I have been told that I have the mind of a psychologist, but the heart of an educator. Teaching is something that has given me moments of profound bliss in addition to moments of incredible challenge. My teaching philosophy is ever-evolving and is influenced by an amalgam of experiences, both personal and professional. In its current form, it is primarily anchored in four interconnected principles: centering students’ needs, intentionally differentiating instructional techniques, connecting content to real-world applications, and encouraging collaborative and creative problem-solving. 

Centering the needs of my students is a core tenant of my teaching philosophy. To ensure I am attuned to students’ needs, during the first class, I ask them to write down any needs they have on a sticky note. Then, I carefully read these, create a list of specific actions I can do to address them, and then share those actions during the next class. For example, in a statistics course this semester, students expressed wanting more visuals, opportunities to discuss the material in smaller groups, and reminders about upcoming assignments. Thus, I deliberately planned each lesson with these needs in mind. In addition, every week I use a unique attendance system where I ask students to scan a QR code and write their name on a Google Form. On the form, I have one or two optional questions asking students if they have any needs and a unique question (e.g., “what careers are you interested in?”). I use these weekly mini-surveys to check in with students, get their feedback, follow up on specific questions or concerns, and make changes to the class that align with students’ evolving interests and needs. These strategies help to ensure that I am centering the needs of each student. 

Another essential part of my teaching philosophy is the intentional differentiation of instructional techniques. I utilize a variety of ways to differentiate the content, such as using audio-visual mediums, having class-wide discussions, storytelling, and using educational technology. Differentiation also applies to the processes and activities in a classroom, and I use a variety of active learning strategies to engage students to participate in multiple ways. A clear example of this is when I designed and implemented an activity about observational research. To encourage students to learn the material via experiential learning, I had them create a codebook in small groups. They were then asked to use this codebook to observe others’ behaviors. I invited students to engage in the way that felt best to them, allowing them to leave the room to do the observations or to stay inside and look out the window. This gave the students the agency to choose what would work best for them, and the activity was incredibly successful. This example exemplifies my focus on differentiating both the content and processes that occur in my classes to foster a positive learning environment. 

I firmly believe that students should have the opportunity to apply content from psychology courses to real-world situations and their own lived experiences. One of the ways that I do this in my courses is to always design an array of examples to showcase how course content can be used in psychology and other disciplines. For example, as a teaching assistant for a statistics course, I have used more relatable examples, such as using a t-test to study the effects of social media exposure on mental health or to study the effects of binge-watching Netflix on sleep patterns. These examples help students see the real-world relevance of the material and keep them more engaged. I also have brainstorming sessions where students work in groups to find their own connections to the content, such as when we talked about how certain phenomena in social psychology manifested in their own lives in an introductory psychology course. These explicit connections to the outside world and to students' own lives help to bridge the content in meaningful ways. 

A final core element of my teaching philosophy is centered around creative and collaborative problem-solving, which are critical transferable skills for students in psychology and other fields. One specific way that I encourage this is by offering students multiple opportunities to engage in pair/small group work. An illustrative example of this is when I taught a lesson on basic statistical tests. Rather than having students work alone, I utilized a group-based approach in which students had to cooperate to choose the best answer for different examples. In a research methods course, I used a “gallery walk” activity, where students rotated around the room to discuss the pros and cons of different research designs. During these activities, I actively drift between groups to help groups who struggle or to challenge those who are more comfortable with the material. These opportunities allow for rich conversation and facilitate co-learning, which both align with my value of situating students as co-constructors of knowledge. These examples help to highlight how I strive to build skills around collaborative and creative problem-solving. 

My teaching philosophy has evolved over the years — and it continues to evolve with each new teaching experience. Working with both children and undergraduate students has influenced my teaching philosophy in complex ways. The fluidity of my teaching philosophy, just as the fluidity of the mind, reminds me that we can engage in reflexive processes to become better educators for our students.