By Dr. Dieter Schönwetter, Dr. Coralie McCormack, Robert Kennelly and Dr. Gesa Ruge
Touring the Prairies of Manitoba
The tour began with the first pilot workshop on September 13, 2018, in Manitoba with Nicole Gareau-Wilson, a research assistant and graduate student, and Dr. Dieter Schönwetter. Nicole’s enthusiasm was very evident as members in the audience latched on to her ideas and became engaged in the initial research findings of the teaching philosophy statement. Participant feedback demonstrated the importance of the teaching philosophy statement (TPS) for those just starting their academic journey and further ideas for our future presentations. The templates and starters were incredibly useful. I have a place to start.
In June 2019, Dr. Coralie McCormack and Dr. Gesa Ruge join Dieter in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the annual Canadian Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference. In our limited 40-minute session, among 31 mid-career educational developers, the importance of the TPS not only as a tool of career advancement, but more importantly, a way of garnishing resilience for the end user became apparent. Moreover, educational developers attending our session sent us on our Australasia tour, encouraging us to promote the TPS as a philosophy for living. Amongst the ‘buzzing’ post-workshop conversations, one participant shared with us that she had never thought of creating a teaching philosophy (TP) and just out of curiosity, had joined our session, to find herself leaving thrilled to start her first TP. As someone who had not even thought about a TPS it is now clear the importance of having greater understanding of TPS. Equipped with a high level of encouragement, support and new ideas from conference participants, Coralie led the redesign of our workshop as we prepared for New Zealand.
The Teaching Philosophy 45-day Tour Down-under
A “magical mystery tour” down-under through Australasia provided more than just wanderlust. Over a six-week period, a motley crew of five academics from two continents facilitated 32 events covering seventy hours of interaction, including workshops, panel discussions, networking lunches, keynote presentations, showcase presentations and individual/small group consultations and three international conferences (EDC, STLHE, & HERDSA), at 18 universities and with a combined attendance of over 750 university staff. Statistics aside, the experiences by individuals on the team, the participants in the sessions and the opportunities to live with country hosts, give a much richer and more meaningful account of the “magic” that transpired. The interaction with each team member was rewarding. What follows are the team members’ experiences based on the chronology of the tour.
(Photo: Coralie and Gesa at the STLHE conference Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.)
June 22nd and halfway around the globe, Dieter joins his mentor, Robert Kennelly in Auckland, New Zealand. Two days at two different New Zealand university venues, Dieter’s Eurocentric individualistic worldview clashes with Maori collectivist principles of a Pepeha. The meaningful connections with the people and places that are important to Dieter, and that have made an impact in his journey, replace the impersonal introductions of his academic endeavours. Accomplishments and accolades follow. Moreover, this new style of introduction seems to engage the audience more than the former Eurocentric introductions ever did. This magical twist of worldviews was expanded upon at our other sessions, where the collectivist approach was further enlightened by our Maori, Caribbean, Australian Indigenous, Adventist, and Catholic participants, to view teaching as more involving a community rather than an individual.
The first TATAL for Dieter is a new learning experience for his analytical and mechanical approach to developing teaching philosophies. Surrounded by free writers, Dieter finds his TPS model as rigid and potentially a barrier to the freedom of thought needed to reflect on the depth and intricacies of a statement of teaching. However, not all is lost. The model has a place following free writing to further develop the comprehensiveness of a teaching statement. The Maori war canoe replaces the Eurocentric trade sailing ship in the TP presentation as the metaphor for teaching. The canoe carries the “learners” in the waters of “knowledge”. The two observers at the bow provide directives of upcoming barriers and challenges such as changing waves, currents and wind to the community of learners in the canoe. The Maori Chief (teacher) guides the canoe with the assistance of the warriors on either side who, in a strategic rhythm, power the speed of learning that occurs. A community of leaners all interconnected and interdependent. This metaphor becomes a useful visual for all future workshops. Most importantly, the TP becomes an integral part of introducing a professor’s teaching to his/her students. I will develop my TPS. I will tell students about my TPS.
