names. I have received feedback that I “understand a student’s strength and weaknesses” and “genuinely care about what students are actually learning.”
Because my students are comfortable with me as an instructor, I often find myself taking a pastoral role with some of my students. My students come to my office hours both to talk about their essays and also to seek advice about time management. I empower my students to take responsibility of their education by being firm about deadlines, teaching research strategies and organisational skills, and making clear my expectations that students put in more than the minimum effort required to pass the course. When working with students who have disabilities, I discuss with each student his or her goals for the course, the extent of his or her abilities, and decide with the student upon accommodation best suited for him or her. My students appreciate that I not only explain how to do their assignments, but also my reasoning behind designing and setting those assignments. In doing so, I invite them into a more collaborative environment within the classroom, which has had positive results.
With the understanding that an enthusiastic and qualified teacher, good pedagogic practice, and motivated students are a recipe for success in any university or college classroom, my assignments are designed to support engagement with the ideas discussed in class and to ensure deeper learning. The goals for my classroom are to create a space in which students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning, to perform their understanding through a variety of assignments, and to gain critical writing and thinking skills.