“Education is life itself.” ----John Dewey
A farmer is fascinated by planting seeds and watching them transform. As a psychology instructor, I am absorbed by planting the seeds of knowledge in my students and watching their creativity and abilities evolve. Both invigorating processes require the farmer or the instructor to be dedicated to their craft. Teacher-student interaction comprises the main aspect of the teacher-student relationship. Particularly, since psychology is a science about human behavior, the instructor teaching a psychology course contributes to shaping students’ sense of developing as human beings.
In the long-term, I have made every effort to build students’ self-esteem and self-awareness through dissemination, application, and reconstruction of knowledge. In the short-term, I set obtainable objectives to help my students succeed: 1) develop the style of self-regulatory learning and the ability to apply knowledge to real life; 2) hone skills of critical thinking; and 3) strengthen the ability to work collaboratively.
Several elements of good teaching have helped me attain my course goals. First, incorporating my passion for teaching has been powerful in arousing students’ enthusiasm, curiosities, and interests in knowledge acquisition. Second, adopting effective teaching strategies has helped my students develop self-regulatory learning styles and has given them an ability to apply classroom knowledge to real life. Third, exploring connections between psychology and daily life and searching for a variety of resources (scientific findings, clinical cases, examples from real life, and multimedia materials) have enable my students to think critically and contextualize theoretical knowledge in the real world. Fourth, through a variety of class activities, my students have been able to understand the needs and perspectives of the people around them to get through life, and to understand themselves better. These activities have helped my students develop skills in self-awareness, problem solving, communication, initiative, and teamwork.
My research, involving knowledge production, informs my teaching. My teaching, involving knowledge transmission, enlightens my research. Cutting across boundaries separating philosophy and psychology, my future research ideas may be derived from my teaching. Teaching is like planting seeds. Due to my passion for teaching, my understanding of learning, and my approaches to assessing learning, I love to plant the seeds of ability and creativity. Although the effects of teaching might not be visible immediately, as long as I have patience, I expect the flowers to bloom someday.