Teaching Philosophy
Let your people do the job their own way.
You will be amazed at what they can do.
My father told this to me in 1969. You cannot be overly controlling when dealing with people and humility has its virtues. Everyone has a vision of how things may be done and others' ideas may well be far better than those that you have. My goal is to help students develop their capabilities, so that they can become informed, critical, insightful thinkers and doers. To do that, I need to identify the particular goal of my class, point out the path to that goal, and provide them tools to help them navigate that path, then work with them as they find their way. In this process, I should be humble enough to accept that they may not exactly take the same path I would, may not decide to believe all of the things I believe. However, if they can grasp the essence of what I am trying to impart to them and can show that they can put that understanding into useful operation, then maybe I have succeeded.