Teaching and Supervision

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Teaching Philosophy

Teaching is a means to an end; the act of teaching provides a mechanism by which others have the opportunity to learn. Although it is at times compelling to say one can learn to teach themselves, such a stance is a misunderstanding of the process of learning. From the beginning of recorded history to the moment you find yourself in now reading this text, people have learned by perceiving input within and around themselves. In specific, most often we learn from observing the world around us and interacting with people and things within it. As such, a teacher, instructor, professional development provider, or presenter cannot 'depart' knowledge onto others; rather, such people serve as a primary resource to support learners in their quest to increase their understanding. In the teacher-student relationship, learning and understanding is co-constructed through our interactions with one another (teacher-student; student-teacher; student-student, etc.).

Whether working with young children or adults, Ashley believes her role is to support the growth and development of those she is tasked to teach. Vygotsky proposed that learning must occur within an individual’s zone of proximal development; that is, whether young or old, novice or experienced, students begin to explore a topic with a certain amount of knowledge. Therefore, each learner’s potential to acquire specific skill sets in a specified amount of time varies depending upon what they already know combined with their unique learning characteristics.

To truly scaffold an individual's learning, intentional planning or forethought of content-specific information is necessary.  Such intentionality should include determining learners' interests, preferences, learning style, background, and experience to identify the baseline of each group and student. This provides the individual tasked with teaching the means to serve as a conduit for each individual students' learning journey.Although remaining flexible in instruction is necessary in order to best respond to student needs and understanding, it is necessary to be mindful of learning objectives and have a framework by which you plan to meet the needs of all learners. 

Further, using the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) is applicable whether working with groups of children or adults. Such an approach provides the means for multiple types of learners to access the material and engage in sense-making. In a college course, instructors need not necessarily have all the bells and whistles and untold numbers of different ways of presenting course materials; in fact, less is more. The key is to provide multiple means of presentation, the minimal amount necessary to provide appropriate options for all students. Differentiating instruction, or the use of a tiered model of instruction and feedback, is also warranted. When one tiers instruction as well, they are then able to provide more targeted feedback and guidance to those that are not ‘responding’ to universal (Tier 1) design.