Teaching Philosophy Statement
Gokce Tekeli
Stimulating curiosity is an integral element of my pedagogical theory and practice. One of my primary goals as a teacher is to inspire active learning by modeling curious thinking for my students. I devote at least a full class period, every semester, to looking for questions -- rather than answers. In my introduction to rhetoric courses, for example, we investigate “coffee.” We begin our lesson by free writing about coffee without using the word “coffee.” These in-class writing exercises foster creativity and organic conversations. During our discussion following the in-class writing exercise, I invite students to think about seemingly simple and ordinary facts such as the coffee thermoses or Starbucks cups we observe in our classroom and/ or campus. We then trace coffee ideologically, economically and socially. Students engage in questions such as what it means to value coffee over sleep or what it means when a coffee thermos has a “made in China” label. I facilitate collaborative learning environments for my students as we inquire into argument and ideology through the comprehensible coffee example. As a part of my inspirational teaching method, I participate as an active member of discussion to practice curiosity with my students. Curiosity provides us with the tools of intelligence that impel self-motivation and comprehension.
One of the primary goals of my courses is to inspire students to invest in course projects and take ownership of their own learning. In my courses, we discuss research as a discovery process that begins with an original question. To me, cultivating curiosity is an essential element of responsibility in the classroom. Teachers and students share that responsibility in a learning community. To facilitate a collaborative learning environment, I guide student attention away from the instructor and stay away from traditional lecturing techniques. Through in-class discussions and assignments such as informal double-entry journals, students are guided through processes of finding social and literary tensions that stimulate motivation that comes from within. As we work through spatial, linguistic and social ideologies, students learn to value humility of academic inquiry that navigates research, reading, and writing. That is, we learn the significance of finding fruitful questions to initiate discovery processes with twists, turns and surprises. Through an organic and lively way of investigating, I guide my students to embrace the value of chaos instead of finding “good quotes” to back up what we already know or think we know.
Borrowing Adrienne Rich’s powerful words, I tell my students during our first meeting, “the first thing I want to say to you who are students, is that you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one.” Claiming an education begins with curiosity and fruitful questions. “Responsibility to yourself,” unpacks Rich, “means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.” Through such hard work, students discover questions with no black or white answers. And more importantly, they learn to challenge what they already know. While Rich exclusively focuses on women’s education, I would like to extend the definition and discussion of claiming an education regardless of sex, race, ability, nationality, religion, or experience. My pedagogy is centered on students, who have their own ownership of their own education. I invite them to be learners through awareness of the self, literary works, and their surroundings.
One of the primary goals of my courses is to inspire students to invest in course projects and take ownership of their own learning. In my courses, we discuss research as a discovery process that begins with an original question. To me, cultivating curiosity is an essential element of responsibility in the classroom. Teachers and students share that responsibility in a learning community. To facilitate a collaborative learning environment, I guide student attention away from the instructor and stay away from traditional lecturing techniques. Through in-class discussions and assignments such as informal double-entry journals, students are guided through processes of finding social and literary tensions that stimulate motivation that comes from within. As we work through spatial, linguistic and social ideologies, students learn to value humility of academic inquiry that navigates research, reading, and writing. That is, we learn the significance of finding fruitful questions to initiate discovery processes with twists, turns and surprises. Through an organic and lively way of investigating, I guide my students to embrace the value of chaos instead of finding “good quotes” to back up what we already know or think we know.
Borrowing Adrienne Rich’s powerful words, I tell my students during our first meeting, “the first thing I want to say to you who are students, is that you cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one.” Claiming an education begins with curiosity and fruitful questions. “Responsibility to yourself,” unpacks Rich, “means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.” Through such hard work, students discover questions with no black or white answers. And more importantly, they learn to challenge what they already know. While Rich exclusively focuses on women’s education, I would like to extend the definition and discussion of claiming an education regardless of sex, race, ability, nationality, religion, or experience. My pedagogy is centered on students, who have their own ownership of their own education. I invite them to be learners through awareness of the self, literary works, and their surroundings.