Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
The Teaching Guild's philosophy on teaching and learning states that meaningful learning occurs when individuals are engaged inside and outside the classroom.
The Teaching Guild encourages and promotes constructivist teaching and
believes that it empowers the learner to build and interpret his/her
understanding of knowledge and reality.
The foundational premise
of teaching and learning is anchored in an understanding that learners
actively construct their own knowledge by anchoring new information to
preexisting knowledge, that learning does not occur in isolation, and
that learners interact with the knowledge, the learning environment and
with other learners. Meaningful learning occurs when individuals are
engaged in social activities inside and outside the classroom. Students
have the opportunity to take personal responsibility, exercise
initiative and be in control in the instructional settings through a
variety of learning experiences.
Constituencies
The Teaching Guild will develop programs and services for the following entities once it is fully operational.
- New Faculty (mentoring)
- Established Faculty seeking renewal (professional development)
- Adjuncts (mentoring and monitoring)
- Administrators (to value and reward teaching)
- UT as an Institution (to examine UT policies and procedures and make
them consistent with the University mission of valuing teaching, so
that best practices are valued and rewarded)