Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

In his essay "A place of learning," political philosopher Michael Oakeshott argues that human culture is “voices…joined, in a conversation – an endless unrehearsed intellectual adventure in which, in imagination, we enter into a variety of modes of understanding the world and ourselves and are not disconcerted by the differences or dismayed by the inconclusiveness of it all” (p. 30). He suggests that education is supposed to be an introduction into this conversation. This is an excellent description of what I see as the purpose of my teaching – to engage students in a guided but perhaps sometimes inconclusive conversation. My classes are meant to introduce academic content to students, or to deepen their understanding of it, and that content then forms the basis of our “unrehearsed intellectual adventure” for the semester.

Please find my full teaching statement here.

Courses Taught

Kennesaw State University:

ECON 2300: Business Statisics

Holy Spirit College:

RLED 695: Introduction to Classical Education

Georgia Gwinnett College:

EDUC 4500: Assessment (secondary)

ECED 4100: Assessment and Adaptation (elementary)

HNRS 3000: Education Entrepreneurship

EDUC 2120: Exploring Diversity Issues in Education

EDUC 2130: Teaching and Learning/Educational Philosophy and Psychology

Emory University:

EDS 471: Standards and Accountability in American Schools

EDS 305: History of American Education

Student Reviews

Below are some statement from my past students.

Statements from students in my Education courses:

• "I really enjoyed the assessment portion of this class. Dr. Wearne had multiple modes of instruction and kept students engaged throughout his lessons. He was receptive to student feedback and demonstrated great classroom management skills."
• "He is amazing! He also is very prepared for class and he knows his material!"
• "Dr. Wearne is a good instructor with a sense of humor. His part of the class was mostly fun and engaging...I really appreciate how this professor took me, as well as the entire class, through each assignment we had to do for the semester. He gave us time to ask questions and he lays it out how he wants it done. Dr. Wearne is a phenomenal professor. He is an excellent example of the educators we are taught to be like. I thoroughly enjoyed his lessons and assignments. It is obvious that he has the STUDENTS best interest at heart. Dr. Wearne is a culturally responsive instructor who regularly demonstrates inclusive teaching. He is probably the best professor I have had at GGC. There is a lot to be learned from him, as a student and an educator."

Statement from a fellow faculty member who attended a teaching presentation I gave at GGC's Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE):

• "Eric, That was the best CTE scholar session out of the four I have attended. You actually demonstrated active learning rather than lecturing!"

Statements from students in my Honors Program special topics course on Education Entrepreneurship:

• “I’m a business student and like the idea of entrepreneurship. I originally had interest in the class because I heard it was about entrepreneurship not educational entrepreneurship. Although there was another offer of entrepreneurship class in the school of business, I think this class was more beneficial. Anyone can go to the classic meetings where people talk about how they were successful and how to venture off to become an entrepreneur...I didn’t know what educational entrepreneurship was about, I thought it was about building schools. Now, I have a better understanding of how there are different ways to participate in the education field. The project we worked on is something that I am actually interested in, and with this class I think that I can have enough knowledge to seek out different sources who could potentially help me. My idea of educational entrepreneurship is now more about finding ways to be innovative and impactful to society....”
• “When I first registered for this HNRS 3000 course 'Education Entrepreneurship,' I was not sure how education and entrepreneurship went together. I saw each of these terms as being separate – with entrepreneurship only pertaining to business. However, as this course progressed and as we learned more and more about these two terms, I came to realize that these terms do in fact go together. Even as an early childhood education major myself, I was unaware of the need and impact entrepreneurs, from school builders to service providers, could have on education. After taking this course, I now understand that education entrepreneurship is what creates change in schools themselves, in the way we recruit and train teachers, in the very system itself – it is due to creative and talented individuals who are otherwise known as entrepreneurs, that an idea could ultimately enhance the quality of education. Additionally, I now understand the barriers education entrepreneurs face and how important it is to create greenfield in education – this means letting go of 'the correct way of doing things' and being open to change. Change is not easy, especially in education where children, families, teachers, and administrators are affected. However, although it may be hard it could be the right thing to do. One thing I found the most interesting about this course, was having the opportunity to be an entrepreneur. We had the opportunity to create a school, create a product/service, or create a program surrounded on a problem that we see in education. It was great to see the variety of schools, services, and teacher recruitment initiatives my peers came up with. It was also great to see non-education members learning about education and coming together to think of ways to improve it. I have learned a lot of this course and I now have a better understanding of 'education entrepreneurship.'”
• “Before the class, I thought that this class wouldn’t pertain to me and had no clue why I was taking it, except for the credits. I started to enjoy some of the topics that were discussed and found some readings to be interesting...My opinions on this class have completely changed from the beginning of the semester and I have been able to relate and conceptualize everything in better terms and I'm glad that I got something out of the class.”