What is/are the most significant thing/s that you learned which you plan to use in some way in the future?

I think the most valuable things I learned in this class had to do with the teaching philosophy. I loved learning how best to construct one, what was valuable to include, and how to personalize it without making it sound like a diary entry. The teaching philosophy will be a huge part of my job search in the years to come, and having the opportunity to research so many and then get feedback on my own was invaluable.

While I was writing my teaching philosophy, I read many others. I have always thought of the classroom as a forum for wider societal change, but perhaps never been able to articulate how and why I wanted to make that happen in my own classroom. Reading Carolyn Forche's teaching philosophy, in particular, moved me deeply. She manages to be personal without being cloying and passionate without being didactic, writing:

"As a Professor of English, teaching literature and creative writing, my pedagogy demands dedication to teaching as a "question of justice" rather than a "search for truth," and further demands that I resist characterizing it as "a transaction that can be concluded, whether with the giving of grades or the granting of degrees." (Reading, University of Montreal). I recognize teaching as my implication in a network of obligation, without orientation toward the quest for autonomy which underwrites the privileging of the teacher's authority, the student's consumerist choice, or the knowledge to be transmitted. I am dedicated to holding the classroom open as a space for critical and creative thought."

This passage informed my teaching philosophy, and my wider thoughts on pedagogy, for the rest of the semester. I also loved reading the teaching philosophies of my peers and professors. It might be one of the only documents we all share across the various disciplines here in the English Department.

I deeply appreciate the chance to have created this piece of writing and know I will continue to return to it, share it with others, and revise it as I move forward in my career.