Teaching

My Teaching Philosophy

I believe that the potential and power to learn resides in the student. The role of the teacher is to create the appropriate environment so that the inherent capacity of the student is manifest, and learning takes place. My approach to teaching, coaching, mentoring and supervision is learning centric—the teacher and student grow and achieve together!

This togetherness in learning is exemplified with a metaphor of gardening. The gardener studies the soil, seed and the environment, decides what and how to grow, plants a seed, and nurtures it. The seed grows! This does not mean that the student is a passive recipient of what the teacher gives. Every seed has its innate drive to grow—with its roots and leaves it seeks that which provides protection, sustenance and growth. So the basic drive and potential to learn and grow is within the student and they reach out to the teacher to gain desired competencies. It is the gardener’s duty to provide the optimal ambience to facilitate the plant reaching full growth and productivity. Thus, it is the role of the teacher to provide a climate conducive to a student gaining new insights, options and directions.

This is in harmony with the basic philosophy of Transactional Analysis, namely

• People are okay
• Everybody can think
• We decide our own life course

Teaching Principles

I structure and deliver my teaching guided by the following principles deeply rooted in my philosophy:

• From the known to the unknown: People learn better when they could connect new experiences to their known experiences.
• Learning takes place through the relationship: Teacher-Student relationship is central to the learning process.
• Adaptability: The teaching methodology is flexible and chosen based on the learning content and objective, learner’s competency (stage of development), learning system, time, and resources.
• Simplicity: Teaching methodology is as simple and direct as possible – the Occum’s razor.
• Questioning: Questions, more than statements, stimulate thinking in the learner.

As Galileo said, “You cannot teach people anything. You can only help them discover it within themselves.”