Teaching Statement

I combine a passion and joy in teaching with a philosophy that is firmly centered on a learner-centered approach.  The experience of designing innovative curriculum and assessing its effectiveness in the context of my professional teaching experience has given me a real-world perspective on these issues and the ability to use the best of both traditional and new practices for course delivery. 

Supportive communication among students and faculty, facilitation of a learning environment inclusive of difference, diversity and multiple perspectives, learning through hands-on projects that provide understanding of theoretical concepts through practical application as well as accountability and responsibility to learning at the level of the student are all aspects that inform my teaching. The learning process is placed at the core of the design of learning environments and I endeavor to remain aware that there is both a learner and a teacher in all of us. I believe that these reciprocal tasks comprise the intellectual process that enables our own continuing personal growth and development as well as our ability to contribute to the same in others.

I see the role of teaching and mentorship in providing insights into and understanding of very complex creative, technical and conceptual problems and processes.  In students I value the individual voice and support the development of their successes and accomplishments.  In the studio art context I strive to ascertain the resources latent in each individual and work to help the student realize these in the course of their development.  This involves, particularly at the senior and graduate levels, providing individualized examples, content and instruction tailored to the learner.  In the context of complex media art training I encourage learners to exercise these skills in a collaborative context.

My goal as a teacher is to communicate an understanding of course content, enable the learning environment that supports acquisition of skills, and encourage each student’s personal growth and development. Technique and a facility with tools and materials serve the development and execution of concepts, which are further supported by theoretical and historical contextualization. The design of learning activities that are both challenging and relevant to students’ future aspirations are focused on an application of learning through studio practice and some form of project or problem-based learning.

When learning is internalized learners see their knowledge and skills develop through meaningful learning assignments. This is supported by careful design of activities analogous to the iterative process of learning and including reflection on practice and theoretical concepts through practical application.  Our learning community strives for success while at the same time allowing and recognizing false steps as valuable to the learning process — fundamentally, learning to learn as a lifelong skill.

The integration of assessment and good instructional design forms the supporting structures for effective learning. Well-articulated learning objectives communicate the knowledge and skills students can expect as outcomes of the course. They give purpose to instruction and provide the focus for the design of learning activities, experiences, materials, assessments, feedback techniques, and are an inherent part of a consistent learning environment.

My personal objective in teaching is to enable in our students the development of knowledge and ability in the craft of composition and production across media with an emphasis on cultural awareness. I believe that one of the most critical issues facing the composer and designer of artifacts and experiences in the present milieu is a knowledge of, sensitivity to, and ability to act within the various cultural encodings that make up the rich endowment of diverse world cultures.  We are singularly positioned, as North American educators and learners, to articulate best practices in this complex area and show leadership in the world context.

My past experience as teacher has demonstrated to me that these goals can be achieved by providing a balance of both grounded theoretical perspectives and a high level of skills that will enable our graduates to make significant contributions to an emerging contemporary art and media culture and achieve their own goals of personal growth and employment.  We can enable them to realize these goals by providing the facilities and tools — creative, expressive, technical and intellectual — appropriate for them to develop the balance of knowledge and skill to be leaders in their field.  This entails remaining sensitive to and supportive of emerging experimental practices that are poised to become the accepted innovative practices of tomorrow.

Last updated June 2011