Shaho Saeed

Teaching Philosophy:

My teaching philosophy is based on enhancing critical thinking, creativity and integrative learning. Critical thinking makes me a constant learner and guides me to discover what students need and how their argument skills and cognitive levels can be raised. Linking such a potential with creative thinking leads to obtaining the integrative learning which allows educators to navigate among different teaching methodologies in accordance with different contexts.

I believe that students should occupy the central position in the educational prosses, and they are entitled to receive a fair answer when they ask, “Why should we take this course and how will it benefit our career?”. Accordingly, teaching process should adopt an integrative method to combine between theoretical knowledge, academic debate and practical activities. Although teaching methods differ from major to major, course to course and level to level…, encouraging students to have multidisciplinary interest is essential, particularly in our time, as knowledge and information are flowing everywhere, and human sciences and arts are progressing rapidly. In such a changeable world teacher should spark students’ curiosity, motivate them to simultaneously memorize, understand and investigate the knowledge they receive. It requires teachers to navigate between different methods and teaching styles, to adopt, for example, both deductive and inductive methods, critical thinking and creative problem solving at the same time.

Teaching Experience:

Throughout fifteen years, I have taught multiple courses in multiple majors, from literary criticism and Arabic Literature to critical thinking, passing through philosophy, sociology of knowledge, political thought and some other fields of humanities. My teaching language is Arabic, English and Kurdish and I have taught for Arab, Kurdish and American students and audience in Iraq and the United States. I have been asked frequently “how can you manage to teach multiple courses in different languages?”. My answer is that all disciplines in humanities have roots in common and originated from the philosophy and human inquiry towards the world and moral values. Accordingly, language to me is not only mere tool for communication and speaking, but also an essential tool for creative expression, analyzing, critical thinking, open-mindedness, pluralism and culture diversity. In the light of this, I strongly encourage my students to master more than one language, not only for speaking and social communication, but also for academic debates and intellectual expressions. I encourage them to learn new languages and pay attention to characteristics and metaphors for each language, considering that each language has its own features and cultural dimensions.

Course Development:

Developing new courses requires having pre-set goals, proper planning and constant revision of the contents. To this end, the course designer should take into consideration the hierarchal mission, goals and values of the institution (University, School, College, Department, etc.…) and draw a general frame for the course. Consulting with dean, chairman and colleagues will help course developer better understand the nature, needs and objectives of the course.

The task of curriculum developer is to inquire into essential questions and have convincing answers on the level and background of students who are going to take the course. The developer of preliminary studies, for example, is expected to know what do undergraduate students need, how can the intended course reflect positively on other courses and to what extent will match the future needs of students when they will graduate?

Designing and developing syllabus for the course plays, as well, a pivotal role in creating a proper roadmap for achieving course’s goals. It would be sort of contract between the teacher and students to show the course description, objectives, outcomes, assessment tools, grading policy, textbook outlines and academic calendar.

Creating an online classroom by utilizing information technology and related software can develop the educational requirements and provide students with simple and reliable tools for learning. Monitoring and evaluating students' progress, listening to their feedback and adjusting some specific points periodically are also helpful in course development. It involves identifying regular criteria to evaluate students and their cognitive abilities and comparing what they would learn with what instructor and course designer addressed as learning outcomes in the syllabus.

Involving the third party, like the quality assurance committee, is also important to evaluate the instructor after each semester. Conducting surveys and questionnaires among students gives opportunity to them to deliver their impressions and opinions about the course and the instructor; as it provides the instructor and course developer with data and useful ideas about what properly worked, where were the weaknesses and how can the obstacles of development be overcome? And, finally, what sort of change and adjustments should be made for the next course designing?