Teaching Philosophy
I feel very fortunate to be a human resources professor in the School of Business, IT & Management at Durham College. The College’s mission is “The student experience comes first at Durham College” and it is this mission statement that not only attracted me to the college as a place to work, but forms the essence of my teaching philosophy. The statement reminds me to never forget why I am here - to assist students in achieving their program outcomes and prepare them for a career in the field of human resources. I believe that in order to facilitate learning (my notion of the role of a professor) one has to be cognizant of the student experience and how your actions as a professor influences that experience – the more positive the experience, the more effective the learning environment. Three words capture how I hope to positively shape the student experience: perspective, awareness and relevance.
PERSPECTIVE At times I view my role as an instructor to that of an optometrist – handing out various lenses for students to see through. This is done not to correct their vision, but rather to offer them new ways of looking at the world. HR is a nuanced profession and to be successful one must develop the ability to understand, and value, other people’s perspectives. A primary goal of the HR professional is to get different people with disparate views, life experiences and motivations to work together to achieve corporate objectives. Therefore, I feel that it is important for students to examine their own beliefs and be introduced to different ideas, cultures, values and ways of looking at the world. One way in which I facilitate this in the classroom is by employing self-reflective exercises (asking students to examine their own views on a topic and explore what factors may have influenced these views). I also facilitate think-pair-share exercises and group discussions, many times after showing a video which looks at a concept in a unique or challenging way. When I started teaching I gave little thought as to how to group students – opting more often than not to allowing students to select their own group members. Over the past year I have found increasing value in splitting up students into random groups which has served to enhance the opportunities for perspective sharing.
Following on the heels of perspective, my teaching philosophy hangs on the notion of AWARENESS. You have to know your “why’s”. Knowing that I am here to create a positive student experience, which I believe to be a fundamental component of an effective learning environment, requires that I be present when I teach. I cannot stand behind a podium and talk from a distance. I must be able to adapt my teaching practices based on how students are feeling and progressing through the material. To do this I need to be aware of my students and close to the action. Asking for student feedback is a fundamental component of my teaching philosophy and so easy to do. Quite literally I ask students if there is anything I can do to explain the material better or do differently to be more effective as an instructor. To this end, all of my courses are set up with an online survey facility where they can anonymously provide start/stop/continue feedback. Additionally, I start every course with a student questionnaire - the purpose of which is for me to learn more about what students’ value in a learning environment. An additional purpose of the student questionnaire is for students to document their “why’s” – why are they taking the course and what personal goals do they have? Student awareness I believe is just as essential as faculty awareness – both contribute to improving student self-efficacy and enhancing the learning environment.
The final component of my teaching philosophy is RELEVANCE. Students studying human resources wish to obtain a position in the field and many of them also wish to obtain the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation. As such, I must ensure that the information I am communicating about a subject or the learning activities used to support learning are both relevant, useful, and aligned with the Human Resources Professional competency framework. My goal is for students to walk away from each course I teach with something tangible – a practice or procedure that will help them in today’s workplace and also prepare them for their certification examination. This component of my philosophy informs my evaluation approach. Assignments are developed with a focus on experiential learning and practical application. For example, students in my training & development course are expected to create a training module to be delivered on-line or in-class. The lesson plans and learning objects they produce may be used for their own portfolios. My recruitment & selection students are involved in a collaborative mock interview activity whereby they interview Police Foundation Students from the School of Justice. This provides my students with authentic experience interviewing candidates, providing feedback and making assessments.
Finally, my teaching philosophy includes one additional element over and above perspective, awareness and relevance - kindness – both to my students and myself. I can’t think of one negative aspect of displaying kindness to students. This doesn’t mean you are “soft” or “gullible” – it simply means that you are considerate, reasonable and empathetic. In terms of being kind to myself – I am pretty sure that I am going to fail at times in my effort to be an effective instructor! That’s OK – it just means that I keep trying and keep learning.
PERSPECTIVE At times I view my role as an instructor to that of an optometrist – handing out various lenses for students to see through. This is done not to correct their vision, but rather to offer them new ways of looking at the world. HR is a nuanced profession and to be successful one must develop the ability to understand, and value, other people’s perspectives. A primary goal of the HR professional is to get different people with disparate views, life experiences and motivations to work together to achieve corporate objectives. Therefore, I feel that it is important for students to examine their own beliefs and be introduced to different ideas, cultures, values and ways of looking at the world. One way in which I facilitate this in the classroom is by employing self-reflective exercises (asking students to examine their own views on a topic and explore what factors may have influenced these views). I also facilitate think-pair-share exercises and group discussions, many times after showing a video which looks at a concept in a unique or challenging way. When I started teaching I gave little thought as to how to group students – opting more often than not to allowing students to select their own group members. Over the past year I have found increasing value in splitting up students into random groups which has served to enhance the opportunities for perspective sharing.
Following on the heels of perspective, my teaching philosophy hangs on the notion of AWARENESS. You have to know your “why’s”. Knowing that I am here to create a positive student experience, which I believe to be a fundamental component of an effective learning environment, requires that I be present when I teach. I cannot stand behind a podium and talk from a distance. I must be able to adapt my teaching practices based on how students are feeling and progressing through the material. To do this I need to be aware of my students and close to the action. Asking for student feedback is a fundamental component of my teaching philosophy and so easy to do. Quite literally I ask students if there is anything I can do to explain the material better or do differently to be more effective as an instructor. To this end, all of my courses are set up with an online survey facility where they can anonymously provide start/stop/continue feedback. Additionally, I start every course with a student questionnaire - the purpose of which is for me to learn more about what students’ value in a learning environment. An additional purpose of the student questionnaire is for students to document their “why’s” – why are they taking the course and what personal goals do they have? Student awareness I believe is just as essential as faculty awareness – both contribute to improving student self-efficacy and enhancing the learning environment.
The final component of my teaching philosophy is RELEVANCE. Students studying human resources wish to obtain a position in the field and many of them also wish to obtain the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation. As such, I must ensure that the information I am communicating about a subject or the learning activities used to support learning are both relevant, useful, and aligned with the Human Resources Professional competency framework. My goal is for students to walk away from each course I teach with something tangible – a practice or procedure that will help them in today’s workplace and also prepare them for their certification examination. This component of my philosophy informs my evaluation approach. Assignments are developed with a focus on experiential learning and practical application. For example, students in my training & development course are expected to create a training module to be delivered on-line or in-class. The lesson plans and learning objects they produce may be used for their own portfolios. My recruitment & selection students are involved in a collaborative mock interview activity whereby they interview Police Foundation Students from the School of Justice. This provides my students with authentic experience interviewing candidates, providing feedback and making assessments.
Finally, my teaching philosophy includes one additional element over and above perspective, awareness and relevance - kindness – both to my students and myself. I can’t think of one negative aspect of displaying kindness to students. This doesn’t mean you are “soft” or “gullible” – it simply means that you are considerate, reasonable and empathetic. In terms of being kind to myself – I am pretty sure that I am going to fail at times in my effort to be an effective instructor! That’s OK – it just means that I keep trying and keep learning.