Learning Experience Design Statement (Draft)
“Sawubona” is common Zulu greeting, but it is much more than a simple ‘hello’ or ‘ciao’ or ‘hola.’ It means, “I see you.” Not just in the literal sense, but “I see all of you,” your experiences, your worth, your dignity. In short, I see your humanity. My approach to teaching begins with this gesture. It signifies an intentional effort to make visible the gifts each student brings to the class and cultivate a willingness for students to share these experiences, knowledge, and talents with each other.
Creating a classroom community 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.
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.
The learning process is unique to each student and can require varied needs. For this reason, I design assessments with flexible due dates 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 the learning goals of the course, 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.
I value incorporating materials into my course that are culturally relevant to learners and offer a global perspective. I can refer now to my academic background in world and comparative literature, my fellowship with Stanford Global Studies on internationalizing community college curricula and developing global competencies, and my 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.
I can sum up my values on teaching and learning by saying Sawubona. As I work to see the humanity of my students, they work to see the humanity in each other, and we do the hard work to look out and see the humanity in the world together.