Teaching Philosophy
I teach Rhetoric and Writing Studies because I want to instill in my students the vital role communication has in achieving one’s goals. Because effective communication is a part of every discipline, I make myself available to students to receive guidance and feedback on all of their courses and projects.
I have been teaching rhetoric and composition for nine years. I’ve taught college composition in its various forms and levels from freshmen to graduate students. I have taught at a Hispanic Serving Institution on the U.S. – Mexico Border at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), and at a Primarily White Institution in the “new south” at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Like many of my students, I was a first-generation college student, and the first in my family to pursue post-graduate education. I understand the struggles students have in navigating the unfamiliar terrain of the university, and I have come to see and position myself not only as a teacher but as an active collaborator and mentor that works with my students as they progress in their academic, personal and civic environments.
As a result of my personal and professional experiences, my overall teaching philosophy contains three key principles. First, I view my students for their assets versus their deficits. I value the varied knowledges and skills students bring to the classroom, and build on where students are when they enter my courses. Second, while rhetorical and analytical approaches are always a part of my pedagogy, I also incorporate multimodal and digital composition, and interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, such as information literacy and cultural studies, into my teaching. Third, I believe we, as instructors of rhetoric and composition, have an opportunity to provide students with powerful tools to advocate for themselves, others, and effectively communicate within their respective societies so that they may achieve their goals. Through my courses, my key principles intertwine to provide students with opportunities to grow as writers, researchers, and thinkers in their academic, personal and civic environments.
Most of my students come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, not an English or Rhetoric and Composition majors; therefore, it is essential to have small activities early on and throughout the semester that highlight where students are when they enter and where they are throughout the course. Through small assignments and activities such as an auto-ethnography, a preliminary survey of skills and knowledges, and writing assignments, I uncover the varied knowledges and skills students bring to the classroom. Additionally, a key element of the learning in all my courses is critical reflection. Critical reflection is scaffolded throughout all my courses through the form of process, reflection, or progress journals. Through critical reflection students pause, evaluate, and reflect on the progress they have made throughout the course, and where there is still room for growth in their communication practices. These assignments provide me with moments to also check-in with students and see how they are progressing in the course, what connections they are making, and how to best reach out to them.
With an understanding of where my students are when they enter my courses, students are introduced to a combination of pedagogies and theories that provide them with several tools that they can then call upon to effectively communicate in a variety of settings. In my first-year writing courses students are introduced to rhetorical theory, writing studies theory, and critical reading. With these theoretical underpinnings, students conduct discourse community ethnographies and genre analysis to analyze and communication patterns amongst different groups. These assignments bring students’ attention to their own communication practices and also demonstrate places for improvement. With the introduction of information literacy students in my first-year composition, Rhetoric of Visual, and Power of Persuasion (LBST 2301 at UNCC) courses learn how information is produced and learn how to identify, evaluate, and apply information sources effectively when seeking and using information for a variety of purposes. Students then apply this knowledge in their final projects, a half semester long inquiry project that is either a written or visual argument, where they must demonstrate critical thinking, information literacy, and their ability to generate an effective argument (written/visual) for their target audience and purpose.
Visual rhetoric and multimodal composition are key elements of all my courses, but within my upper-division Arguing with Images course (WRDS 314 at UNCC), students engage with complex inquiries that pushes them to untangle how meaning is created and perpetuated through visual communication, and how to leverage the power of images as communicative tools in both effective and ethical ways. Through theories and practice of visual rhetoric, circulation studies, and new materialism, students become proficient, thoughtful, and ethical users of visual argumentation and understand how visual rhetoric operates within specific sociocultural contexts. We critically analyze and evaluate arguments about images and arguments that are images so that students more fully understand the power of visual communication.
A course that is representative of a combination of my three key philosophies is my graduate level Rhetoric of Food (ENGL 6062 at UNCC). Through rhetorical theory, cultural rhetoric theory, postcolonial rhetorical theory and food studies scholarship, students critically analyze the relationship between rhetoric, food, and community, and how knowledge is produced and question whose knowledge is privileged in academia. Through both their primary and secondary research, students synthesize the connections between rhetoric and food studies to explore the relationship between rhetoric, food, and community, knowledge and the academy.
These classes, their respective assignments, and my one-on-one mentoring provides students tools and techniques to effectively communicate in future situations they may encounter. With a foundation in rhetorical theory, students leave acknowledging and valuing their communicative abilities as well as empowered with the knowledge of how to effectively communicate within their respective societies so that they can achieve their goals. Whether teaching an introductory, graduate level or a course at a level in between, the approaches mentioned above offer students opportunities to grow as writers, researchers, thinkers, and effective communicators, and they find opportunities to apply their own interests, cultural and disciplinary backgrounds (i.e. their funds of knowledge) to our class projects. I, however, consistently maintain room for growth and change within my own teaching practices. I believe in thinking introspectively about my own subjectivities in the classroom, and I use this self-reflection to inform my teaching that respects the varying contexts of my students.
