Teaching Philosophy

As a teacher, I believe it is imperative to create a supportive, interactive, and educationally stimulating environment.  This environment is particularly crucial when teaching and developing young performing artist.  A supportive environment allows the young artist to feel comfortable in exploring and discovering their instrument, which in essence is themselves.   Along with the space, a supportive teacher can launch a student into an important level of self-awareness. It is my goal to inspire, enlighten, and prepare students for success.  Success in acquiring the knowledge, skill, or craft they are seeking, as well as a level of confidence and self-empowerment that allows students to learn from their mistakes and their triumphs.  Knowledge is power, and the sharing of knowledge is important to me. It is vital that a student knows I support them. A fellow instructor expressed, “A student may not care what you know, until they know you care.”

I encourage competency, but I also speak to the idea of life long learning.  I strive to promote expanding one’s scope of understanding, gaining new realms of knowledge and experiences.  Critical thinking is vital to my teaching philosophy.  In today’s world where the mind is bombarded with information, it is important that a student have the ability to be discerning. It is also necessary for a student to be able to express their thoughts concisely and clearly, whether in a written or oral format.  In order for an actor to develop a truthful character, motivate actions, assess obstacles, one must be able to discern what clues the playwright may have given, or justify choices that the actor makes according to the given or created circumstances.  This requires critical thought.

My methods for helping the student discover their instrument requires the use of joint productive activity. Activities that engage the students with each other and me, plus stimulate the mind, body, imagination, and emotions. I use a variety of exercises and methods, which are designed to build confidence, as well as competence.  I utilize Stanislavski’s approach to acting with the evolutional methods of his students, Uta Hagen and Michael Chekhov. I also employ exercises from Viola Spolin and her approach to improvisational theatre. Knowing that students learn differently, I strive to be receptive to the individual student, and flexible in my approach to sharing knowledge.  Flipped classrooms in which the students are encouraged to share knowledge with each other and teach each other are important in giving them a voice. Small group discussions which are not as intimidating as sharing initially with the whole class and significant passages, which allow students to share those passages in assigned readings that speak to them in a particular way, are also helpful.

It is important to have a way to assess learning outcomes, to have a system that measures a student’s knowledge or skill level. In the performing arts, there is a level of subjectivity, and again I must always consider how differently people learn. In the world of the professional performing artist, it is competitive, but in my classroom, my students are only competing with themselves to achieve their goals and be the best they can be.

I have the fortune to see how my instruction has affected my students in a positive way. An example of this is when I asked a former student whom I started working with when she was thirteen, to write a reference letter for my application to graduate school. This strong and confident young woman is now in an administrative position in the Theatre department at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She shared the letter with me and it brought me to tears.  She spoke of my capacity to stretch her imagination and help her to grow expressively beyond her expectations.  I called her to thank her and express how her letter made me feel.  She responded by recounting how I supported her throughout the years, brought her to tears as she wrote it.

In practicing what I preach, I continue to evolve as a teacher and a student myself. My own professional growth is inclusive of gaining new knowledge as a performer and an instructor.  Student evaluations are very helpful in allowing me to build on my strengths, and the areas I need to work on to be a more effective teacher.  As an actor teaching acting, I continue to grow in my own craft and skill set.  Sometimes I tend to give the student too much benefit of the doubt, but I am getting better at discerning when a student is truly not getting something, as opposed to not really applying themselves.  I want to find new creative ways to share and exchange knowledge with my students. The more knowledge I gain myself as a performer, the more I have to share with my students.