Teaching Philosophy
By Chad Okrusch

My teaching philosophy is constantly evolving. Every time I stop to consider the ways I approach education, I feel compelled to add something I have recently stumbled upon, or to revise earlier beliefs. Today, the following directives guide my work with students: 1) Take teaching seriously, 2) Care, 3) Facilitate growth and development, 4) Value student experience, and 5) Make ripples in the real-world.

Take Teaching Seriously. Teachers create the learning environment. They choose the language students will speak, the phenomena students will consider, and the interrogative methods students will employ. The devise ways to test and evaluate student performance. Teaching is a powerful act, and with much power comes much responsibility. In my philosophy of education, the prime directive is take teaching seriously.

Care. Because of some research I am currently engaged in, I’ve been thinking a lot about care lately. Many of my students have noted to me that they appreciate my genuine interest in their learning. My teaching philosophy (my life philosophy, too) rests on the belief that care is a virtue. I care about the subjects I teach, my students, and the process of education itself.

Facilitate Growth & Development. The ultimate aim of education is human growth and development. Teachers who care enough to take their power and responsibility seriously end up designing ways to bring a community of students from their initial level of understanding to some higher place. Education is growth. Fine teachers find ways to shepherd student development.

Value Student Experience. By student experience, I mean two things. First, teachers ought to value the life experiences students bring with them into the classroom. My students often teach me things, poke holes in my paradigms, and nudge me in slightly different directions. Because of this, I have learned to actively seek out each student’s gifts and, whenever possible, present subject-matter in ways that speak to them. In retrospect, I see that many of the ways I understand the world can be traced to the work of those fine teachers who valued what I brought to the table and pushed me toward ever-increasing subtleties of conception. I hope for a similar legacy.

Second, teachers should value their students’ classroom experience. We should care what happens in our classrooms, and whether or not it leads to learning for our students. If you are going to lecture, engage the students. If you are going to do in-class learning activities, make sure they are well-planned and purposeful. Student experience is valuable.

Change the Real-world. Many of my most worthwhile and memorable student learning experiences came about because of classroom assignments that required community engagement. When assignments affect the lives of others, school work becomes relevant and important in new ways. Whenever possible, I design student assignments that facilitate service-learning and community-building. My final directive is, whenever possible, make ripples in the real world.

I have been lucky enough to take several graduate-level pedagogy courses over the last seven years. I have also discussed teaching philosophy with many of my favorite professors and high school teachers. In the end, my approach is quite simple: Take teaching seriously, care about what you teach, who you teach, and why you teach; facilitate learning and growth; value student experience; and, whenever possible, make classroom activities resonate in the community.