In teaching philosophy, it is my goal to guide students towards understanding a number of central questions in philosophy: What are their values? What is their place in the world? What duties do they have towards others and their communities? How can they best contend with injustice? How they can live meaningful lives?

 

My teaching philosophy is informed by my training in Ignatian pedagogy, critical pedagogy, and transformative learning. All of these traditions view learning as a type of transformative self-discovery. That is, we come to learn who we are and who we can be for others through our philosophical practices. According to this view, learning requires doing, and so philosophy is to be viewed as the art of living.

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I try to give my students this kind of learning experience by being a facilitator of active learning in the classroom rather than through traditional lectures. My students learn through cooperative, problem-based learning scenarios, consistent reflection on personal values, debates and discussions, living philosophy projects, creative projects, and more. Beyond developing the skills consistent with the discipline of philosophy, I intend to have my students leave my classes having developed or deepened their value commitments, nurtured a sense of meaning and purpose in life, and cultivated a philosophical community.

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Note: Emerging research on active learning in the classroom (as opposed to traditional lecture-based courses) continues to suggest the pedagogical importance of active classrooms. See, for example, one of the most recent meta-analyses of active-learning within the context of humanities courses in higher education.