Teaching Philosophy

Every space where learning occurs is a composition of individual histories, experiences, and goals. As such, I believe education requires an eclectic—and often polymorphic—approach; and that, as an instructor, it is my job to arrive to this appointment as a trusted co-conspirator in the process of learning. Essential frameworks in my educational philosophy align closely with constructivism, existentialism, and decolonialism. I use key concepts of each to arrive at my position as a facilitator of education, the role of education broadly, and in considering desired outcomes for the students sharing a learning space with me. 

I believe that education is all around us. It exists in moments, formal or informal, small or large, that contribute to an individual’s holistic growth; and that growth can look different for each person. In accordance with constructivism and existentialism, it is an instructor’s job, then, to serve as a guide and facilitator of these moments rather than the master of them. While it is my role to provide the essential knowledge of a given topic, I aim to also amplify knowledge that is produced by the learner and built upon from their lived experience. This includes working with students to create individual goals or metrics of success, and personalized curriculum that attends to the needs and desires of a given group more broadly. I believe that education is a personal journey, and should be treated as such. I aim to give my students agency, choice, and empowerment as I walk through this journey—for however long—alongside them.

I also hold that education-- especially when centered around marginalized voices, subjects, and histories—is an act of resistance. Specifically, I believe education holds the potential to push people to consider how power and oppressive systems often shape ideas and structures we grow up accepting as “normal” or “fixed.”  I hope to empower students to think critically about the world around them. This is done by identifying power structures, who runs them, who benefits from them. Vital to this work includes replacing these ideas with additional voices and perspectives, which I derive from student feedback. I intend for my students to walk away with more empathy, critical thought, and passion for a given subject of their choosing, which can be used as a tool for dismantling systems of oppression either within themselves or outside of their corporeal being.

While these approaches align with constructivism and existentialism, they are also rooted in decolonial onto-epistemologies. These frameworks and methods used have been known as tools for self-actualization, effacement, and relationality for centuries before the aforementioned theories earned their names. Decolonizing education is a constantly ongoing practice that requires delineating information like this: that my belief in respect and reciprocity between student and instructor, or a right to self-determination and individuality in the classroom, come from knowledge producers and keepers that have been systematically disregarded as such, and that their wisdom has become gate kept through methods of colonialism. Knowledge should not be gate kept, education should center decolonial praxis, and students should have the right to arrive as they are to a classroom and create their own futures with me as a guiding hand. Through this, I can help students move forward from their past, imagine their futures, and take steps toward aiding in a creation of the world they hope for.