Teaching Philosophy

Teaching philosophy

I am a firm believer that everyone deserves access to a high standard of education, and everyone has a right to learn in an environment that suits them. Students should be happy to learn and as an educator it is my job to get students excited. Since I am passionate about the environment and stewardship, I can use teaching as a tool to transfer my passion to the students so that they can continue to learn and work toward a better future filled with empathy and stewardship. A student can only learn as well as they are taught. If they are shown that their teacher has faith in them, they’ll learn to trust themselves and believe in their own abilities which is why It is important to meet students where they are and build up their confidence and help them go beyond their edge. 

When I am teaching, I try to respond to my students with questions in order to fuel their curiosity and allow them to learn by figuring it out rather than being told. This process helps them build confidence in their own abilities as scientists and will hopefully push them to ask themselves questions and get more out of their education. When a student asks me “is that a Steller’s jay?”, instead of immediately saying yes, great find I ask them why they think it’s a Steller’s jay, what do they notice about that bird that brought them to that conclusion? This both helps them recall what they’ve previously learned and engages their observation skills. 

For students to get the level of education they Deseve their teachers need to be prepared to learn. Many people might not realize that 8-year-olds have something to teach them, but everyone comes from their own knowledge and varying baselines. Every time I’ve gone out into the field, I have learned something new from my students and have been able to get on their level by sharing knowledge. I am not some beacon of information that just tells my students everything but someone to facilitate the discussions that will lead to learning that is palatable for students of any background.