Teaching Philosophy
It is a strong belief of mine that the unity of the ensemble, the mind, and the individual creates a successful classroom and theatrical experience. I believe in creating an open environment that includes all people so that every student feels brave and ready to learn. By fostering a brave, open, and inclusive environment that praises students for their differences and caters towards their learning needs, students will feel safe and ready to learn. For, I firmly believe in the tenant that all students can, and will, learn, should they be given the proper tools to do so. As an educator, I believe it is my job to understand each student individually so I can differentiate my instruction to construct this kind of community within my classroom. With this in mind, I hold my students to high standards that I rigorously prepare all students to meet and exceed because I know with that specialized preparation and support, all students can and will succeed.
I believe in holding high expectations and creating a focused energy. I establish routines and expectations from day one about assignments, quality of work, and classroom participation. I believe in holding all students to a high yet equitable caliber and holding myself to those same standards; like a good director, I must come in prepared knowing my materials, lessons, students, and shows so that I can best support my students in every capacity. Setting expectations, modeling executive functioning skills, and showing students that I believe they can do high quality work gives students a sense of responsibility and maturity. When all goes right, a cohesive ensemble will form. With a cohesive ensemble, the class and I foster a space conducive to learning, creating, and performing at our best.
The brain is constantly developing, and it is important to keep in mind where the age group one is working with is at developmentally. Like Brian Way, I believe in the importance of human development. If I take the time to know and understand the science behind my student's brains, I can develop the best ways to teach them. This idea then connects to knowing the students as individuals. I believe in knowing my students so that I can create an environment most conducive to learning for them. I believe a connection between a student and a teacher, especially in a theatre classroom, is the best way to establish a safe setting and a trust for learning. I use these connections to give them specific moments/roles on and off stage to shine and I believe these moments and connections create the confidence needed to learn. Theatre requires trust and taking risks. In order to make my students comfortable with trying new things theatrically, there must be an established foundation of trust and safety built within our community. I use the knowledge I know about my students and the connections I have with them to cater the material not only to what I want them to learn, but to teach them what they specifically need and want to know. Through a combination of formative assessments, I dissect what students need to know to achieve state standards and succeed within my curriculum. Through this and through personal connections, I develop the best ways to reach each student’s best mode of learning. To address all types, I use multiple modes of learning in my classroom such as physicalizing, visual representations, and oral representations of material. I implement specific accommodations into all my lesson plans so that each student has an equitable opportunity to access the knowledge put forth.
Lastly, I believe in the teachings of Constantine Stanislavsky. I believe in teaching his technique, and also applying his technique to the classroom. Stanislavsky has a tangible route to a believable and truthful performance that is rooted in deep theatre history. His system relates the actor to the character in ways applicable and helpful to them. This relates to my philosophy on working with the students as individuals; they all learn differently and bring something new to the classroom and their characters. In starting their training of technique with a system that lets them explore their character in a tangible, action driven, and individualized way, it will give the students agency to create, perform, and learn their best with their peers and introduce them to the world of specialized acting pedagogy and technique through the man that started it all.