• Taught in four universities across two continents: York University (Canada), the College of William and Mary (United States), NTU (Singapore), Nankai University (China) on diverse range of courses related to, for example, development, environment and sustainability. 

• Recent Student Feedback on Teaching (SFT) Scores: All courses above the School & Faculty average 

• Nominated for the Nanyang Education Award 2014 (by the Division of Sociology)

• Developed and taught core, elective, GER (general education requirement) and post-graduate courses; supervised 4 PhD students

• Received Certificate in Teaching for Higher Education (Part 1), Centre for Educational Development, National Institute of Education, Singapore (50 hours Intensive Program)

• Pedagogical innovation: Produced an edited book and submitted a grant proposal on pedagogy for sustainability 

• Teachers Training: I was invited to train teachers in Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Bangladesh and beyond. 

My teaching philosophy is to encourage students to become critical readers, thinkers, and writers; my goal is always not only to promote intellectual engagements with a diverse range of texts, but also to help students become more discerning readers and forceful writers about the world around them. I apply the following 5 core pedagogical tools for teaching: 

• A shift from rote memorization to sociological imagination: It gives students a capacity to see things socially, how they interact, and influence each other. Sociological imagination develops well-rounded human beings who can navigate between the parochialism of fundamentalism and the obtuseness of extreme relativism.

• Teaching is not preaching: I try to limit as much as possible my power and authority from encroaching on the learning process. Indeed, I see my role as much more of a facilitator of the student’s own search for knowledge and wisdom than a lecturer who professes the truth.

• Learning is also unlearning: Promoting an understanding that social and political forces shape the construction and utilization of knowledge is central to my philosophy of teaching because it helps students sharpen critical thinking skills in order to enable them to transgress epistemological limitations. 

• From passive recipient to active engagement: In my view, teaching is not about instructing or imparting information to students as if their minds were waiting to be filled with my knowledge. Rather, teaching is igniting transformative learning; empowering students to take responsibility for their learning, inspiring courage to grow intellectually, cultivating curiosity, providing opportunities for developing relationships, clarifying values, uplifting the spirit, and igniting action. 

• Face-to-face, not totally technology-based: While creating an environment conducive to critical reflection is important, it is not sufficient. This needs to be supplemented with other techniques, methods, and teaching aids. I therefore increase the use of the latest technology for teaching. However, I am also reticent to displace altogether the traditional face-to-face interaction of lecture and discussion that is so important for learning. 

• Divisional Courses: At NTU, I developed a number of courses such as HS2003: Economy and Society; HS2023: Environmental Sociology; and HS3015: Development and Social Change, and HS4027: Cultural politics of Development and the Environment. 

• Minor Program: In the School, I played a crucial role in developing a minor program in Environmental and Urban Studies and the required interdisciplinary course HU9001: Introduction of Environmental and Urban Studies, which I also co-teach. 

• Graduate Course: Earlier I developed a graduate course: HS7205: Global Sociology that focuses on a complex intersection between development, environment, neoliberalism, and sustainability. It becomes a well-cited course in American and Canadian Sociological Associations. Later, I developed CC6309: Globalization and Sustainability which I’m teaching now.  

• GER [General Education Requirement] Course: As part of NTU’s strategic focus on “sustainable earth”, I developed an interdisciplinary course HS0301: Environmental Sustainability. It is one of the most popular courses across disciplines in the university. The class size is usually over a hundred.