Debbie’s Teaching Philosophy

I am a teacher at heart. My passion is to meet others where they are and help them grow and develop towards their goals by tapping into their strengths. Based on the reality that everyone learns differently, I approach each student with a lens that helps me take in their unique learning style and apply and adapt that knowledge to my teaching style.

            As a special education teacher for over 15 years, I learned to individualize instruction for students with a variety of learning styles. Some students learn visually. Some are auditory learners. Some learn by doing and hands-on activities. As a counselor educator, I seek to incorporate this knowledge into how I instruct master’s level counseling students by taking time to get to know their learning styles at the beginning of each course.

            In terms of pedagogy, I find that multi-modal learning can be an effective way to teach new concepts. No matter what learning style students prefer, learning new information through a variety of modalities increases the likelihood of retention and application of new concepts. Bloom’s taxonomy (West, 2013) is a guide for me as I seek to help students move beyond memorization and retention to application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The age-old question, “How will I ever use this information in the real world?” becomes irrelevant as students have the opportunity to apply what is learned in a way that sticks.

            As a counselor educator, I want my students to have a three-dimensional experience in my classroom. By personally practicing and modeling empathy, active listening skills, and unconditional positive regard, students have the opportunity to experience and benefit from my conscientious effort to display healthy interpersonal skills while genuinely caring for my students. I want to model for my students what it looks like to be a change agent in others’ lives in our profession.  My own graduate counseling program experience was such that my instructors called me up to always do my best work, always treat others with care and empathy, and always assume people are doing the best they can with what they know and have to work with at any given time. I want to be this example for my students.

            Evaluation and feedback are critical to student learning. For this reason, students in my courses can expect to have a clear understanding of what is expected and how they will be evaluated. Test materials will be developed using evidence-based practices which are approved by the University. Students can expect timely feedback and a developmental approach that will help them learn and grow as counselors as they engage the course material and actively participate in class discussions and team projects.

            Multicultural competency and sensitivity will show up and be part of the fabric of every course I teach. Every student should expect to be seen, heard and treated with respect.  In an effort to continually strive to be a culturally humble counselor and counselor educator, I will not hesitate to recognize and own my shortcomings in this area (Zhu, et al. 2020). By practicing cultural humility, I create space for those I seek to impact to take risks and enter into conversations which may be uncomfortable. I also do not hesitate to use my voice and my influence when I see injustice or inequities taking place, both inside and outside the classroom. For this reason, my classroom is a safe place for students to be who they are and genuinely explore where they want to go as culturally humble and competent counselors.

            As a counselor educator who seeks to make a lasting impact on the way mental health services are provided, I seek to ensure counseling students are experiencing an individualized learning process which results in higher levels of retention, analysis and application. I also seek to model for my students the skills necessary to connect with and build trust with their future clients. Expectations are clear and evaluation is timely and helpful to the developing counselors in my care. Additionally, I seek to model multicultural competency while also practicing cultural humility to create a safe environment in the classroom where students can take risks, ask any question and have important conversations, all while treating each other with the respect and care the counseling profession demands.