STRATEGY
I prepare students for tomorrow’s work environment, which is: knowledge-intensive, multi-disciplinary and collaborative. Goalkeeping this in mind, I focus my teaching on the range of skills required of students like: research skills, critical thinking, effective communication, teamwork, managing projects and arguing conclusions based on reasoning. I make special effort to encourage students to learn for understanding instead of by rote.
My teaching philosophy endeavors that students should:
• First KNOW…
• So that they can UNDERSTAND…
• Then they will BELIEVE…
• Finally they will DO…
• The end-result is CHANGE…Change in Character, Behavior, Thinking, Skills…leading to the moulding of the ‘Ideal Graduate.
My teaching strategy generally follows the following path:
• I start with the foundation of KNOWLEDGE
o Students knowing ‘what’ to do.
o So I consider what students already know & what they need to know.
o This is the first level of learning I target.
- On top of knowledge I add PERSPECTIVE
o Students knowing the ‘why’ of something – so they see ‘more’ now
o Students can now better understand due to the larger frame of reference.
- CONVICTION that grows out of ‘perspective’
o Here I focus on beliefs, values, commitment and motivation
o When students provide the typical answer in the class, “I agree with my classmate(s)” I lovingly emphasize that their response should be based on conviction and not swayed by peer’s opinion.
o This forms the basis for students to develop “their position” “argument” and “views” for a debate or discussion.
- SKILLS – the “how-to” steps
o These are related to ‘doing’ – putting theory into action!
o Not just ability to do the job, but also soft skills like communication, listening, presentation, time management, collaboration, and so on.