Teaching

At GSU, I have taught in both the BSW and MSW programs. In Fall 2020, I started a new role as BSW Program Director, so most of my current focus is at the baccalaureate level of teaching.

My approach to teaching is informed by my past experiences and training in community organizing, policy advocacy, and community leadership roles, as well as what I have learned over time related to the dynamics of power, privilege, and oppression. I aim to center critical, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive teaching practices.

In the classroom, I encourage the “problem-posing” method of education described by Paulo Freire that prompts students to question why our world is constructed in the way it currently is and who benefits from or is hurt by the status quo. I model critical thinking and create opportunities for students to apply this skill through verbal and written discussions, reflections, collaborative teamwork, and academic research. I purposefully adopt a constructivist approach to learning wherein students are active creators and leaders in education, rather than teach as if I am the only one in the room who has knowledge to share.

As part of my instruction, I value differences and aim to engage in best practices related to teaching a diverse student body. This includes integration of best practices that build from my scholarship related to supporting and affirming LGBTQIA+ people and others at the margins of society.

My approach includes planning class sessions based upon specific learning objectives and social work competencies, regularly providing constructive feedback to students on their progress, and using peer-to-peer learning via team projects, small group discussions, presentations, class brainstorming, and peer reviews of paper drafts.

Throughout my teaching, I reinforce content by asking students to apply what they are learning in real-world situations relevant to social work practice. For example, I regularly create and implement role plays and case study exercises, expect students to conduct interviews in the community to help them understand topics like homelessness or community disengagement, and support students in practicing their advocacy skills through real-world interactions with state legislators and policy analysts.

At Georgia State, I have taught the following courses:

  • SW7100: Foundations of Community Partnerships (MSW-level, partially online)

  • SW3300: Human Behavior in the Social Environment I (BSW-level, in-person)

  • SW3400: Human Behavior in the Social Environment II (BSW-level, fully online course; have also taught in-person)

  • SW3600: Social Welfare Policy (BSW-level, in-person)

I have previously taught courses at other universities focused on multicultural social work, research methods, program evaluation, and social welfare policy.