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A philosophical framework of
your personal approach
to teaching and the rationale
behind what guides your practice
What is a Teaching Philosophy Statement?
In order to further encourage seeking answers to the questions around us, I try to
encourage the questions themselves. All teachers should do so, but it is difficult to
"allow the time" for this to take place, especially in a classroom setting. One way in
which I have done this is to design a course based on answering questions. This is the
Materials Science class that I have been developing since 1990. (Materials science
has been deemed one of the two most important topics in chemistry currently--the
other is biotechnology--but classes in materials sciences are extremely rare.) The
class is based on first asking the questions (why are materials coloured as they are?
how is heat stored? why is marble cold to the touch? etc.), and then developing the
principles to explain the concepts as needed. This is just the reverse of most physical
science classes where principles are presented and then a few examples are added at
the end.
Example 1 Teaching Philosophy
I am presently writing a textbook for this class. Judging from the interest in this
class when I spoke about it at a national chemistry meeting and interest in a
paper describing this class published in Canadian Chemical News, I expect that
the publication of this textbook will lead to development of similar classes at
many other institutions.
I bring a lot of energy to my class. If I can't get excited about my subject, why should
my students?
Accounting is viewed by many as boring; there are right and wrong ways to approach
questions, and finite answers to many questions. Of course, it is far more than that as
accounting should be viewed as a complex language with many shades of gray that
necessitate complex judgement calls. I try to get beyond the procedures.
The major course I teach at Dalhousie is a required course in the commerce program,
and many non-accounting-oriented students must take this course. The course
involves computer work, and many non-computer-oriented students must take this
course. I work to make this course not just survivable, but interesting as well.
Example 2 Statement of Teaching Style
1. Conceptualization of learning
2. Conceptualization of teaching
3. Goals for students
4. Implementation of the philosophy
5. Professional growth plan
Chism’s Five Components