(Photo: HERDSA 2019 TATAL, Auckland, NZ.)
Across the puddle to Cooranbong, Robert and Dieter join Maria Northcote and her team at Avondale to launch the second TATAL program. What is most intriguing is the chance to tease out the spiritual aspect of the TP with Seventh Day Adventists and Catholic participants. Teaching includes a sense of calling or a vocation. Above all was the reminder of the importance of providing participants with a safe environment where teaching thoughts and ideas could be shared fearless of being judged.
In Sydney, Dieter collaborates with members at three different universities (UTS, Sydney U, & WSU) and another aspect of the TP is explored – that of a team-teaching philosophy. The idea is to find ways to take ones teaching philosophy and share it with a group to help create a group philosophy about teaching as a team. The idea in principle sounds doable and the participants, after building towers of spaghetti and marshmallows, provide further insight into the value of sharing and developing group-teaching philosophies. The development of a team TPS is something I see as essential and will proceed to employ this.
(Photo: Workshop participants creating a tower with marshmallows, spaghetti, and tape as part of the team TP.)
A short bus trip to Canberra, Robert and Dieter deliver sessions to the University of Canberra and ANU. Participants continue to see the value in creating personal, as well as, team teaching philosophies. A TPS can provide confidence and a foundation to build student-teacher interactions, to help develop curriculum and activities and to advance our field and industry. Such a small thing can work towards so much good. I will co-teach a unit with another. We will consider values of each other. We will focus on how we can help each other and to better the goal of effective teaching.
Moreover, guided by our TP research findings, we encouraged opportunities to engage administration in the importance of bringing back the value of teaching in universities at the HERDSA sponsored event.This included a number of lunch hour discussions with university managers and administrators on resurrecting the value of teaching through meaningful team workshops such as TATALs, the opportunities to network with others who teach university students and a chance to share ideas about the meaning behind teaching, such as the written TP.
(Photo: Passionate facilitator, Robert provides instructions on free writing.)
A two-hour flight to Perth, Dieter teams up with Gesa as they continue with the Western Australian tour. Here, the importance of the value of the TP is affirmed by participants: I believe that I am now aware of the various teaching values and now know how to discover my own.
(Photo: Gesa listens in on participants explaining their ideas on a TP.)
A two-day stop in Adelaide and three workshops later, participants value the narratives of those who have created a TP and the importance these statements have had over their academic careers. I enjoyed the final activity with real examples and peoples narratives around TPS and their authenticity.
(Photo: TP Framework or Model explained.)
The final week, our motley crew spent three days in reflection of all the magic that had transpired, celebrating the stories of participants and facilitators and gazing into the future regarding next steps surrounding the teaching philosophy. The magic is realized in the synergies of the group. It is not one person, but the power of the group that has influenced many participants to continue their teaching journeys being a little more mindful of the power of reflecting and sharing their teaching ideas with others, including students.
(Photo: Our team in reflection after the 45-day magical tour.)
But the real “magic” of our “mystery tour” was found in the opportunities to share time with hosts, whether breaking bread or sharing the safety of a place to stay. These moments were life-giving. They occurred through shared experiences such as hiking the Coast-to-Coast Walkway in New Zealand, touring the Brindabella Range, exploring Australia’s southwest corner, experiencing a Footie game in the Optus Stadium, or photographing birds across New Zealand and Australia. These “magical” moments revealed the philosophies of people’s lives as we interacted with each other, discussed the important matters in life. Each of these stories revealed different journeys, all guided people towards teaching, whether informally or formerly. We discovered the importance of stories; the value of experiences that people had that guided their beliefs about teaching. All part of the teaching philosophy, it comes from the soul and not from a paper or theory. Above all, it includes the embracing of each moment – carpe diem. The underlying beauty of these stories focused on the caring of the student and making a difference. How magical. How profound.