As a result of my personal and professional experiences, my overall teaching philosophy contains three key principles. First, I view my students for their assets versus their deficits. I value the varied knowledges and skills students bring to the classroom, and build on where students are when they enter my courses. Second, while rhetorical and analytical approaches are always a part of my pedagogy, I also incorporate multimodal and digital composition, and interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, such as information literacy and cultural studies, into my teaching. Third, I believe we, as instructors of rhetoric and composition, have an opportunity to provide students with powerful tools to advocate for themselves, others, and effectively communicate within their respective societies so that they may achieve their goals. Through my courses, my key principles intertwine to provide students with opportunities to grow as writers, researchers, and thinkers in their academic, personal and civic environments.
Most of my students come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, not an English or Rhetoric and Composition majors; therefore, it is essential to have small activities early on and throughout the semester that highlight where students are when they enter and where they are throughout the course. Through small assignments and activities such as an auto-ethnography, a preliminary survey of skills and knowledges, and writing assignments, I uncover the varied knowledges and skills students bring to the classroom. Additionally, a key element of the learning in all my courses is critical reflection. Critical reflection is scaffolded throughout all my courses through the form of process, reflection, or progress journals. Through critical reflection students pause, evaluate, and reflect on the progress they have made throughout the course, and where there is still room for growth in their communication practices. These assignments provide me with moments to also check-in with students and see how they are progressing in the course, what connections they are making, and how to best reach out to them.
With an understanding of where my students are when they enter my courses, students are introduced to a combination of pedagogies and theories that provide them with several tools that they can then call upon to effectively communicate in a variety of settings. In my first-year writing courses students are introduced to rhetorical theory, writing studies theory, and critical reading. With these theoretical underpinnings, students conduct discourse community ethnographies and genre analysis to analyze and communication patterns amongst different groups. These assignments bring students’ attention to their own communication practices and also demonstrate places for improvement. With the introduction of information literacy students in my first-year composition, Rhetoric of Visual, and Power of Persuasion (LBST 2301 at UNCC) courses learn how information is produced and learn how to identify, evaluate, and apply information sources effectively when seeking and using information for a variety of purposes. Students then apply this knowledge in their final projects, a half semester long inquiry project that is either a written or visual argument, where they must demonstrate critical thinking, information literacy, and their ability to generate an effective argument (written/visual) for their target audience and purpose.
Visual rhetoric and multimodal composition are key elements of all my courses, but within my upper-division Arguing with Images course (WRDS 314 at UNCC), students engage with complex inquiries that pushes them to untangle how meaning is created and perpetuated through visual communication, and how to leverage the power of images as communicative tools in both effective and ethical ways. Through theories and practice of visual rhetoric, circulation studies, and new materialism, students become proficient, thoughtful, and ethical users of visual argumentation and understand how visual rhetoric operates within specific sociocultural contexts. We critically analyze and evaluate arguments about images and arguments that are images so that students more fully understand the power of visual communication.
A course that is representative of a combination of my three key philosophies is my graduate level Rhetoric of Food (ENGL 6062 at UNCC). Through rhetorical theory, cultural rhetoric theory, postcolonial rhetorical theory and food studies scholarship, students critically analyze the relationship between rhetoric, food, and community, and how knowledge is produced and question whose knowledge is privileged in academia. Through both their primary and secondary research, students synthesize the connections between rhetoric and food studies to explore the relationship between rhetoric, food, and community, knowledge and the academy.
These classes, their respective assignments, and my one-on-one mentoring provides students tools and techniques to effectively communicate in future situations they may encounter. With a foundation in rhetorical theory, students leave acknowledging and valuing their communicative abilities as well as empowered with the knowledge of how to effectively communicate within their respective societies so that they can achieve their goals. Whether teaching an introductory, graduate level or a course at a level in between, the approaches mentioned above offer students opportunities to grow as writers, researchers, thinkers, and effective communicators, and they find opportunities to apply their own interests, cultural and disciplinary backgrounds (i.e. their funds of knowledge) to our class projects. I, however, consistently maintain room for growth and change within my own teaching practices. I believe in thinking introspectively about my own subjectivities in the classroom, and I use this self-reflection to inform my teaching that respects the varying contexts of my students.
