Learning Experience Design Statement (Final)
I did not become a community college English teacher because I got good grades in English classes at school. It was not an easy subject for me, and in fact my grades were usually very low. I was not interested in the reading material, whether it was Romeo and Juliet or Fahrenheit 451, and I rarely if ever could bring myself to finish any of the assigned books. Conversely, I succeeded with high marks in my math classes with relative ease. It was not because I particularly liked math. It just made sense to me. Now, I don’t mean this statement to suggest any truth to the myth of the Math brain vs English brain dichotomy. This was simply my experience growing up in the public school system in East San Jose, California.
When I started community college, I placed into a basic skills English class. And when I somehow passed that class and decided to transfer to another community college, which required another placement test, I tested into the same level basic skills English composition class and was also required to take an additional remedial reading class too. Consider my frustration: not only did I pass high school (through an equivalency test), which seemingly would signify that I am prepared for college, but I also passed (or was passed along?) in college, again something I assumed qualified me for “college-level” work. It was this frustration with the education system that inspired me to work hard in my English classes. It was challenging, but the more I challenged myself, the more I was inspired to “beat the system,” so to speak. And it was this sense of challenge that motivated me enough to actually get excited for my classes.
I did not do this alone, however. I had some really good teachers along the way. The basic skills reading class inspired me because I was encouraged to incorporate my interest in music into my coursework. And my teacher for critical thinking and composition inspired me because he incorporated what I later came to know as “culturally responsive curriculum and practices.” He inspired students through collaborate and creative projects and interdisciplinary reading material that crossed national and linguistic borders; that is, the reading material was diverse not only in subject matter but in cultural expression. It was here where my love of reading found its roots, and for me reading eventually became an inspiring vehicle through which I could explore my cultural heritage and learn about the culture of others.
These early lessons in my educational experiences informed the trajectory of my journey into the community college classroom, and they remain at the root of my core teaching values. Whether teaching in person or online, I believe that more students excel when they are encouraged to work in collaboration, channel their creativity, explore culturally rich contexts, and feel challenged by the work they do for the class.
Creating a community of learners, one that fosters interaction and trust, is essential to any effective learning experience. Students are the most vital learning resources in any given classroom, virtual or otherwise, and creating an atmosphere in which learners can share their experiences and talents and cultivate their knowledge and skills with one another builds self-esteem, creates a sense of accountability, and ultimately deepens engagement with the course materials and one’s own learning process. While I design and facilitate the learning space as a teacher, I also assume the role of learner in this process, sharing experiences and exchanging ideas with students to contribute to what I like to call “the communal knowledge” of the learning space.
A creative design to the course also drives the social environment of the learning space. It is the intentional and thoughtful design of the course structure and learning activities that foster investment in the act of learning. Learners want to be challenged to think critically but also need the time, space, and resources to do so. They need the freedom to be creative in this process and they need to understand how their effort benefits them. To this end, I pay careful attention to sequencing lessons and assignments so that support is scaffolded into the act of learning. Activities and learning goals are angled so students can investigate their interests and the issues that matter to them. Furthermore, the mediums through which they perform these tasks (infographics, videos, multimedia presentations, written expression, etc.) enable creative expression and productive dialogue. Students can experiment with different means of creative expression as they grapple with complex concepts and negotiate their audience’s needs to determine the most effective means of communicating their message.
The learning process is unique to each student and can require varied needs. For this reason, I design assessments with flexibility in mind and to account for the diverse processing times students require, and I also integrate flexible modes of expression to honor student talents, interests, and learning styles. For example, while I frame essay assignments with particular requirements to align with core learning outcomes, I will include a selection of essay prompts for students to choose from, and at other times I will guide students to creating their own essay prompt to write about. And I always invite students to discuss alternative projects with me if they are stuck with the assignment or simply want to explore an intriguing idea. In one such case, a student composed a sequel to a contemporary play, which replaced the original assignment of analyzing said play. The student instead demonstrated understanding of key themes, complex symbols, and historical references by developing them in a creative work herself. These types of flexible measures are one strategy to promote equity in my course design.
While the learning process is often social, it also requires deep personal reflection. For this reason, I integrate metacognitive reflection assignments into my curriculum. These assignments allow students to reflect on their learning process with any given project or lesson, identify the obstacles they encountered along the way, and evaluate the strategies they developed to overcome these obstacles. In this way learners create a dialogue that serves to deepen their own understanding of their learning process and explore the effectiveness of their learning strategies. This helps learners engage in the practice of continuously cultivating and refining their learning process.
I value incorporating materials into my course that are culturally relevant to learners and offer a global perspective. My own experience of developing a relationship with reading stems from this practice, which is reflected in the trajectory of my academic and professional journey. I pursued graduate education in world and comparative literature; I completed a competitive fellowship with Stanford Global Studies on internationalizing community college curricula and developing global competencies. And I work as a practitioner of Umoja Community, a learning community focused on improving success rates among African students and those of the African diaspora. These experiences factor deeply into the development of course materials. Integrating global authors and themes into the course allows students to understand different ways of thinking and doing things in the world, compels them to reflect on their own assumptions and experiences, and facilitates empathy and understanding.
If there is one message that you can glean from this piece of writing it is this: students learn better together, through culturally rich contexts, and with their personalized expressions of creativity. Crafting a learning experience to honor and cultivate collective, individualized, and diverse representations of critical thought and self-expression requires a continued commitment to self-reflection on the part of the teacher. It requires listening to student needs no matter how they express it. It requires a sustained effort to explore new and valuable learning technologies. And it requires a continuous effort to deepen knowledge of equitable learning practices and enact them in creative and culturally responsive ways.