My teaching has evolved into an approach that is more collaborative, with action-based research and inquiry, so students can experience more interactive learning. I am grateful for the theories I learned as a graduate student that have shaped American classrooms, especially pragmatism and critical theory.
I began teaching with doubts; some doubts I still have, but I have witnessed how amazing the learning experience can be within and beyond the classroom if students share the creativity, imagination, and intellect they possess with their teachers and peers.
In my personal and professional practice, I remind myself of a Chinese proverb: "Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
And so, I believe, learn, and teach with students and colleagues. I relearn, rethink, and am renewed.
R. Joseph RodrÃguez
15 years of teaching
[Photo credit: Dana L. DeLoca, The University of Texas at Austin]