Teaching Manifesto

Because educational theory provides frameworks and science of teaching and learning provides data upon which we can build our teaching practice...

My philosophical and theoretical frameworks, pedagogy, and practice are informed by evidence and are revised regularly based on personal practice data (personal reflective/reflexive practice and learner data, both formal and informal), personal development (webinars, conferences, etc), and engagement with a wide variety of scientific literature.

In reference to the teaching and learning of content, constructs, and skills of import, I am both a cognitive and social constructivist as much of the science regarding pedagogy and practice supports this orientation. Given this orientation, my classes are built around opportunities to actively grapple with and think critically about the complexities of the material as individuals and in groups and utilize high-impact learning practices (retrieval practice, interleaving, repeated trials, immediate feedback, etc). Experiences are scaffolded, and team-based learning factors heavily as learners work through problems of greater complexity and ambiguity.

Because many of my learners have a learning history in which success is a grade rather than a process leading to knowledge...

We actively begin deconstructing our paradigms of "success" in the classroom at the point of orientation. We interrogate the stories we hold regarding learning and assessment, and we redirect our focus on authentic learning. Fundamentally, my classroom and office are spaces in which we openly welcome the messiness of learning. This mindset informs the way I approach assessment.

In classes such as A&P, in which specific material must be learned, a competency-based approach is utilized. Any learners fully engaged in the material have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and infinite opportunities to receive feedback. In other classes, such as Counseling, in which learning is expressed as development along an individualized continuum, development is assessed via continual reflective and reflexive practice and writing in conjunction with individualized communication, resulting in explicit and/or implicit co-creation of personal learning and development goals.

Because learner engagement is reliant on multiple factors...

Setting the stage to develop a truly collaborative, authentic, and vulnerable spirit in our learning community is essential. As such, I endeavor to embody inclusive and relational practices that uncover and center learners’ unique strengths and abilities while prioritizing relationships and belonging (teacher-learner, learner-learner). Taking the time to learn and be curious about one and another is an initial priority.

Additionally, as trust in a teacher is earned not demanded, I am patient as learners collect data regarding my claims to be partners and co-creators in their learning journey. As in any genuine relationship, it is important for me to demonstrate my humanity (foibles and all) through sharing about mistakes I have made and lessons I have learned. My goal is to show up in each exchange authentically and vulnerably in a way that communicates my passion for their development.

Because both of my fields - Higher Education & Speech Language Pathology - are fundamentally built from a stance of white supremacy, colonialism, patriarchy, hetero-normativity, cis-normativity, and ableism...

I continually work to dismantle my own biases in service of striving toward anti-biased, anti-racist (ABAR) practices as an educator, SLP, and human. My learning and development center on critical race theory and formal and informal opportunities to hear the voices of lived experiences. I actively reject the concept of cultural competence and all of its intrinsic implications of "arriving" at a complete state of knowledge of a culture other than my own personal lived experience. I actively embrace and imperfectly practice cultural humility and cultural responsiveness and inclusive pedagogy. I will never be done. It is a lifelong commitment. I will continue to make mistakes, and I commit to making restitution for the harm I cause (rather than focus on my intent). I will live in discomfort while knowing the very fact I can make this choice is a sign of my immense privilege.

Because my learners will be practicing clinicians (or in the case of my SLPD learners, are currently practicing clinicians) in a field fraught by systemic racism and inequities that impact the very people we serve...

My classroom and office are brave spaces in which we challenge ourselves to individually and collectively practice critical reflection and reflexivity. We do this through sustained reflective and reflexive engagement with material that compels us to center people, experiences, and voices that have been historically stifled, reflect on the biased and/or racist thoughts and beliefs we may knowingly or unknowingly possess, and expand our perspective-taking. This is done in service of acknowledging the humanity in all and developing the commitment to act accordingly.

Because both Higher Ed and SLP desperately need to transgress old, stale thoughts, beliefs, and practices...

I endeavor to fully embody liberatory and emancipatory pedagogy. The works of bell hooks and others have informed my teaching philosophy in exceptionally deep and meaningful ways since I first read Teaching to Transgress in 1998. In our learning spaces, we seek to transgress prescribed roles, relationships, and ways of thinking, doing, and being. My hope is that this approach in our learning spaces translates to the development and reflection they do within themselves, within their relationships, and within their field. We practice asking hard questions (who are you in the therapeutic relationship? what is the goal of your work? who is centered in your diagnostics and therapy?) and we interrogate the very beliefs and values that brought us to the field of SLP and/or Higher Ed.

Because many of my learners have experienced traumatic learning experiences...

My classroom and office are places in which space is held for learners to unpack their prior learning experiences and decide if the narratives they have formed about themselves are both truthful and helpful. It is a privilege to accompany some of my learners on their journeys of seeing themselves, their strengths, and their abilities in new lights.

Because our learners are complex humans who demonstrate behavior that may obfuscate their true feeling, fears, or intentions...

I practice unrelenting curiosity. Bottom line, people have their reasons, even if they cannot perhaps explain them. When my learners exhibit behaviors that I don't understand - or perhaps don't even appreciate - I get curious. First, I ask myself if there is anything I have done (or not done) in our learning space/relationship that has led to this. This requires honest reflection on my part. Next, I ask myself to hypothesize the many reasons a learner may behave this way. What have their prior experiences taught them about learning and school? Why should they trust me yet (particularly if it is earlier in the start of the relationship)? How have they been "burned" by the system or individual instructors in the past? How has their prior schooling experience not only reinforced this behavior but perhaps even inculcated it? I am imperfect in this work, but having a reflective practice that forces me out of knee-jerk conclusions is essential to me truly serving my learners.