Here goes! It feels scary to put my TPS out into the world! Open to all feedback and comments.
Hillarie Zimmermann - Teaching Philosophy Statement
Learning can be
uncomfortable. As an eighteen-year old
Canadian student, I found myself in South Africa pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in
South African politics. I have memories
of my first class in Industrial Sociology in Southern Africa. My mind spun.
We were asked to read documents from the South African Communist Party
(1915-1980). I was uncomfortable. I was excited. I was challenged. Beyond the intellectual challenge, university
was a fundamental time in my personal development. I marveled at the adventure of being
somewhere new. I met unbelievably
interesting people and I had personal moments of social and emotional
discovery. It was a time of great
discomfort and a time of great growth.
There were so many factors in my growth – my engagement with other
people, my engagement with faculty, my engagement with new information, my
engagement with place.
Twenty-five years later,
I find myself a teacher. I find myself
the facilitator of students’ self-discovery.
All students have such great potential.
I want students to take a risk. I
want them to think about their potential to change their own worlds and to
change the world around them. I believe
that everyone can make a meaningful difference in the world, however
small. We do this by being curious. By asking questions. By reflecting upon what we believe to be
true. “Don’t believe everything you
think”. Challenge the world around
you. Education is a key piece of
challenging the norm, of creating a more equitable society. I like to model curiosity. I am interested and excited by new ideas and multiple
ways of knowing. I want students to ask
questions and challenge their understanding of the way things are.
I believe that my role
as a teacher is to create a safe and welcoming environment where students feel
they can explore who they are, how they fit in the world around them, and how
they can make the world a better place.
I respect my students as people.
They are people with a wealth of prior experience and knowledge and they
have a lot to contribute to conversations.
It is the process of sharing that allows for growth. I understand that sharing takes courage and I
talk about the discomfort and vulnerability that I feel when I share my
thoughts, feelings and ideas. I too am
human and want my students to see my vulnerability.
I see my role in the classroom
as a facilitator. I guide my students
through a course in a collaborative and consultative manner. I believe that my role is to provide an
accessible course format, interesting and relevant content, and the opportunity
for students to interact with myself, other students, and the content to
discover new and interesting ways to look at the world. I ensure my students feel supported and safe
and I fundamentally believe that success is based on being open-minded, taking
risks, and putting in hard and persistent effort. I also constantly challenge my own beliefs
and conceptions of what makes a “good student” and what “hard and persistent
effort” looks like. I believe that
continuous personal reflection is necessary to ensure education is inclusive
and open to all.
Class discussions are my
favourite part of teaching. I understand
that every student learns differently and as such I integrate technology and
aspects of distance learning into my face-to-face classes to give students a
variety of options for interacting with the content, myself, and other
students. Engaging conversations can happen
through a variety of media and I constantly challenge myself to increase the
level of accessibility to these conversations.
Education is powerful in
personal journeys. I have an intense
desire to support people in their personal journeys. I understand that being a teacher offers an
opportunity to be a small piece of this journey.
