As an instructor, I view my primary goals as encouraging and guiding students to see themselves as capable readers, writers, speakers, listeners, and critical thinkers. In other words, my view of education and my approach to pedagogy are heavily influenced by both the Language Arts model[1] and the habits of mind presented in the Framework for Success in Post-Secondary Writing[2]. Specifically, I approach each class with an eye towards 1) fostering curiosity and openness to new materials and perspectives, 2) engagement both inside and outside the classroom in the active pursuit of knowledge, 3) responsibility in their role as a learner and their need to act on the information they are learning, 4) creativity and flexibility in pursuing reading, writing, speaking, and listening through different modes, and 5) metacognition through self-reflection and self-examination:

To aid in fostering curiosity and openness, I like to start classes with various lines of inquiry to ease students into the material for the day. These lines of inquiry are designed to allow a space for students to open up to the material and the possibility of multiple perspectives, discover questions that they or others may have about the material, and, at times, struggle with a vague or abstract idea that will then be clarified during class time. Thus, these opening lines of inquiry may ask students to reflect on previous readings, grapple with a confusing or otherwise significant question regarding the lesson, or provide feedback on their progress.

Almost always, these opening lines of inquiry will then scaffold into promoting student engagement within the classroom via various collaborative learning methods. Whether this collaboration takes place within a full class discussion or small group work and discussions, the goal of the collaborative work is to provide a space for students to make connections between their ideas and perspectives and those of their fellow students, to build or act upon that knowledge through activities, and to engage in the class as a community of learners (rather than an isolated student). In addition, I also like to use various modes of collaboration as a means for students to engage in more difficult readings, especially concerning intensive academic articles, or writing tasks. Overall, I find that these methods of collaboration allow students to engage in learning in ways that are highly productive and often beneficial for their self-efficacy. Whether these collaborations emphasize discussion or more difficult readings, I have continually found that giving students time and space to chunk out the material and then teach each other allows them to gain a better understanding of the materials, the knowledge they can gain from each other, and the knowledge they can produce on their own. That is, these collaborative modes foster engagement (and often help further curiosity and openness). Consistently, I have found that small groups are where the “light bulb” moments happen, especially with regards to the students understanding the control that they have over their own education. At the same time, these small groups offer me a chance to provide specific feedback and answer specific questions in a way that allows students to get exactly what they need out of a lesson.

In addition to this inquiry-based classroom model, I also try to find space where students are given full responsibility for instructing and learning. Specifically, I like to schedule days where students are provided the opportunity to “take over” the instruction portion of the class via presentations or discussions. In promoting this responsibility, I also like to emphasize the possibility of creativity and flexibility in pursuing knowledge. As a scholar and teacher keenly interested in the Digital Humanities, I try to incorporate multi-modal forms of learning in my classes, as I believe that instructing students through textbooks, classic literature, movies, music, YouTube videos, graphic novels, and countless other modes helps show them the prevalence of knowledge around them and the numerous possibilities for them to engage with these various modes of knowledge. At the same time, I also stress multi-modality when students engage in their presentations and discussion leads. This engagement can be as straightforward as a presentation using relevant software to as intensive as creating a project-related video to show in class. Regardless, my goal here is to further open students up to the Language Arts model of the English classroom in a way that shows them a creative approach to the classroom (which I have found often helps further encourage curiosity, openness, and engagement).

In essence, rather than reinforce solemn, individual reading and writing tasks, I am far more concerned with opening the classroom to students using a text and their notes as a foundation for class discussions. During these discussions, I stress the importance of other students listening to the speakers and then reacting with their own ideas. Through this communicative approach, I give students a space to work through their ideas, reactions, and difficulties in a way that fosters critical thought and self-reflection. Finally, as a way to wrap up class discussion and reinforce the entire Language Arts model, I will take the student responses and use them as a guide to show students how the readings and activities have opened up as a result of the multiple interpretations and perspectives presented in the class discussion as well as how they can use these discussions in their own writing.

With all of this in mind, I do not believe that a course (or even a class) is complete without some form of metacognition. For me, self-reflection is a cornerstone of my pedagogical approach, and I pursue metacognition and self-reflection for both myself and my students in as many forms as possible—anywhere from a full reflective essay to a conference discussion where students might be asked to reflect on what happened over the course of a project. Regardless of the form, I value self-reflection because it asks students a question that, as their conversations have frequently demonstrated, they are rarely asked: what did you learn, and how can this knowledge stick with you? By asking these questions, I find that students often come to a better understanding of how their learning and the knowledge they are acquiring impact them in academic, professional, and personal settings. By unifying the academic with the personal and professional, I also find that students achieve a better understanding that what they learn and what they do in the classroom does not end when they walk out of the class; instead, this learning is a recursive process that they carry with them long after they graduate. To help students further see the value of self-reflection, I make it a point to be very open and honest with them about my own reflection of my practices, and this can come about through various means. For instance, I am usually very transparent when it comes to discussing previous practices, adaptations, and my reasons for the adaptations, and I also make it a habit of discussing the assignments students must complete over the course of a unit to see how they are doing with these assignments and whether the assignments can be improved to help with learning outcomes. Regardless, I try to model for students the idea that one never truly stops learning, and this concept of self-reflection allows anyone to see their own growth and development.

Footnotes:

[1] My approach to the Language Arts classroom model centers on encouraging students to consistently engage in critical thought and communication. This approach is informed by the standards indicated in the National Council for Teachers of English and International Reading Association’s 1996 document Standards for the English Language Arts.   

[2] The text Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing that I reference here was developed by the Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCE), and the National Writing Project (NPW).