Educational Philosophy

I help my students develop critical thinking skills through reflective writing and speaking exercises, which allow them to approach a problem through personal experience and self-awareness. My students also learn the skills of constructive debating, of making and respecting an argument, learning to argue something they may not agree with, and how to think on their feet. The cultivation of historical literacy is essential to my teaching. Through the cultivation of historical literacy, my students learn who they are and where they have come from, so they are not a “tree without roots.” The historical element also profoundly illustrates the nature of religion and religious belief/practice as essential to the cultivation of social justice and the practice of justice-making. 

Above all, I strive to avoid what the educator and philosopher Paolo Friere calls the “banking” model of learning, in which the students are fed easily forgettable rote information to memorize and be tested on. My classroom is a space of empowerment, where we constantly engage with current events, cultural engagement, and interreligious engagement so that my students become empowered to personify the values of the Gospel in action. At Archbishop Carroll, we focus on service learning to help guide students into the experience of living out the Gospel in their lives. We have provided students with opportunities to meet and work with restorative justice groups in D.C like the Father McKenna Center (which focuses on care for those suffering from poverty and homelessness) and Free Minds DC (which provides books, writing, and peacebuilding opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth). My students leave our Social Justice classroom every day and at the end of the year knowing the importance of turning the other cheek, the importance of the Beatitudes as Jesus’ critical/constructive example of radical love, and how to know, critique, and transform systematic injustice. 

I explicitly challenge my students not to stop at their habits of suspicion and critique. Their reflective and reflexive participation opens them into a space of critical vulnerability in the liminal space between what is and what ought to be. Through the frame of anticipation, I guide students to constructively reimagine their historical embodiment in order to reorder their communities towards ecological justice, regeneration, and mutual flourishing. Each classroom becomes an anticipatory community, in which students can discover mutual sources of empowerment and reinforced community bonding in and for these precarious times.

Educational Practice

From the beginning of any course that I teach, I model comfort with thinking out loud and with contemplative models of learning. I encourage my students to always “interrupt” my lecturing with questions and comments which encourage conversation and collaboration. I encourage them to embrace the “muddier” points of our learning process. In doing so, I demonstrate that this is the most effective pathway to achieve realistic and relevant clarity with the subjects we are studying. I always lead and develop our study with critical questions in collaboration rather than top-down learning.

The classroom is always a space to discover and encourage enhanced embodied subjectivity. My pedagogy is always in service of cultivating self-exploration, self-regulation, and self-expression in the service of self-knowledge for flourishing encounters with our fellow living beings. In the process of learning, I strive to develop a holistic understanding that synthesizes ideas, feelings, actions, mind, emotions, and embodiment. I specifically encourage the bringing of the self (in all its constructs and contexts) into the learning process. The sifting of learning through self-awareness and self-expression is a natural process. I always foreground the question of how our embodiment affects our collective learning. We cannot avoid this natural reality of the learning process. This enhances engagement with the subject of learning and avoids any unnecessary objective abstractions. I always ask the students to consider how their learning is relevant to their self-development. I provide opportunities to enhance this self-reflective element of learning through personal reflection assignments, options for creative/artistic expressions, and assignments for personal praxis outside the specific classroom space. 

I also strongly advocate for creating classrooms where mindful and contemplative learning is encouraged and nourished. Contemplative learning techniques, such as regular meditation to open the class, comfort with silent spaces in the consideration of questions, and regular intentional attention to practices of contemplative reading and writing empower students to find deeper mindful engagement with our course material. I especially use the model of resonance-resistance-realignment from the Catholic educator Judy Cannato to encourage students to holistically perceive elements of our learning process which both encourage and challenge them to move into a space of transformation.  

I am very conscious of creating an inclusive space for introverted students. Participation in my classroom does not mean that you must constantly talk during every session. What is important is the quality of the students’ contributions and collaborations rather than the mere quantity. Quiet but attentive listening and the quality of written contributions are essential elements of how I define participation in the classroom. I draw upon the recent work of Jessamyn Nauhaus through her book Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to Be Effective Teachers to help guide my pedagogy. I especially draw upon her rubric of awareness, preparation, reflection, support, and practice to engage in continual contextual re-evaluation of my pedagogical practice. I also believe mentorship is essential in the building of leadership and character in the cultivation of community. My own personal scholarship and religious practice is deeply rooted in the values of personal relationships as a model of anticipation for our precarious and unprecedented times.