Timothy's Teaching Philosophy
Revelation #1: Every student can succeed, and it is an educator’s job to show them their own potential and help them achieve it.
I have known for a very long time I wanted to be a journalist. I wrote for my high school paper, my local paper back home in Wisconsin, my college paper and now for my local paper here in Columbia. But in between I also spent a lot of time in education positions, most notably with groups like TRiO and Upward Bound. I mention all of this because my past experiences have pushed me towards combining teaching and journalism into something I am especially passionate about. TRiO and Upward Bound programs work with low-income and future first-generation college students who are currently in middle and high school. These programs quickly changed my thoughts about disadvantaged students. I began to see how successful students are, even if they do not receive the highest grades. I began to see how when students fail, it might be a sign the system supporting them is failing. More than anything, my time with these programs led me to one of my first teaching revelations: every student has the potential to succeed, and as educators, it is our job to show them that potential and help them achieve it.
Revelation #2: A solid foundation in educational philosophy is important, especially in journalism.
One of the interesting things about being a journalist is how the profession treats journalism education. Many in my field actually frown on the idea of journalism colleges, and instead would prefer students get a degree in the field they would like to report on (business, political science, etc.). The idea is you can be taught quickly in a newsroom how to write effectively. I never bought into that, and neither does the University of Missouri. That is one of the reasons why I went to school here – this university believes in the power of journalism education. In 1908, MU became the first journalism school in the nation. The university has always been famous for the “Missouri Method” – the idea that learning by doing is the best way to perfect a skill. However, for a university that puts such an emphasis on teaching journalists, there is surprisingly little emphasis on teaching those who teach journalists. Many would say that decades of years in the field is enough of a qualification to teach. While this is partially true, it would be foolish to ignore the benefits of being trained in education and instruction. I have learned a great deal by studying educational pedagogies and participating in teaching practicums. This brought me to my second teaching revelation: especially in a field dominated by instructors with little educational experience, it is important to have a solid foundation in educational philosophy.
Revelation #3: Compassion is a critical value for instructors to have.
Another big-picture idea about my teaching philosophy is rooted both in my upbringing and academic history. My dad was a social worker and my mom was an elementary school teacher, so they raised me to think about others almost without trying. They also took it a step further and taught me about compassion. The dictionary defines it as sympathy or pity, and I think those are both terrible definitions. Here is an example of what I mean: At the start of the semester, I made it clear to students both in my syllabus and in class lecture that they were responsible for keeping up with the online lesson quizzes. In the past, I have had problems with students who would forget and expect me to re-open them for full points just because they forgot. This semester most students did a good job remembering, and only a couple missed one or two of the quizzes. A student emailed me this week and asked if I would consider re-opening the quizzes for a day for partial credit. I was in the process of typing back a fairly pointed email about how I had specifically said to watch out for the quiz deadlines and how much of a pain it is to re-open closed quizzes when I realized I had almost sent the exact same email to a professor last year. I remembered the problems had with a professor last semester that had a zero tolerance policy on late work and treated his/her students like they were an annoyance. It really helped me crystalize my third teaching revelation: Compassion is necessary when we teach, and we need to put ourselves in our students’ shoes.
Revelation #4: The importance of organization and clearly defined expectations cannot be overstated.
One of the reasons why I need to remind myself to be compassionate is because I am meticulous in organizing and planning. My syllabus for the semester is long, but on day one my students know to the minute when their assignments are due in week fifteen. They know what materials they need to buy. They know what resources they can expect from me. They know how to reach me if they need to. Basically, they know exactly what I am expecting from them. That is so important for me to communicate to students. The worst thing in the world would be for a student to come up to me and say “but I did not know…” and for the student to be right. Every major assignment for my class comes with an assignment sheet detailing exactly what I am looking for. I take pride in the fact that when students ask me a question, about 75 percent of the time the answer is in resources they already have. It is a strange thing to take pride in, and I have often thought that maybe I am giving students too much information. However, I have found most students are appreciative of having those expectations and requirements at their fingertips. Sometimes they forget to utilize it or read it carefully. I need to remind myself that is okay. But it does not change the fact that clearly defined expectations and thorough organization combine to be my fourth teaching revelation.
Revelation #5: True learning only happens when students see the value of the information they’re receiving. Instructors should make things as real-world as possible.
When I was in high school, I always asked my teachers “when am I ever going to need this?” Because I knew I wanted to write, I asked this to my calculus and chemistry teachers a lot. They could never give me good answers. Unsurprisingly, I failed those classes. As an educator, I vowed to always have an answer to that question at the ready. But I have found something better than being able to answer that question: not having students ask it in the first place. Both through taking classes and observing others teach, I have found that students are more engaged when they think they are going to use what is being taught. Sometimes, that might mean showing clips of professional newscasts using techniques you are trying to teach. Sometimes, that means letting someone present in your class who got an internship based of the work she did in that same class. Sometimes, that could mean letting a professional photojournalist talk to your class and having students ask the questions. I have tried all these things, and I have gotten some really good feedback from them. It is why my fifth teaching revelation is that the more real-world you can make something, the more likely a student will invest themselves in their education.
Revelation #6: Mistakes are inevitable if you’re innovating and never satisfied with the status quo. Don’t beat yourself up for making one – learn from it instead.
Finally, it is important to remember that the days where you will have a revelation or do something that works as incredibly well as the things I have described are few and far between. For each revelation I have listed and for each project that has gone well, I have had at least five days where I felt like I screwed up, that I did not know what I was doing and I should just give up. My roommate can attest to this as I am grading papers or when I come home from a particularly stressful day. But I keep reminders of the little things. My TRiO students made me a poster they all signed the weekend I left for grad school, and I keep it in my room. I keep the kind words a student has said to me in my head, so when the going gets rough I can remind myself I am making a difference. Those reminders also help push me to constantly change things up, hopefully for the better. I never settle for doing the same thing every semester. I always want to improve, to incorporate new ideas and to find new techniques. I recognize that because I am constantly trying to improve, there will be sometimes when I fail. But just as I need to have compassion on my students, I need to have compassion on myself. Just because something is not working does not mean I am not trying. That is why my final revelation is this: Not every day is perfect. Sometimes you will mess up. But dust yourself off and keep trying, because in the end the difference you make in a student’s life is worth it.