Teaching Philosophy

The core of my teaching philosophy includes continual reflection and a student centered focus on teaching.   Using these primary principles to guide my teaching strategies, I also emphasize individualized attention to students, enthusiasm and knowledge for the subject, fostering student confidence, recognizing learning disabilities/challenges for individual students, engaging curiosity and challenging students to exceed their potential.  I was inspired to develop this teaching philosophy from outstanding teachers I had, those who taught my children, and colleagues.  Each of these individuals taught me valuable lessons about becoming an outstanding educator and is where I draw inspiration for my teaching philosophy. 

The core of my teaching philosophy began to emerge early in my career:  continual reflection and a student centered approach to teaching.  When I began teaching as an associate faculty fourteen years ago, I had never taught a single class on my own.  My only formal teaching experience up to that point was from my undergraduate college years as a supplemental instruction tutor for biochemistry.  That first quarter at North Seattle College I struggled with how to teach the complex material of anatomy and physiology, but each year I would reflect and really listen to student feedback and each year I improved.  What evolved out of that experience was how to listen to my students to enable me to become a better instructor.  My inspiration for reflective teaching came from Kathleen Dunn who taught my children in elementary school and through her I learned that an outstanding teacher learns to read how well students receive a lesson and if the lesson didn’t reach the students, you reflect on a different strategy and try again with that lesson.  When I felt challenged about using different pedagogical strategies to teach lessons, I would reach out to other faculty, including Dr. Jenny McFarland at Edmonds College.  I was a student myself learning how to be a better teacher.  That continual reflection and seeking better methods of instruction, was pivotal in becoming a better teacher and still forms the core of my teaching philosophy to this day.  Together with professional development, I continue to reflect and expand my skills as an educator and evolve my courses to keep them fresh and modern.  It also inspires me to mentor associate faculty and share my experiences with other faculty through leadership and presentations at Edmonds College.  

Throughout my years as an associate faculty I honed my craft, but more importantly learned to connect with students by actively listening and responding to their needs.  This student centered approach helps me with the reflection process and forms the other major core of my teaching philosophy.  Much of this student centered teaching philosophy came from watching and learning from elementary teachers who taught my children.  Karen Emery recognized my son had a vision issue that was affecting his ability to learn to read.  From her I learned to pay attention to students to find those with learning disabilities or issues in their lives that affect their ability to learn.  In anatomy & physiology, one of the course learning objectives involves spelling and utilizing terminology correctly.  For students with dyslexia and English language learners, this can be especially challenging.  I developed a variety of tools including a terminology word bank for students to check spelling during assessments and terminology teaching strategies to help students learn the vocabulary.  These methods are helping all students learn terminology and make this topic more equitable for all students by removing barriers to their learning. Serena Lindley recognized my other introverted son struggled with traditional school pedagogy and found ways to help him shine as a student for his personality.  Through professional development, I have also learned how to incorporate universal design principles in my pedagogy to give students multiple means of learning, engagement, and demonstrating their knowledge of the course material.  This variety in learning methods encompasses a student centered approach to learning allowing students to have a more individualized approach to learning.

I also drew upon my own classroom experiences in school that taught me how a student can be inspired by teachers and the importance of individualized student attention for students to succeed and grow.  Wilda Crice, my kindergarten teacher, recognized my thirst for knowledge and ability to read exceeded what we were learning in class, so she took me aside and gave me books to read and individual attention to help me grow as a student.  That personal attention made an impact on me early in my education. In my teaching I try to make a difference for students in my classes in the same way, connecting with individual students to empower them to succeed. I have been able to help students find volunteer experiences to help them in their careers, empowered students to believe in themselves when others did not, and have guided them in their academic pathway to success both in their study skill development and in applying to transfer programs.  In graduate school, I initially failed my oral qualifying exam due to stressful personal circumstances.  My mentor, Dr. Christopher Rhodes, taught me to have confidence and perseverance in my research.  It was during this time that as a student, I learned to really believe in myself despite the challenges I faced outside the classroom.  I learned just how important confidence in your abilities is critical to student success.  Creating a positive learning environment for the classroom is critical to giving students a safe space to learn and grow in confidence.  In my classroom community, I make a point of building student confidence in themselves, working with them through personal challenges, and encouraging them to succeed and exceed their expectations.  I find that when the teacher has a growth mindset and believes in their students, it empowers students to succeed.  I take the time to listen and respond to student concerns, encourage goal-setting and share my own experiences, respond promptly to their questions, provide individual career and academic advising, and have developed an academic and career module to help students with their transfer applications as part of the curriculum and provide important feedback during their application process.  

At the end of the day, there’s still a need to teach the subject material to students in an engaging way.  In high school, Nancy Manson taught me biology and showed so much enthusiasm that it challenged me to learn more about the subject.  This excitement for biology is something I feel is important to show students when I teach about science.  I am fascinated with biology and medicine and share my experiences through real-world applications of the content and personal stories. In college, I worked with Dr. James Hu in his research lab.  His enthusiasm for research, ability to patiently teach me the complex concepts for the research, and trust me with a research project that ultimately culminated in publishing my first paper.  This patience in teaching complex concepts is something I also try to bring to my students. Anatomy & physiology is a challenging subject and requires innovative teaching strategies to find new ways to teach the material.  I developed a regional approach to learning the anatomy of bones, muscles, and joints to explain this complex material in a way that is more approachable for students.  I also volunteered with the science club at the elementary level and watched Joanne Burkett bring out students' natural curiosity about science by asking them questions about how they view what they are learning.  Sparking a natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge is something I try to inspire in my students with the way I teach.  I model this approach in my own teaching to encourage students to engage their natural curiosity of medicine and the human body to gain more from their learning.

Perhaps the biggest challenge and growth in my teaching philosophy occurred with the pandemic.  I had to take all that I had learned about teaching and turn it on its head.  Students were struggling and I needed to find a way to reach students in a different format, online instruction.  For this I took those core teaching principles of reflection and student centered learning and collaborated extensively with colleagues to share pedagogical strategies for online platforms. I sought professional development to learn emerging techniques to better teach the material to students.  I also thought about the fundamental needs and challenges facing students to succeed and learn.  As a result, I developed an online course design for students that was accessible and included representation for under-served voices in biology by introducing cultural connections and pioneering scientists to the course material.  I went a step further and incorporated hyflex learning modalities to give students greater choice in how they learned so that they could still learn even when personal circumstances prevented them from attending class. 

Staying true to my core principles of reflection and student centered learning enables me to expand my pedagogical knowledge, reduce the equity gap for underrepresented students, and continually evolve my courses and curriculum with a fresh and modern touch.  This dynamic approach to teaching and learning is how I am able to work towards becoming the outstanding educator I aspire to be. While the work is far from complete, my student evaluations and teaching observations consistently show my commitment to fostering student success and my efforts towards quality instruction for my students.