~My Teaching Philosophy~

Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another.

My teaching philosophy is important for me during learning process. I believe that learning is a lifelong process. Everyone is a learner. It’s all about the journey and not the destination. Life is more exciting and fulfilling when we are learning new things. I also believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. It is my desire as a teacher to help students meet their fullest potential in these areas by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk taking and invites a sharing ideas.

As an educator and a trainer who is quite fortunate to be in constant contact with the students, I constantly strive to make learning fun, interactive, encouraging, rewarding, and above all, purposeful. I learn that educators gain (as oppose to command) respect by giving due respect to people. To gain respect as an educator, one has to be genuinely convinced that everyone has special talents and that no one knows everything. Respect for the students and trainees should be manifested in our interactions with them. For example, I would constantly encourage, admire and praise volunteers who responded to questions in class.

To me, patronizing is a sin. In answering questions from students and trainees, I am never ashamed of saying a straight “I do not know”, or, “I am no expert in the area”. I find that such demeanor goes a long way towards encouraging an interactive environment and making the students and trainees feel comfortable during lectures. All students must be made aware of the moral obligations to fulfill in learning. I constantly strive to inculcate positive learning culture among students. I believe that engineering ethics should not just be confined to a subject, but should be the responsibility of all educators. I make a point of blending motivational elements and practical experience in my technical lectures as appropriate especially to fresh students.

I strongly believe that learning should create selfless people who have the interest of mankind at heart as opposed to those who learn for primarily for his own worldly and material gains. My ultimate goal is to create selfless and caring intellectuals with the insatiable desire to quest and disseminate knowledge and to equip them the capacity for life-long learning, as oppose to those who learn just to survive.