Our Journey, Day 97

Day 97 of my Journey toward something new. Closing in on a hundred, which although it'll be just another day, seems like some sort of milestone. I'm polishing my CV and an essay on my "Teaching Philosophy", which I need for an application I'm submitting in the next couple of days (and which I’ll probably reuse in my tenure and promotion application). Rather than connecting my methods and goals with books or journal articles on pedagogical theory, as I've seen others have done, I decided to reflect reality. That is, I talk instead about what I've learned about the students who enroll in my classes at BSU and how I've tried to adjust my learning objectives and assessments to best serve the students. A big part of that has to do with making my history content relevant to their own lives and the roles they will (hopefully!) play as citizens in a democracy. Another big part is making my stuff affordable and accessible, which means OER.

As I mentioned, I'm not sure how this approach will go over with readers on a selection committee. But I've decided, instead of trying to anticipate what they're looking for and say that, I want to test them. If what I describe in my essay makes sense to them and seems valuable, then they're probably the types of people I could work well with. If they give my application a pass because I failed to cite the right educational theory, they're probably doing me a favor.

That's not to say I'm against educational theory or new developments in pedagogy. A lot is changing in Higher Ed right now and we need to rethink how (and why) we do what we do. I've learned a lot, over the past couple of years, from Instructional Designers with whom I've collaborated. But I do think the needs of the students come first, and while theory is a tool that facilitates teaching and learning, content should determine form. Programs that forget this may be putting the cart before the horse, to the detriment of students.