Teaching Philosophy

As an educator and theatre artist, my teaching is grounded in equity, engagement, and creative exploration. Drawing from experiences across traditional and non-traditional learning environments, I aim to create spaces where students’ own strengths, questions, and identities are seen and valued. I hold adrienne maree brown’s reminder that “what we pay attention to grows” as central to my practice, and I seek to nurture what is already present while opening pathways for discovery and connection.

I am committed to co-creating inclusive environments where participants feel safe to ask questions, share perspectives, and take creative risks, whether in face-to-face, hybrid, or virtual settings. My pedagogy draws from a range of interdisciplinary methods, including arts integration, drama-based instruction, object-based learning, Black feminist thought, and technology-enhanced approaches. These strategies help me adapt to diverse ways of knowing while encouraging active participation and collaboration.

Through these experiences, I have learned the importance of designing encounters that offer both structure and spaciousness. Clear objectives and intentional scaffolding provide a foundation, while open-ended exploration, play, and artistic risk-taking allow participants to reveal what they already bring and to encounter one another in new ways. I see the creative process not just as a path to a product but as a site of transformation where individuals deepen their understanding of themselves and the world. As bell hooks reminds us, “Our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.” That sense of shared presence and mutual care is at the heart of my teaching.

Works Cited

brown, adrienne maree. Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. AK Press, 2017.

hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge, 1994.