Teaching Philosophy - Full

Elizabeth Cashman's Philosophy of Teaching

Although I've only been in an instructor position for the past two years, looking back on my previous career as a technical support engineer, I feel like I've been teaching for a lot longer than that. As a support engineer, particularly at times when I had a static assignment of customers, teaching was as much a part of my job as troubleshooting and fixing problems. There were always new administrators for whom I had to provide product assistance, there were always new software releases with new features that had to be explained, and there were always questions about best practices to help customers get the most out of their software.

Becoming an instructor was not something I had ever considered as a career path until I spent several years at a company where newly hired employees were sent to six weeks of onboarding training, but no one retained anything later. I felt that there had to be a better way, and tried to find an opportunity to prove that. In my role as a facilitator with my current company, I feel that not only do I have the ability to help 'my' former customers, I can help all customers, and I can draw upon my experiences in technical support to help give validity to what I say. I also believe that one of the most important things I can do for learners in my classroom is to provide them the answer to the question, "Can you really help me?" Keeping these ideas in mind, I believe that the paragraphs that follow best suit me as a current philosophy of teaching, with the understanding that these things will also change and adapt over time.

As a facilitator, it is my responsibility to make learning available to all of my learners, regardless of their age, experience level, culture, or other diversity group, thus enabling them to perform tasks that are essential for their jobs. It is my responsibility to ensure that my classroom is inclusive, that all students feel comfortable asking questions and expressing their opinions without fear of reprisal from anyone in the classroom. It is my responsibility to ensure that the information I present is concise, well-organized, and pertinent to the subject at hand, while also maintaining the flexibility to adapt to changing needs in the classroom. It is my responsibility to convey this information in a manner that is easily understood, to be enthusiastic, to be responsive to questions, and to always respect the prior knowledge that every student brings with them to the classroom.

I can accomplish these things by following the progressive philosophy of adult education:

• Giving my learners practical knowledge on how to perform tasks and troubleshoot issues that may come up in the course of their job.

• Listening to the needs of my learner, and adapting class materials if necessary.

• Providing practical, experience-based exercises that will mimic how a learner would perform the same tasks in a real-world environment.

• Providing group exercises so that learners can learn from one another in addition to learning from the facilitator.

• Establishing a supportive and cooperative environment so that all learners feel comfortable asking questions, regardless of their topic.