Trans-disciplinary Teaching Narrative |
As I go through my educational and professional journey, I enfold natural science and social science rather than keeping them separate. I see my path as a highly important one - in what I believe is needed in education - a complex, transdisciplinary appreciation and application of the world. Because of this epistemology, it is not unusual to find me researching what I teach and teaching what I research.
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Recent
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Lewis University, Romeoville, IL and Albuquerque, NM
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Recent
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Animas Valley Elementary After School Program
San Juan College, partner with Sustainable San Juan and New Mexico State Extension
Kcenia Institute with partner Animas Valley Grange
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Teaching Philosophy |
My teaching philosophy is to nurture students' learning towards a socio-ecological sustainability. I accomplish this by following two interconnected principles in my teaching: engage them in experiential learning activities and fostering relational transformative learning experiences.
When I teach student through life skills (cooking and gardening), real-world activities and projects, service learning projects and focus on place-based learning experiences, students begin to think critically and relationally – putting the student in the driver’s seat in pursuit of solutions within their own life or community. Setting aside the linearity of note taking and reading, one of my teaching methods is to teach them the skill of systems thinking and mapping. This helps them to deeply interconnect the pieces into a relational whole. The results are well thought out, holistic solutions and skills equipping them to solve complex problems we face in the world. I build my courses with a social learning component in mind; I take on the role of a guide. This method fosters student to student collaboration and dialogue - allowing students to gain multiple perspectives, foster inclusion, discovery and apply diverse solutions in a safe learning environment (whether on-line or in person). |
