Learn and Teach
"Tell me and I forget. Teaching me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." --Benjamin Franklin
My teaching philosophy incorporates two interconnected foundations: learning and teaching. Learning involves students as participating learners while teaching utilizes design, structure, and implementation of strategic pedagogies. For my entire career, I have determinedly tried to focus on scholarship to inform my learning and teaching. For example, my keen interest in classical and contemporary rhetoric started while teaching my very first freshman class while in graduate school. I wanted to learn what is writing, the history of writing, how writing works, and how writing impacts students' academic success and future. I started researching, reading, attending conferences and workshops, and gleaning from the teachings of great scholars of learning and teaching.
As an administrator, I have continued to share what I've learned with others, especially faculty. While as an early dean at Brigham Young University-Idaho, we were still building a university and creating its signature three-part Learning Model of Prepare, Teach One Another, Ponder & Prove. As a Deans Council we initiated documents and resources for faculty and students to guide us as we embarked on that what President Bednar called "the ship of curious workmanship." As a Dean of Instruction at Southwestern Oregon Community College, I felt a responsibility to train faculty on the scholarship of learning and teaching. Every Monday morning for years, I emailed to all campus faculty a weekly tip or strategy to enhance their professional roles at teachers. Initially, I adapted some of the Learning Model documents, but soon I expanded to include scholarship from many different sources. These weekly idea shares eventually generated nearly 150 documents over the years. Below are samplings of the weekly Learning and Teaching strategies formatted for a SWOCC audience. Creating Outcomes Structuring Learning
Preparing Instruction Learning and Teaching Reflecting and Proving Assessing |