Why I teach

...a selection from past Excellence in Teaching columns:

• to allow students’ natural enthusiasm for knowledge to guide and infect [me]
• to foster critical and independent thinking
• [to] develop[...] student’s skills in the identification, analysis and solving of problems
• to foster understanding, critical analysis of information presented and self-directed learning
• [to] try and challenge students to reach the limits of their abilities and to increase their self confidence
• to provide a framework whereby students can recognise the significance of ...
• to lead students away from passive, textbook-based, rote and prescriptive learning
• so that [students] realise that the first resource in understanding a concept, or solving a problem, or undertaking a project, is not a textbook or section of a manual - it is in their own brain, their own intelligence, their latent intuitive sense, and their own capability for independent thought and analysis
• [to] prompt[...] them to recognize meaningful connections between the various concepts and facts showered upon them until it ‘clicks’ in their minds; encourag[e] them to communicate the acquired knowledge to others; teach[...] them to develop love and enthusiasm for a subject; and guid[e] them on the path towards their professional maturity [and] competence
• to see graduates [...] leave the University with the same degree of eager enthusiasm and curiosity they had on entering, and with a sound foundation on which to build their future careers
• I don’t think I teach. In fact I hope I don’t. What I set out to do is to offer pathways towards participation in a common pursuit