Teaching Philosophy

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

Dr. Ann Gagné

As an educator, the single most important thing I can inspire in learners is the desire to approach situations critically and with a desire to be inclusive in their analysis.  Critical engagement with the types of mixed media that are socio-culturally pervasive is a skill that is transferable to any situation and any discipline. It is this critical engagement and the need to be inclusive, which underlies my teaching philosophy. In my teaching I emphasize my specific interest in how literature and media constructs and represents socio-cultural ethicality through a phenomenological lens. This opens space for larger discussions of gender, race, class, and sexual orientation as lived experience in the learning environment. 

My research interests in accessibility and ethics provides the critical framework for my pedagogical and workshop facilitation strategies. From an ethical standpoint, it is important to create an educational space that is holistically inclusive, that values opinions and does not make any learner feel unwelcome. The classroom as a space is traditionally preconceived as having a built-in power hierarchy, a “broadcast model” that is reinforced with specific types of educational architectural design. It is important to remember that classrooms and online educational spaces are also performance spaces, where power differentials and accessibility hierarchies stifle the learning experience, creating barriers to learning and engagement. These barriers manifest themselves in various ways but ultimately are not conducive to the active learning strategies that create an interactive educational experience and thus do not foster a space to hone critical thinking skills. In fact, the hierarchy innate in the performance a traditional classroom environment reproduces the exact socio-cultural conditions that suppress critical thinking. 

In direct contrast to a hierarchical and ableist classroom structure, the learning experience in my classroom is reciprocal and collaborative. My pedagogy is informed by a constructivist philosophy that provides the foundations for engagement and emphasizes the importance of inclusive and diverse sources of information, through the development of rich information literacy skills and a valuing of lived experience. The learners' diverse personal experiences and information sources are crucial to a successful learning environment, by broadening the scope of discussions and constructing meaning that is socio-culturally representative.   

I actively advocate for the importance of creating an inclusionary educational space, a space that allows for a diversity in terms of ability, race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. My pedagogical praxis allows for the achievement of an inclusionary classroom space, in three main ways:

First, I do not remain in front of the class and “lecture” the students from a position of power. I feel the occasional movement through the classroom creates a sense of inclusion, that this is our space, and the learners should feel comfortable in it.

Second, I actively engage with learners and address questions that arise during the course of the class using many active learning strategies. I encourage learners to bring in material that we can include in our discussions and that any syllabus or outline can direct research to open educational resources (OER) learners may find useful in the context of the class.  At the same time I emphasize the need for respect for diverse opinions in any resource through critical thinking and information literacy that maintains an inclusive educational space.

Third, being aware that some learners have different learning preferences, I use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles of engagement, representation, and expression which can include face-to-face synchronous strategies or asynchronous strategies that include educational technology so that all learners are included within the learning environment. 

In addition to these three inclusive pedagogical practices, I constantly monitor my own efficiency as an instructor through personal reflection, as well as anonymous student feedback. I adjust strategies as the semester progresses to make sure dialogue and engagement continues. I also take learners' formative and summative assessments as not simply an indicator of gaps that need to be reinforced in the curriculum but also of what I need to address in my role as educator. I take student evaluations very seriously. I do a mid-semester check-in through anonymous survey or 1-minute papers as well as read through end of term KPI summaries to adjust my pedagogical strategies accordingly. I have very positive teaching evaluations and my students have emphasized my ability to modify my teaching strategies and make them appropriate to each classroom or student as one of my greatest pedagogical strengths. 

The three inclusive practices are informed by the four foundational beliefs in my pedagogy.

My Pedagogy: Four Foundational Beliefs

A learning space must be a collaborative space: In order for learning to happen there needs to be collaboration between the learners as well as the instructor. This can be done within a physical classroom space by destroying the hierarchy innate in the “broadcast model.” This is also achieved through reinforcement of the instructor as part of the community of learners and not adjacent to that community.  Educational technology and tools can also help collaboration and encourage learners to bring resources into the learning environment as long as these tools are used ethically. 

All learning spaces must be ethical spaces: Respect for all is key and any sexism, ageism, gender bias, racism, ableism or discrimination based on sexuality is actively discouraged.

Educational technology allows for new pedagogical paradigms and is supported by information literacy: Educational technology should be embraced as a way to create new learning connections and paradigms. However, care must be taken so that the educational technology is accessible to all in the classroom. Educational technology should never be used to create divisions within a learning environment. Information literacy is the foundation for learning and education, but there are also constantly emerging types of literacy required to socio-culturally negotiate our environments. As a result it is important to have a continual interest in professional development in order to engage with all types of literacy.

Have a continual invested interest in professional/pedagogical development: As students are learning and engaging with the material so must the instructor. Educators must continually strive to update our skills and our knowledge base and this can be done through in-person workshops or by taking advantage of the many online resources for skills development such as the creation of a Personal Learning Network (PLN).