Statement of Teaching Philosophy

I believe that learning/teaching can be accomplished most effectively when students come to class with
motivation and with interest in the subject and the teacher has passion for teaching and in-depth
knowledge of the subject. It is important that both parties involved in learning and teaching make efforts
to maintain this set of essential requirements throughout the semester. To this end, I seek a balance in my
classes between teacher control and student autonomy, structuring a class with lectures, tasks, and
discussions. For example, my Korean language classes generally consist of an introduction stage, a
warm-up stage, an instruction stage, a task stage, and a review stage. First, I introduce topics and learning
objectives, which helps students set their goals. After that, I move on to a brief warm-up activity to
stimulate students interest by associating the topic with their background knowledge or a schema. I then
move on to the instruction, during which I keep checking how well students understand and encourage
them to ask questions as they arise so that the students are actively engaged in the instruction stage. Next
I provide them with a task which focuses on the key points that they should have learned and ask them to
work on them, using Korean, in pairs or small groups. During the task stage, my role switches back and
forth between an observer and a facilitator. Finally, students share and review each others work and
receive constructive feedback from both me and peers.
I put interactions between teacher and students and between the students themselves at the center in
learning/teaching in the belief that learning is bidirectional. I enjoy being challenged and encourage
students to pose questions to me and to each other. I therefore invite students into a relationship with me
and with each other. I focus the first few weeks on establishing rapport and creating the culture of the
classroom by learning each of my students names in the very beginning and using them from the first or
second week whenever I call on them. In addition, I think that physical arrangements of classrooms are
also important in creating an interactive atmosphere; so I arrange the class in a circle and place myself in
that circle so that students can interact with each other as well as with me. I encourage students to engage
with the topic at hand, with me, and with each other, by utilizing various class activities. I also make
myself accessible both inside and outside the classroom. For example, in my classes, I arrange individual
conferences with students, listening to their personal life (if they so choose) as well as their academic life,
and monitoring each students weaknesses and strengths. I am also very prompt about responding to
students emails, which gives me a reputation as a well-organized teacher as well as a caring teacher.
As an enthusiastic, dedicated teacher, I really care about my students progress. I check whether they
clearly understand my instructions and explanations and whether they have any difficulty following the
course. To help students understand, I give them clear guidelines (e.g. a study guide for exams, a prompt
for (writing) assignments and presentations, a rubric for grading) and good examples that have been
created by students. I also utilize visual aids such as PowerPoint presentations with a dual purpose: to
assist students with learning the (at times complex) content on the one hand and to stimulate students
interests in the content on the other. I post teaching materials that were used (e.g. PowerPoint files),
guidelines, and examples on the course website (e.g. Laulima) so that students can access these easily
whenever needed. I think that giving feedback is as important as giving a lecture; so I take seriously my
responsibility to check my students assignments and mark problems on each students assignment, read
their drafts and suggest revisions, and provide feedback in timely fashion.
While I believe that there is no one teaching method or approach that is best, I apply a flexible manner of
instruction in my classes, taking into consideration a variety of variables, such as the individual
differences in level of knowledge, capabilities, and learning styles, the composition of students, the class
size, etc. Given the unique atmosphere of any given class, I oscillate between taking teacher control and
promoting student ownership, adopting various methods/approaches rather than sticking with a particular
teaching method/approach or relying on a particular teaching style.
Finally, one of the greatest goals that I have as teacher is to teach my students to become motivated,
insightful, and critical thinkers. Teaching is central to my past and future, and it is my passion. I feel
happiness when I am with my students in the classroom and I feel rewarded when I see my students
progress, success and growth.