Teaching-Learning Philosophies…Hm.
This entry was inspired by Sir Andy’s blog. ^_^
While I’m contemplating how some professors could be unreasonably mean and while I vowed to be the exact opposite, I keep remembering some of the more senior faculty talking about their teaching philosophy. The latest? I picked up from Jag (ayan ha, nerdoks ka rin kasi may nakukuha ako sa speeches mo). Hehe.
1. Train your kids as if they’re people you will consider hiring. If you “undertrain” them, they will become people you will never hire. (This I got from Jag.) I never really put these into words until I heard it come out of his own mouth.
2. I actually take effort very much into consideration. If I see a kid who works hard, even when he’s not naturally talented in the field, I give him merit. Why? Because in the real world, I would prefer to hire someone I could train than someone who rests on his laurels. There are a lot of talented people in the world who believe they are indispensable, thus acting arrogantly. These are the people who inherently refuse to learn and therefore will become outdated pretty quickly. Bad news for them: we are all dispensable. Every single one of us.
3. I believe in working smart rather than working hard. Although working hard is commendable, it takes less effort when you’ve already calculated your moves in your head and act accordingly. Which is why I also give merit to those kids who can easily solve problems with as little stress involved as possible.
4. It flatters me when kids dream about my subject (some even put it on their YM status). Hahahaha! I remember one student of mine who said, “Miss, grabe napapanaginipan ko na talaga tong Portfolio!” And a couple of other students who posted their overnight pics (working for their HUCOMIN finals) in their multiply pages. For one thing, they’re actually going to use it outside the classroom. For another, well…it means they’re taking my subject seriously.
5. I don’t call myself a “teacher”. I call myself a “learning facilitator”. This is because I don’t consider myself the end-all and be-all of knowledge. I gain knowledge from the industry, which I give to my kids and my kids give me something back which I also give back to the industry. I prefer to see my kids think critically and give me new perspectives about my topics and about themselves, than see them turn into yes men. This is why I always applaud innovation and give my kids credit when they exhibit it.
6. What works for one class may not necessarily work for another. This is part of what I learn everyday. There was a class I had to whip into shape and another I had to coax into it. I value this kind of learning because it means that even if I had forgotten where the occipetal lobe is and why the hippocampus is essential to long term memory, I still have practical uses for my first degree (Behavioral Studies). Of course, I still talk about Cognitive Psychology and Metacognition in HUCOMIN, but that’s another aspect of what I do.
7. I can’t get enough of learning. What I know isn’t nearly enough. I feel like I haven’t learned enough and I’m hungering for it. Why do you think I love sitting in other professors’ classes? I immensely enjoyed Janice’s and Mike’s classes, even when the going got tough. They challenge me to be the best that I can be (of course, with the added pressure that I’m a professor and that I should finish the exercises at least an hour ahead of the students).
On Pursuing Higher Learning
When Tito Merlo found out that I will be taking my doctorate, he asked me exasperatedly, “Don’t you ever think of stopping??”
I smirked and said, “This coming from someone who took his master’s twice?” I guess he had already achieved so much that he had forgotten that many of us have not gotten to his level yet.
But really. I wasn’t supposed to take my master’s studies seriously. I only did recently because I found out last term that my grades qualify me for honors. My idea of learning is having fun. Taking things easy so that the information can seep in. I know the exact opposite is happening right now, but I’m hoping that when I do get into my doctoral studies, I wouldn’t have to pressure myself so much anymore. I promise myself that if I do make it to doctoral candidacy, I wouldn’t lose sleep if I don’t graduate on time…
Oh yeah…and one reason I took up my master’s is because I initially wanted to distract myself from my emotional problems. I had always been like this, since college. I deal with emotional problems cerebrally. (The first time I became a University Scholar in UP was when I had my heart broken for the first time. Before that, I was the poster girl for procrastination, cramming and smoking beneath Oblation’s crotch.) Unfortunately, what was supposed to be my “distraction” became the bane of my life. Don’t get me wrong. MIM is fun. It’s just INNODEV that ruins it for me.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Right now I’ve already dropped all other cerebral activity. Starting with Toast of Mensa. I am renewing my membership, but I won’t be doing any speeches until I finish what I have to do here.
My idea of relaxing is doing a Heroes and/or Justice League marathon. Unfortunately, I finished all the available Heroes episodes (up to 18) and I’ll be starting on Justice League’s 2nd season (if I feel myself getting angry over INNODEV again). When my sister returns my TV from her exhibit, I’ll be back to playing Final Fantasy XII again. Hehe.
COMMENTS from the old blog:
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skysenshi wrote on Apr 8, ’07
animetric said
Further studies? oh my gawd… XD as long as i don’t encounter another useless but overly tedious subject like INNODEV, i’d be fine. but boy, did i learn a lot from the experience. not the subject itself, but the experience of taking it. -_-
i already told the new batches who to watch out for and what technique to use for the others. |
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jaggarcia wrote on Apr 8, ’07
i have many more gems… really
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drewbocz wrote on Apr 8, ’07
free food? hmmm…when are these orientation things? hehehe
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kurayami wrote on Apr 8, ’07
There should be a, “What I know in life, I learned from Sir Jag.” list. Sir Jag’s words are gold 😀
I too want to continue learning after getting a degree. I’ve been scouting schools in the US and here as well all for the love of learning. I love it more than earning money (even if I LOOOVE money. Hee~) |
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drewbocz wrote on Apr 8, ’07
skysenshi said
3. I believe in working smart rather than working hard. Although a lot of lazy bums use this as an excuse for being a smart-ass, which is a far cry from being smart. Of course, working smart is the first option, but one should not be afraid or unwilling to slug it out if need be.
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skysenshi wrote on Apr 9, ’07
drewbocz said
Although a lot of lazy bums use this as an excuse for being a smart-ass, which is a far cry from being smart. Yeah, there is a difference and for us professors it is easy to tell. (Jeez, I started innodev by working smart and when smart didn’t work, I really dove into the mud. I expect the same kind of determination from my kids.)
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skysenshi wrote on Apr 9, ’07
kurayami said
There should be a, “What I know in life, I learned from Sir Jag.” list. Sir Jag’s words are gold 😀 Shempre, dumaan din sa kalokohan yan si Sir Jag eh. Wahahahaha!
Most of us professors kasi tend to look at ourselves as students when we teach. Like when I caught a student of mine cheating and I told him, “You’re doing it wrong. If you’re going to cheat naman, make sure it’s fool proof!” As if hindi kami dumaan sa stage na yun kasi eh and I’m not very proud to say that I got away with it once (when I decide to cheat, which is rare because I get so nevous quickly, I cheat smartly, wahahahaha) when I was a student. Re: Learning |
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ohmygulay wrote on Apr 12, ’07
Wow Bea, thanks a lot for this! ^_^
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