Teaching

I believe that education, ultimately, is for helping us all (students, teachers, and communities) learn how to live in our places well and contribute to healthy, resilient, prosperous, and just communities. Thus, I believe that today's educators must strive to teach value as much as theory, conviction as much as efficiency, critical thinking and wisdom over cleverness, a willingness to question norms (including those within academia), and passion as much as knowledge. This is especially true for a biology teacher. In a world where natural resources are often portrayed as doomed to depletion, it is imperative that a teacher of biology remains positive, full of conviction, and passionate.  As Rachel Carson's life and words have shown us, “if facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow".