Teaching Statement

Javascript Tree

(this is actually just a few sentences from the syllabus; this is not so much a statement of my teaching philosophy as just one of my responses to the question "how do we learn?" I am constantly revising, as not every technique works with every student or every classroom community.)

I fervently believe that the best form of education is one of self-discovery; therefore, my role is that of guide, not taskmaster. When it comes to the realm of ideas, there are very few situations in which I will say that something is “right” or “incorrect.” These are terms I usually reserve for documentation, grammar, formatting, and similar forms and structures that have defined rules as to usage and applications. Rather than pass judgment on an interpretation, an analysis, or an essay topic, I will usually ask questions so that you may consider your ideas from another perspective and therefore evaluate for yourself.

Yes, there's more. There's a lot more, in fact. However, I'm not sure whether you'd care to hear about Freire and medieval literature and hypertext mirroring the connections of the mind.

So for now, this suffices.