Olivia D.

Miller, Masters Candidate in Communication

Teaching Philosophy
Community is a value I prize above all others as a teacher. As an undergraduate, my classes were
primarily discussion based, but this classroom model did not inherently lend itself to building a
strong community. The rhetoric class which inspired my pursuit of teaching and a communication
Masters degree constructed a strong community by engaging visual, tactile, and auditory learners
through in-person and web-based discussion. Borrowing from this inspiration, my goal as a teacher is
to incorporate web-based discussion and take fuller advantage of teaching through performance, a
quality essential for public speaking.
I appeal to visual, tactile, and auditory learning styles throughout each one of my lessons by
engaging students through multiple modes of discussion. During one of my lessons, I simulate a
deliberation on the role of higher education in bettering American society. I ask students to take the
topics discussed to online forums after in-class discussion. Although the point of the activity is to
exemplify what a dialogue should look like for invitational speeches, asking them to take the
discussion online shows how students, if they have the opportunity to speak to a community outside
our class, can engage an audience beyond the moment of speaking.
In building a community through discussion, another value I profess is citizenship,
particularly global citizenship. Citizenship in the classroom means each member of the classroom
respects each others opinions. It means that public speaking teaches students how to govern
interactions in local and global communities fairly and openly. For this reason, I incorporate
examples of speaking moments from across the globe, and I engage students in discussion that
acknowledges ethnocentric standpoints and attitudes. In pointing out these moments, students learn
how to respectfully approach sensitive topics like that of value systems.
As a teacher, I hope to cultivate an open classroom for egalitarian discussion, and I extend
that sentiment to my teacher-student relationships. In my experience, some students are more willing
than others to admit the need for help outside that classroom. For those who make their desire to
improve evident, I emphasize attending my office hours or setting up an appointment for extra help.
For those students reluctant or unwilling to seek help outside the classroom, I continue to encourage
attending office hours through comments relating to specific weakness areas on critique sheets or
personal conversations. While I cannot change these students attitudes outright, I hope continual
optimism and openness will prompt efforts to improve.
Finally, I cement my emphasis on community by strictly requiring students to read the
material before class discussion. I have learned that the Socratic Method falters when students have
not engaged the material beforehand. I also assign points for discussion in order to further motivate
participation. I assign theses points every day, but I do not put them in the gradebook until the middle
of the semester. I address students who are not meeting my standards personally before they face
significant point deductions, but the lack of knowing seems to promote discussion.
I believe performing simulations and activities through multiple modalities engages students
thoughtfully and has the potential to appeal to multiple learning styles. Encouraging widespread
participation by opening up venues for expression both online and offline promotes an inclusive
community which I believe is imperative for every successful learning environment across the
humanities.