Importance of Teaching
In its best form, teaching is an engaging, collaborative process that allows students and instructors to realize their full learning potential. Philosopher and educator bell hooks called education a “practice of freedom” and wrote of its liberating, community-building, and joyful qualities. Similarly, Paolo Freire emphasized education’s role in giving students agency to participate in their own learning and to enact change in the larger world.
Teaching effectively can help undergraduate students discover their own areas of academic interest, develop as critical thinkers and communicators, and feel a sense of belonging in the classroom and in a particular research field. These experiences are key not only for academic success, but also for fostering student agency as emphasized by hooks and Freire. Further, building your skills as an instructor can help deepen your own understanding of a subject matter, improve public speaking and communication skills, increase your confidence, heighten your time management and organizational skills, and allow you to collaborate with and learn from students as co-creators of knowledge. If done with intention, your teaching can be a transformative experience for you as well as your students.
As a first-time teaching assistant, you might be wondering how instructing introductory biology labs or grading essays can be “liberating” or “transformative” experiences. However, a foundational component of equity-based teaching is praxis, or putting theories into practice. While your role as a TA might not feel glamorous, everyday interactions with students shape their learning experiences and are opportunities to enact inclusive teaching. The way you choose to lead a discussion, set up an assessment, or respond to student concerns all connect back to larger values about teaching and learning.
Our aim is to provide you with both theory and evidence-based practices so that you feel empowered to use these approaches in your own classroom. We hope that these resources will help you get started with developing an intentional, student-centered teaching practice that will allow you to grow as an educator, scholar, and communicator.
