Transparency
This is little follow up to my earlier post on teaching/ library instruction philosophy:
At a teaching and learning workshop today on campus, a faculty member asked a faculty panel to summarize their teaching philosophy in one sentence. His example: "My teaching philosophy is compassion and rigor." I went back to my notes on my own teaching philosophy, and reflected on my reflection (how meta!). What is the core of my teaching philosophy? I ignored my strategies for integrating information literacy, working with faculty, and managing the larger information literacy curriculum, and thought solely about my time in the classroom with students.
My teaching philosophy in one word: Transparency.
I want students to know what we are doing and why we are doing it. I want them to know what I am doing on the back end, and how I struggle. I think transparency gives them agency in the classroom, and shows them that I can make mistakes, that I have questions, and that I'm not always a sage on the stage. I don't use transparency to mean everything is easy or uncomplicated or clear -- but that the processes for dealing with difficult, complicated and opaque issues is open and honest. Obfuscating does not help learning. Discussing the "why" --or even getting student to ask "why"-- helps pull back the curtain, make connections, and create critical thinkers.
At a teaching and learning workshop today on campus, a faculty member asked a faculty panel to summarize their teaching philosophy in one sentence. His example: "My teaching philosophy is compassion and rigor." I went back to my notes on my own teaching philosophy, and reflected on my reflection (how meta!). What is the core of my teaching philosophy? I ignored my strategies for integrating information literacy, working with faculty, and managing the larger information literacy curriculum, and thought solely about my time in the classroom with students.
My teaching philosophy in one word: Transparency.
I want students to know what we are doing and why we are doing it. I want them to know what I am doing on the back end, and how I struggle. I think transparency gives them agency in the classroom, and shows them that I can make mistakes, that I have questions, and that I'm not always a sage on the stage. I don't use transparency to mean everything is easy or uncomplicated or clear -- but that the processes for dealing with difficult, complicated and opaque issues is open and honest. Obfuscating does not help learning. Discussing the "why" --or even getting student to ask "why"-- helps pull back the curtain, make connections, and create critical thinkers.
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