Meghen McKinley Teaching Philosophy What educational events do we remember? Why do we remember them?

What teacher, class, and project has stuck with us and shaped how we compare the rest of our learning experiences? I work to ask how I can incorporate these events and experiences into my own teaching philosophy. The questions of how and why are questions that I ask within my movement classes to discover and explain how a dancer moves through a phrase, space, and time, and from one movement to another. I have found that these questions provide clarity for a dancer to fully understand the movement that he or she is executing. These are questions that instructors can also ask of their teaching methods to fully understand what purpose their lessons serve and why they have chosen that methodology. There is a vital connection between the goals that are set, the learning process, and each students achievement. Understanding this connection gives the teacher the ability to create an incredible experience for the student where learning can reach its peak. Dance began and continues to develop from ritualistic experiences, communal bonds, and selfexpression. These experiences both in and out of the classroom provide dancers a way to communicate and connect socially. It is important to explore these experiences in dance to reach students at a creative, social, collaborative, and problem solving level to achieve a higher level of thinking. My pedagogy is built on differentiated instructional classroom practices that accommodate students with diverse learning styles, prior knowledge, personal interests, socialization needs, and learning comfort areas. This teaching approach creates a student-centered environment. The philosophy is that the student is constructing his or her own understanding. One of the environments that provides a successful facility is interactive learning. This instruction provides the ability to learn, process, and discuss the material in social groups. I have found that collaborative learning can create an experience and environment in which students feel comfortable and are allowed to expand their views, observations, and understanding of the lesson at hand. Working within the support and comforts of a students peers will improve retention, understanding, communication, and work ethic, especially within a movement class. An interactive class shares personal experiences, knowledge, and perspective that can encourage other students. I believe that including this methodology into standardized classroom procedures gives students the ability to carry communication skills and team building techniques into other disciplines. Within this communicative classroom, the primary goal is to impart knowledge through a wide variety of styles, techniques, methods, experiences, and innovations in the field. . Through lecture, demonstration, and experiential learning, students will have the basic tools to be able to move forward with their foundation of understanding. Also, I firmly believe that as technology continues to proliferate, harnessing the integration of media into practice as research, documentation, and performance aspects can and will facilitate students growth. As teachers, choreographers, and dancers, we are forever students. By keeping such a philosophy I am able to continue to learn, discover, explore, and experiment. This continued learning process for teacher, as well as student, facilitates the learners quest for knowledge and honors students needs. I am able to impart my experiences and discoveries onto the class as they are going through the same discovery process. My passion for dance and teaching has grown throughout my formal academic process, and I am able to transfer that passion into the classroom to create a well-balanced and prepared student who will be successful outside and beyond the university. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. ~ Sydney J. Harris