TEACHING AND LEARNING PHILOSOPHY

Growing up, I was taught the value of hard work and the importance of continuous learning. I was supported and encouraged to take on new challenges and pursue academics. My family and educators influenced my learning style by encouraging me to always push the boundaries while striving to achieve my goals, and to endeavor for excellence in everything in which I participated. Through these experiences, I came to value learning with self-direction, motivation, accountability, and ambition.

As I considered my career options, I knew that I wanted to do two things: help people and teach. My first experiences as an educator delivering leadership education courses to adolescents and adults, allowed me to experiment with my teaching style while attempting to understand and navigate the challenges and intricacies of adult learning. I had to adjust my ideas of what the learner looked like, as I discovered Knowle’s (1984) andragogy principles, and began to understand different learning styles and motivating factors. These early teaching opportunities shaped core values of flexibility, creativity, and learner-centered teaching styles as I moved into my nursing career.

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Developing from nursing student to experienced nurse, I focused on learning and applying my passion for caring as I advanced my understanding of concepts, applied skills, critical thinking, and endeavored to provide excellent patient-centered care. Opportunities to teach families and provide informal education to colleagues, taught me to value the importance of authenticity by applying the components of: awareness, unbiased processing, action, and being relational (Kernis, 2003, p.1). A position developing and teaching curriculum overseas provided the opportunity to get back into the classroom setting. With support and guidance I was pushed to implement innovative and active teaching strategies with students who were used to didactic learning environments. The opportunity to be involved in multiple international capacity building projects has taught me about adaptability and resiliency of students and faculty when provided with proper support. By building authentic relationships with partners, faculty and students, I have been able to both learn from, and support others to implement innovative teaching strategies with limited resources.  

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Reflecting on this experience, I can see that Bass’ (1990) transformational leadership allowed me to inspire, challenge, and empower each student and faculty member. This occurred by encompassing a charismatic teaching style along with an individualized approach. By being responsive to the needs of the class I was able to work with students to co-create an effective learning environment. This experience inspired me to continue my personal learning through graduate studies, focusing on nursing leadership and education.

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Teachers are leaders, and I value transformational leadership as an approach that converts a classroom from a didactic, one-way form of teaching, into a collaborative setting where students are actively participating in their learning. I believe that both educators, as well as students, are responsible for co-creating a positive learning environment within the classroom.  Through the use of transformational leadership, students are engaged and encouraged to actively participate in their learning (Noland & Richards, 2014). 

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I follow a cognitive developmental approach by being flexible to the learner’s needs and catering to Kolb’s (1984) four distinct learning styles of: accommodator, converger, diverger, and assimilator. Understanding that learners may not fit into just one learning style, but can pull from various components, exemplifies the need to teach using a variety of learning methods. It is vital to understand that knowledge is a transformational process and must be created rather than acquired (Kolb, 1984). Kolb (1984) identified through his experiential learning model that each individual has a different experience. Learning is shaped by the cognitive structure of an individual, their previous experiences, as well as their education environment (Kolb, 1984). With this understanding, I feel that it is the educator’s role to develop an environment that will provide experiences to support learning. This can be done through the provision of transformational and active learning within the classroom (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

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This teaching and learning philosophy will continue to develop as I gain further experiences both as an educator and learner. My desire to be authentic and transformational in my teaching pushes me to better understand learners, working with them to provide an education experience that will inspire them to reach beyond their boundaries to both meet, and exceed their personal goals!

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- Updated May 2020