Teaching Philosophy

In teaching, we have the unique opportunity to create the conditions under which students can explore subjects to their fullest. Every class I teach is a conglomerate of human beings utterly different from one another. In this way, I see myself as imagining a class into existence with the help of the students’ intellectual curiosities and unique personalities. Each of my classes is a continual process that may fully open up for the students only after the course is over.

One of the pleasures of teaching is finding one's own personal style of interacting with students and of presenting the course material. The longer I teach, the less I lecture to the students and the more we discuss. Fulfilling my goal of intellectual adventure, of spontaneity, and of open-endedness depends on my ability to make every student feel comfortable and welcome to ask questions and to make comments. I also give priority to fun and compassion, which are essential in creating an atmosphere of perpetual surprise that helps cut through the complexity of the material I confront along with my students. The most frustrating aspect of teaching, for me, is that students often want things to be easier. They come to class to get a grade, not to learn the material. Getting through to such students is challenging and sometimes impossible. But the students who see that I am in the process of discovery along with them may be inspired to participate more fully in the educational process because they see that they can offer something to the other students and to me. One of the most important things I attempt to do as a teacher is to make the students realize that my integrity guarantees that they will all be treated as individuals and that I believe in their individual worth. If the students believe in me as a person, then they will be willing to put themselves on the line to do their best work and stretch their learning capacities to the maximum.

The subject matter is, of course, vital, and I go to great lengths to provide the best texts and to alert students to the scholarly traditions behind every text. Psychology has much inherent appeal to students, and many non-majors choose to take the classes I teach. One difficulty is that, despite their inherent interest in psychology, students are often surprised that psychology courses are not all full of counseling techniques or studies of abnormal behavior. These students challenge me to convince them that topics like social psychology or research methods are interesting and even useful. I welcome these challenges, mostly because I believe the subject matter sells itself once the students begin paying attention. But I also welcome these challenges because, when the students care about the material and become really receptive, I can give them all of my energy and creativity. The excitement of seeing minds open up is, for me, the most important and rewarding reason to be in this business.