PeterSmith: Portfolio

My aims and objectives in teaching have been formed by three things. Firstly, there are those people who, as my teachers, began to shape the way I think about teaching. Secondly, there is the experience of others, often presented as theory, which has broadened my understanding of how people think and learn. Finally, there are my own experiences as a teacher of what has an impact, what has little impact, and what does not work.

Those teachers who shaped my thinking about teaching: One of my first tertiary teachers was Warrant Office Steve Rollinson of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Steve always gave people room and time to experiment and make mistakes; but he did so without attaching blame. Furthermore, given the environment (the British Army), he did that without putting people at risk. Thus, my teaching is grounded in safely allowing people to try things out in a way that doesn't necessitate them "getting it right" the first time. Later, Wim van der Bospoort, (formally of Philips Data Systems, and now with Microsoft) was, at first, my teacher and later a friend of over twenty years. Wim awoke in me a passion for "finding out". Whereas Steve was quiet, even reserved, Wim was enthusiastic about both his subject and about learning itself. With Wim, everything was used as an opportunity to learn. In addition, it I was delighted when I realised that as I was learning from Wim, he was learning from me. And so, I always try and demonstrate passion and enthusiasm in my teaching. I try and take every encounter with a student as a chance for both of us to learn, whether that is in the class or even when the student is voicing a complaint. More recently, Darl Kolb, of the University of Auckland, began as my teacher on the MBA program. He subsequently became my mentor when I joined the faculty at Auckland, and he too has become my friend. Darl approaches his teaching with modesty and humility. As such, he is an exemplar of the "guide on the side, not a sage on the stage" approach to teaching. For me, this had led to a desire to guide students to their own answers, rather than having me dispense "wisdom".

The experience of others e.g. as theory, which broadened my understanding: The phrasing of the previous statement is imbued with my experiential approach to teaching. Whether cast as David Kolb's learning cycle, George Kelly's creativity cycle, or Argyris & Schön ideas on the reflective practitioner/double loop learning, the element that they all have in common is learning through reflection on experience. Contemporary authors, such as Roger Putzel with XB (experiential organizational behaviour), continue to feed the my enthusiasm for experiential learning. Thus in my teaching I seek to have students learn by reflecting on their own experiences -- whether those are experiences arising from work in the class room, or from life outside of the academic environment. Contemporary ideas such as life-long learning are just modern expressions of older ideas such as Kelly's man the scientist [sic]. Perhaps one of my greatest sources of learning has been through the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, in the guises of its conferences (OBTC) and its Journal of Management Education (JME). As I have written elsewhere, JME is a constant source of learning for me, which allows me to improve my teaching.

My own experiences as a teacher: It is, perhaps, my own experiences as a teacher that have had the biggest impact on me. Each time I go into a classroom, there is a risk of failure, and the risk of a student not learning. And so I am indebted to the students who learnt as I learnt, and who were tolerant of my failings and mistakes. Through the efforts and feedback of hundreds of students I have learnt that everyone is not the same and what works in one instance can be an unmitigated failure in another. More importantly, I have learnt the importance of the teachable moment and to seize it whenever and wherever it occurs. This currently plays itself out in my reflections to students on my learning as they reflect back to me their learning through http://www.thereflectivepractitioner.org/

Before discussing my aims and objectives in teaching, I think it is necessary to address the issue of what is my purpose in being a teacher. Why do I choose to teach? Some would say that the job is underpaid, and often it can be a thankless task. So, again, why do I teach? Once upon a time, my answer would have been "Because I'm good at it". But, being good at something is not a reason, in itself, to do it. The real reason that I teach is that I want to make a difference; I have chosen to make New Zealand my home and my country and having made that choice I want to contribute positively to the society in which I now live. Thus, I use my ability as a teacher to try and make a difference. This, somewhat lofty, goal has implications. In the first instance, it means that learning is about changing people's behaviour, rather than the surface learning of information; it is embodied through students doing things differently than they otherwise would have done. The consequence for teaching is that you cannot make people learn; teaching becomes the provision of opportunities from which students can choose to learn. In the second instance, learning and hence teaching is not an easy process as people's beliefs and values necessarily have to be challenged in order to bring about new behaviour, and inevitably some people will not want to change. Finally, there is a need for the learning and teaching to be relevant to the student in the wider context of society. The lever to achieve this is to make teaching more than just 'knowing' a subject, it is about broadening the way students think and see the world. In this I am possibly old-fashioned; for me, the primary goal of teaching at university isn't about "tooling up" managers or potential managers; it is not vocational in that way. Teaching at this level is about helping others to have an experience that helps them to make more informed choices in the world in which they live.

In summary, my purpose in teaching leads to the broad aim of providing the opportunities for students to extend their thinking so that they can make more considered and informed decisions and judgements about the things that they choose to do.