Teaching in the Active Learning Classroom in the Kennedy building
My Teaching Philosophy
As a sociologist who studies social inequality, I teach all my courses from an inequality standpoint. Sociology gives me the platform to take a critical pedagogy approach to learning with a social justice framework and social change outcome. I aim to create a transformative learning environment for students in which they can acquire skills to identify social statuses, ideologies, and inequities, and then develop social change strategies with immediate and long-term life applications. I develop course curricula that encourage community learning, interdependent scholarship, inquiry, and flexible approaches to learning. Core objectives for all my courses include the development of a sociological eye and critical thinking skills. My goal as a teacher is to inspire creativity and sociological self-inquiry through critical reflection. I challenge students to problematize the taken-for-granted. My overall goal is to make sociology relevant to students’ everyday lives. This is exemplified through my daily class activities and course objectives.
Recognition for Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation
I was recognized as one of the university’s outstanding teaching assistants at North Carolina State University and awarded a First-Year Inquiry-Guided Learning Teaching Fellowship. During the two-year fellowship, I participated in monthly teacher training workshops acquiring the skill and understanding to effectively execute inquiry-guided learning. This is an inductive learning method led by student questions and fleshed out through critical thinking and writing. I co-authored a paper out of this teaching experience, published in Teaching Sociology, titled, “You Have to Absorb Yourself in It: Using Inquiry and Reflection to Promote Student Learning and Self-Knowledge.” This paper was well received by the field. It was awarded the 2012 Society for the Study of Social Problems Teaching Social Problems division student paper winner and invited to the 2012 ASA thematic session, “Practicing Freedom in the Classroom: Toward a Sociology for Critical Pedagogy.” In 2013, I was awarded the SAGE Teaching Innovations and Professional Development Award and accepted into the Top 40 Freshman Success Academy from the UNCC Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Most recently I was accepted into the Active Leaning Academy, a new initiative of UNCC CTL in classroom design to promote active and collaborative learning and to increase student engagement through hands-on activities and labs.