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Teaching Philosophy

When instructing speech-language pathology students, my teaching philosophy is similar to my therapeutic philosophy. I value clear expectations, high repetitions, and naturalistic exploration through applied and active learning strategies. I strongly believe in making my classroom a welcoming place for all people. To do this, I utilize inclusive practices such as using gender-neutral language, recognizing and stating my own biases and intentions, and utilizing universal design principles to benefit all learners. 

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I am an advocate for diversifying the speech-language pathology field, which begins in undergraduate classrooms. As it relates to race, culture, and linguistic diversity, I actively seek conversations with individuals who have different lived experiences to broaden my worldview. Additionally, I actively explore and teach cultural humility over cultural competence. Cultural competence can never be mastered, but we must continually evaluate and challenge our belief system. I model this in the classroom by teaching diverse perspectives about topics and setting ground rules for appropriate and collegial discourse. I utilize guest speakers, speechpathology.com lectures, readings from opposing views, and popular press blogs and articles to share unique perspectives. 

In addition, the field of SLP can diversify by encouraging students of all abilities to enter our programs. For example, I evaluate my courses for the universal design principles of engagement, representation, and action and expression. I continuously ask myself questions like “Is this language ableist?” or “Am I creating unnecessary barriers?” To do this successfully, I continuously monitor engagement through student check-ins, stating the learning objectives and assessing student readiness so I understand their level of interest as they consume the content. As for representation, I present information from various sources, as mentioned above, and I also consider the accessibility of these formats. My courses have diverse types of assignments related to action and expression, so students are not bound to a midterm/final exam system. Finally, I provide clear due dates in the syllabus and provide example assignments in Canvas when appropriate.