t e a c h i n g

Philosophy

My primary mission as a teacher is to cultivate critical intelligence in my students. The relationship between literacy and thinking is inescapable, much in the way that reading and writing are ineluctably connected; therefore, the guidance my students receive in writing and literature classes is structured to imbue them with knowledge, arm them with practical techniques, and prepare them to logically confront and critique the varied issues that shape our world.

In the classroom, I engage students in an active exchange of views-a collaborative enterprise wherein the students (and I) generate, analyze, and revise ideas. I design my literature classes to produce critical readers, rather than people who have read a handful of works from a particular period or genre. I design my writing classes to produce motivated writers, rather than people who have written X number of words in the fulfillment of their educational requirements.

Because no human culture exists without language, intercultural and intracultural communication depends on written and verbal skills. Thus, the more skilled students are in the use and analysis of language, the more prepared they are to make unique and important contributions to their particular disciplines and humanity as a whole.