Activating a Teaching-learning Philosophy: A Practical Guide for Educators

This how-to manual provides a structured framework for developing a comprehensive teaching learning philosophy from articulation through implementation to evaluation and then reactivation. Using professional literature and teaching learning experiences, the authors provide pragmatic steps for using a grounded philosophy to inform, engage, and assess teaching learning. They advocate an integrated teaching learning philosophy to promote ongoing commitment, engaged competency, and meaningful purpose in practice for educators.

The book can be used as an individual tool for professional development or in programs that prepare engaged educators, including doctoral curricula. It can also be used to inform unit and even university-level activation of a joint, shared, philosophical approach to support accountability efforts, such as institutional effectiveness and accreditation.

The authors intend this book to serve as the resource they wish they had possessed when they first ventured into the teaching role and, indeed, throughout a career trajectory.

The authors have done an exemplary job in creating a guide with broad applicability and resources for junior and senior faculty. This valuable tool prompts readers to create and evaluate their personal philosophy of teaching while providing a framework for synergy between teaching, scholarship, and service. I highly recommend this unique book to faculty members, administrators, and doctoral students, who will find it essential to their professional growth and development. --Dr. Saundra H. Starks, LCSW (Western Kentucky University)