2008 Teaching Initiative Award Winner
Bill Anderson, Ph.D.
- Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, University of Alabama (2005)
- Assistant Professor, Family and Consumer Sciences
Teaching philosophy
I strongly agree with Parker Palmer, who advocates putting subject matter in the center surrounded by teachers and learners with mutual efforts to create missing connections and integration, learning can then occur even without a conscious intent to learn.
Three most important attitudes that I bring to my teaching
- A lesson from my high-school English teacher, Miss Bernice Martin; never compare students to one another,
- Philip Candy’s admonition that learning not to be regarded as the acquisition of information, but rather as a search for meaning and coherence… with emphasis on what is learned as opposed to how much is learned, and
- A quote from William James, “An idea, to be suggestive, must come to the individual with the force of revelation.”
Most challenging aspect of teaching
The most challenging aspect of teaching for me confirms William James’ belief that learners may not always want to know more. They may simply want input that confirms what they already believe.
Best compliment
“He has a way of making you stand in someone else’s shoes.” Considering that much of my material in graduate classes is culture specific, I’m thrilled with that comment.
