Teaching Philosophy

Always under revision and in process.

For more musings on pedagogy, see writings.

My pedagogy begins and ends with students. Students drive my choices and offer me new ways of thinking about learning and subject matter. I believe foremost in the validity of their experiences and their capacities for growth, so I strive to establish an equitable learning environment in the studio and the traditional classroom where all parties can freely participate in the process of inquiry. While dance is the primary subject of study in the courses I teach, it is the prospect of supporting students’ autonomous engagement with dance that fuels my pedagogy.

I attempt to develop fluid teaching and learning processes with each student, to understand how each student exists and functions in our learning environment, and to ensure that they feel welcome to contribute to the dialogue in their own ways. I trust them outright—their choices and their motivations—and I work to earn their trust in return. In practice, this involves me acknowledging each student daily: noticing details about their physicality and way of taking up space in the room, and extending care as a foundation for our relationship. As I learn more about and from each student as a learner, I work to find a balance between recognizing their efforts and challenging them to go further. Freire’s paradigm of the “teacher-student” with “students-teachers” guides my day-to-day interactions. I am dedicated to the persistent questioning and re-envisioning that have become central to our work as a class community.

It stands to reason that the more experience one has in teaching, the more predictable one’s approach becomes; yet I know the opposite to be true. As I consider and reconsider my pedagogic approach, the possibilities for student learning and engagement continue to grow. This pedagogic inquiry lets me tailor my teaching to each new class of students—to work with them as partners in learning. Dance, then, emerges as both a subject of study and a framework through which they come to know themselves and the world.