Social work is a values-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and the empowerment of all individuals. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility, and respect for diversities are central to social work. As a social work educator, I believe that education is the key to help alleviate the social problems in our society. Due to this belief, I have always been very passionate about education. Education in every form, from scholarly education to preventive education, is what will help bring about change.
As a social work educator, I am given the opportunity to create an environment that can help students learn the knowledge, values, and skills required to make those necessary changes to improve our society.
My teaching philosophy has been influenced, and will continue to be influenced, by other educators and students who are open and willing to discuss their ideas about education with me.
However, my teaching philosophy, at this time, is informed by critical theory, social change, and trauma-informed care.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I believe that one of the roles of a good instructor is to model behavior that you want to encourage in your students. For example, I am a life-long learner and advocate. I believe there is always something new I can learn. I model this behavior for my students by offering opportunities for students to provide feedback and advocate for changes in the course. I assimilate and share the changes I can make based on that feedback with my students to model and encourage them to be life-long learners and advocates as well. I also provide an opportunity for collaboration, one of the social change principles, in all of my courses by assigning a team activity or assignment. I offer students guidance regarding how best to work in teams to accomplish a shared goal. Each student has a different lived experience and offering space for students to learn and work together is critical. I also value the social change principle of commitment as I believe an instructor’s attitude toward a class has a large impact on what students take away from that class. I strive to always have a classroom full of positive energy and excitement. I believe my enthusiasm will be contagious. My hope is that with my enthusiasm and passion for the field of social work and social justice, I will generate that same enthusiastic commitment in my students.
Social Change
Critical Lens and Trauma-Informed Care
I believe it is part of my role as an educator to support students as we have critical conversations regarding challenging, but important topics, such as diversity, societal and historical roots of oppression, and social and racial injustice. To offer space for students to learn how to critically assess the topics we are discussing, I work to foster a trauma-informed learning environment for my students. I collaborate with students to create a safe classroom environment where all opinions are heard, validated, and respected. We work together to create classroom agreements that provide space to engage with difficult topics. I also strive to help students feel invested in the class by encouraging participation in classroom discussion, activities, and assignments. To offer different ways for students to engage with course content, I utilize active learning activities in the classroom to help students develop and apply critical thinking skills to the classroom content. These active learning activities also provide an opportunity for students to have critical conversations that may challenge different viewpoints. I welcome these critical conversations as I believe these are the conversations that are necessary for students to be prepared to recognize and dismantle the many societal challenges we currently face such as systemic racism and gender discrimination.
High Standards and Clear Expectations
I believe it is important to set standards for both the student and teacher in the classroom. In my opinion, organization is crucial to creating an effective learning environment, so I strive to always be prepared for class. I also set high standards for myself as well as my students. I utilize grading rubrics for each of my assignments to ensure objective grading as well as clear expectations for assignments. I believe having high standards for myself, as an instructor, is just as important as having high expectations of my students.
Social Justice Education
I am very passionate and firmly dedicated to the education of social work students as well as the general population. I believe that education in every form is what will change this world for the better. I will encourage and challenge my students to work up to their potential, in hopes that their experiences in my classes will add to their knowledge and skill base in becoming exceptional social workers committed to social justice and equity.