Teaching Philosophy Reflections

Reviewing three of my peers teaching philosophies made me very grateful for such diverse and talented perspectives on teaching!  Well done! 

Paula, Krista, and Carrie provided very thorough, detailed and organized philosophies.  Both Krista’s and Carrie’s philosophies organized their goals, style, and assessment into headings which broke up the monotony.  I failed to consider how important and appealing structure can be when addressing multiple parameters.  Another aspect of the philosophies that I really appreciated was the emphasis on today’s challenges and the diversity of those problems.  Krista described developing ‘strong agricultural ambassadors’ throughout her goals, which inevitably resonates with mission statements at the department, college, and university levels.  Carrie encouraged a warm and welcoming environment, an important area that I seriously underestimated.  Creating a happy and healthy learning atmosphere starts with the energy stemming from the instructor.  This can be extremely important with new freshmen in their first semester and should be emphasized accordingly.  Paula emphasized one of my favorite classroom aspects, respect.  She put it very elegantly when she stated that ‘respect is fostered by the teacher and supported by the student’. 

I can already see myself revamping my philosophy immensely.  Krista, Paula, and Carrie brought to light some amazing insights that I failed to recognize.  Their insights consisting of classroom environment, current problems, and hard work ethics are core areas that deserve more emphasis throughout my teaching philosophy.  Reading philosophies that were broken down into headings was easier to process and remember.  In addition, specific and bluntly stated goals were easy to follow and understand.