I firmly believe that we are all teachers. We all possess unique sets of talents, skills, and abilities that we pass down informally - for instance, to friends when we show them how to fold an origami crane because we’ve been doing it since we were a kid. Among us walk very talented photographers, calligraphers, artists, poets, crafters, chefs, but we would never know it because we’re not part of their informal circle. We walk by them every day - professors, staff, students. This flows naturally to my philosophy of learning - that we can learn inside and outside the classroom, and that we learn best when we are engaged with the material and the teacher, working in small groups, when we are able to make meaning of what we’re doing. Somehow what we’re learning has to vibe us from the inside and is important to us.

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I was asked the questions about my philosophy on teaching and learning from a reporter from our campus newspaper, and I this was the hardest, then easiest paragraph to write. It just makes sense to me.

Strangely enough, I was a little leery of who was going to see this philosophy. But if you know me, then you know this to be exactly what I’m all about and why I’m in higher education. To help students make meaning of their education, and to help the students see that they are cultural and academic producers just as much as their teachers are.

Students are powerful too. If only they can embrace that sense of power when they are more often content to be passive receivers of their education. The revolution continues.

Charlene