Levy Randolph's Teaching Philosophy

I believe that education should be a well-crafted experience. I believe that teaching and learning is a shared process between the “teacher” and the “student.” I place both terms, teacher and student, within quotations because roles may be frequently shifted through the process of learning. Assumedly, teaching occurs when the educator imparts knowledge to her or his student(s). However, in my opinion, the educator does not always know the whole truth. In my experience, the students may respond to a question or introduce a concept in a way the teacher was not expecting. The idea or response can then be discussed, thus leading to shared development of knowledge and for a moment the student becomes the teacher. I understand as educators we have a developed curriculum and course content; however, I believe, as competent and confident educators, we should be adaptive and open-minded regarding discussion. Therefore, my philosophy towards teaching is as follows: Teaching information should be a shared-learning experience within a facilitated environment that allows for the contesting of information, student-driven processing, and relevant application to personal life. All these components lead to fostering a desire, among both our students and teachers, to become lifelong learners.

When I think about why I enjoy teaching, I always return to the same reason. I enjoy teaching because of the process. I enjoy providing students with experiential learning opportunities and creating an environment in which they feel as though they can safely challenge me, the information, or each other so that we grow together. I find it specifically valuable when I can witness the “ah-ha” moments or progress in which a student can realize their enhanced understanding and feel proud. While I cannot take ownership of those moments, I will take time to reflect on our interactions to see how I might have adapted my teaching in the moment to help them synthesize the new information. As an individual involved in a very complex and intimidating industry like agricultural communications, which requires a lot of hands-on learning, I find the end-products that students create to be worthwhile enough to motivate me further as an educator. For example, the progression of students learning to storyboard a project, light a set, film with confidence, edit multiple sequences and combine it into one fluid product is enlightening. There are always new questions and challenges that arise. Therefore, this idea of how I can help my students make meaning of this new information is ever evolving. My goal as their teacher is to help them realize that with each of these projects or products they work to create, there are lessons that can be gleaned and applied to their work after graduation. It is my goal to help them start this process in school, so it is embedded in their work ethic moving forward.

For my efforts and preferred teaching style to work, I choose to view my students as competent, deliberate, curious, and open-minded. The communications industry is a creative environment; and, while I am not the most creative person, I use my personal experiences to help students understand what they might be able to expect and feel reassured in their own abilities. I choose to model expectations of continuous growth rather than complacency because that is what our industry demands. I choose to view each student as possessing each of those traits because in my teaching environment that is what enables our lessons to be beneficial. I do not need a student to be an extrovert or introvert. I do not need them to answer every question. I do, however, need them to be deliberately curious about the information, and open-minded to participate in discussions with one another. This will lead to the enhanced competence and confidence of these students upon exiting my classroom and entering the industry.

Beyond my own views of students, I know that students have various learning styles such as the multiple intelligences or being visual, auditory, kinesthetic (V.A.K.) learners. For me to be an effective facilitator of their learning, I do my best to ensure I provide experiences that adhere to each preferred style. Hopefully, this allows for each student to feel more comfortable in learning the information, or at least find it enjoyable once in each lesson. So, when developing my curriculum and course content for each topic, I do my best to have a mixture in how I teach. Some days may be lectures accompanied with Q&A processing. Other days may involve group work or peer teaching. I also do my best to allow for lots of student-driven processing for them to build their knowledge and understanding in their terms rather than mine. I have found that students like this type of learning environment as it stimulates their curiosity, and they want to be in class.

As I continue to teach each year, when I take time to reflect on the end of a semester, year or overall course, I will know that I am successful based on my students’ quality of products, software competence, and confidence in themselves. While I evaluate and adjust my teaching in the moment based on their quality of work and ability to use software efficiently, the latter of the three will be the hardest to evaluate. However, I believe those three factors to constitute my definition of success. If I can help my students excel in their output, easily work the programs they are required to and build their self-confidence in doing so, then they will be prepared to take on the challenges in the workforce. As their educator, I know I will take on the task of helping agricultural communication students learn the importance of deadlines, follow through, and receiving feedback appropriately. The more I can help them prepare for those, the better off they will be in the workforce. I have the utmost confidence that these students will not succumb to complacency and, instead, pursue knowledge, growth and innovation as they continue to grow.

Beyond my own personal measurement of success and what the workforce may require of them, student evaluations at the end of each semester will help me identify my strengths and weaknesses as an educator. Since it is a cyclical process, if I truly wish to help my students improve and meet the level at which they are expected to be, then I must also graciously receive the feedback my students share with me and find ways to implement it. Through their evaluations, students can share their perspectives of the class, information received, and overall experience that will help shape my efforts and hold me accountable. Therefore, my classroom truly becomes a shared learning environment in which my current teaching has been shaped and influenced by previous students, and students have been influenced not only by the information, but my teaching style as well. We learn together and we grow together.