As a teacher I strive to engage, challenge, and inspire growth in my students. It is my belief that every student is capable of tasting the passion that I feel for speech pathology by becoming collaborators in the exploration of speech pathology theory, research, and practice. My journey provided me experiences and opportunities to observe teachers from many disciplines and of many skill levels that shaped my teaching philosophy.
As a teacher, my goal is to create a learning environment that is conducive of active, engaged learning. I strive to be evidence-based, to create a safe space for learning and to make the educational experience fun. This is true whether teaching formally or informally, and whether my audience consists of undergraduate students, graduate clinicians or patients. My style of teaching is practical, experiential and occasionally humorous, which I believe leads to a collaborative learning process that benefits everyone involved.
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These two are linked and how I use these elements to define my educational approach is outlined below.
Respect for the learner
In the teacher-learner dyad, each element influences the success of the educational encounter. Engaging the learner is critical. One must start by gauging the needs of the learner, tailoring the approach to the learner and insuring a safe learning environment. A central goal is to encourage experimentation and taking chances. Consistent with this attitude of respect is my willingness to accept error and correct it quickly when it occurs. Honesty about expectations, successes and mistakes is the foundation for the respect that will insure optimal learning.
Appreciating different learning