Statement of Teaching Philosophy

I have the privilege to have many good teachers and lecturers in my life whom had showed me that teaching can be a satisfying career choice. Yet, I had also encountered teachers whom needed much improvement. As I embark on a career path where teaching is integral, I consolidated my experiences into a teaching philosophy – As a teacher, what do I believe in? My teaching philosophy is built on three pillars.

Firstly, I believe in building rapport through casual and friendly interactions. My experiences in a wide range of mentoring and authoritative roles points to the same conclusion – I can be friendly with tutees and maintaining authority at the same time. Being friendly towards younger siblings/cousins does not reduce my moral authority. Conversely, it often increases it. If teachers are to influence students positively, mutual trust is an ally I cannot miss.

Secondly, I will provide ample opportunities for students to direct their own learning. I believe that students are primarily interested in learning, even though their interests may not coincide with mine. It is then the teacher's task to engage as much as possible. However, the students also have a role to play, to meet half-way. Let the students do a lot of thinking, let them hit the wall (expectation failure) before we throw a lifeline.

However, I should not and cannot assume all students to have the same abilities. The same student may have different capabilities in different subjects. My experience as a teacher tells me that I have more or less fixed amount of energy for each subject, which has to be divided by the number of students or tutees in that subject. To give everyone air-time, I am naturally drawn towards group mentoring than lecturing to hundreds. I believe that a teacher's responsibility lies in directing and encouraging a student towards self-directed learning no matter where their starting point is.

I believe in providing opportunities to students who wants to help themselves although it can be discouraging when offers are not taken. Nevertheless, I often tell myself - it is the students who bother to seek help or bother to come to class that matters even if it is just only 1 person. As such, I believe in rigorous evaluation of students' assignments whenever my time allows so that they get the best learning for their effort.

Finally, err on the side of generosity when in doubt. I trust that students generally know what is right and what they should do. Nobody is wrong or right forever; our teeth can bite our lips. I believe that no students want to do the wrong thing. Hence, when a mistake is made, learn it and go on. As my thesis adviser said to me "I will rather err on the side of generosity". As Randy Pausch said in his last lecture, the trust that students will often do the right thing can yield miracles (http://www.cmu.edu/uls/journeys/randy-pausch/index.html).