Six Pillars to my Teaching Pedagogy
1. Approachable and engaging learning environment.
2. Individual success and a team mentality.
3. Critical thinking and problem-solving.
4. Student agency in assignments and lectures.
5. Valued diversity.
6. Experiential learning.
1. Approachable and engaging learning environment.
- Creating a friendly and approachable learning environment is important in creating meaningful and impactful professional relationships with students. A critical element of this pillar is to enthusiastically engage with students. I present content with passion and excitement. This pillar inherently includes a dedication to equity, diversity, and inclusivity as core principles of creating an approachable and engaging learning environment.
2. Individual success and a team mentality.
- Individual student success is my paramount goal as an instructor. I make it clear to students that I will work with them to create and help facilitate the educational experience they seek, and to overcome any barriers they face. The classroom resembles a team, in many respects, and fostering a culture of togetherness in exploring various issues in the social sciences.
3. Critical thinking and problem-solving.
- I teach disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, theories, concepts, and cases. These broad and specific investigations are the beginnings to helping students understand how they can use course content to better understand their lives and our world. My tactful teaching style allows me to teach even the most upsetting of topics in open, impactful, and safe ways.
4. Student agency in assignments and lectures.
- Granting students agency over their education is crucial for their development as critical thinkers. I help students understand and utilize social science concepts and tools to craft precise questions which will lead them to their own answers. Additionally, I ask students about their interests as a class and tailor content towards subjects they want to learn about within the boundaries of course content. Using cases of tailored interest for the class to reinforce core social science ideas has resulted in an engaging learning environment where students feel they have power over their education and aids in comprehension of course content. .
5. Valued diversity.
- Valuing diversity and presenting diverse content is critical to create insightful and dynamic students who carry with them a critical mass of in-depth knowledge and conceptual tools that can be applied across space and time. For Canada specifically, I have taken the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action Number 62 (Indigenize post-secondary institution content) seriously.
6. Experiential learning.
- I understand experiential learning as students applying knowledge and skills in authentic contexts for the purposes of learning about specific topics, developing skills, clarifying values, heightening self-awareness, and the exploration of career paths. Experiential learning can increase student engagement and satisfaction, provide interactive curricula, and strengthen student comprehension of course content.
Photo: Selection of Teaching Materials.
Source: Andrew R. Basso, 2021.
Source: Andrew R. Basso, 2021.
