Mahnaz Moallem

Background

I saw myself as a teacher when I was 15 years old.  My family and society influenced my desire to be a teacher as both my family life and societal life reinforced education as the crucial ingredient to effect social, economic, and political transformation.  As a result of my surroundings, I set my goals to become a teacher so that I could become an active participant in transforming my society through education. As a young girl, I was raised to be sensitive to social, economic and political issues around me, and I dreamed of helping people gain their rights through education. I was convinced that none of the civil, political, economic and social rights could be exercised by individuals who did not have a certain minimum education; and as a result, I dreamed of education for all rather than excellence for a few. I was inspired by the idea that the right to education was a fundamental human right. I realized education to be an empowerment right, the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children could lift themselves out of poverty and political oppression and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities. I strongly thought (and still think) knowledge is power; and if the latter is placed in the hands of all, all become empowered to work towards a better life for self and others, in community and country and in societies beyond our borders. With these ambitions, as an adolescent, I believed teachers to be key individuals to foster and facilitate knowledge creation, and I wanted to be one to accomplish these goals even if in small ways. 

After many years of teaching, as I search my mind to articulate why I believe in what I believe in, I find that my experiences growing up truly play an integral role in the formation of my aspirations to foster freedom and human rights through education. Thinking back about the origins of my beliefs, I realize that my many years of teaching in different educational systems and at different levels have helped me found stronger and more grounded justifications for these early beliefs and emotions.  I have discovered that many of my early beliefs have now evolved in a defined set of teaching and learning assumptions that are providing depth, perspective, and direction to my teaching.     

I entered the profession of teaching with strong passion for humanity, a list of ambitious goals and a desire to make a difference. However, I learn how to teach by teaching and facing various challenges that I have encountered in my years of teaching.  In my early years of teaching as a young special education teacher, I had to confront and wrestle with society’s hidden assumption that school was a place for selecting and sorting-- that some students can learn, and some cannot learn, and it was the school's job to identify and foster the growth of those who can learn.  To challenge this hidden assumption, I had to work extremely hard to find innovative and creative strategies to help those students who were left behind and identified as exceptional to demonstrate that they, too, can be successful. Through these early years of my profession, I struggled and worked hard as I strived to show that through innovative strategies and tools, teachers can maximize student learning.  These early years founded my passion and commitment to focus my life’s work to develop curriculum rich enough for all students.  As well, these early years also served to build my confidence as a teacher. I came to believe that setting high standards for all children and providing rich and supportive learning environments as the keys to help children reach their highest potential for learning.  This positive early discovery led me into the field of instructional technology, which I find to be the perfect avenue for helping learners of all abilities because it offers all the opportunity to achieve.

My early years of teaching, full of challenges, rewards and learning, are balanced by my later experiences as teacher educator, which have been full of joy and fulfillment.  My teaching experience in UNCW has been a new era in my professional life as a teacher, as I have learned valuable lessons, matured in my thinking and assumptions about the impact of culture on human learning, developed a high level of tolerance, and deepened my belief in education as a source of empowerment. When I began teaching in UNCW, I had already taught for 13 years, eight of which was at the university level and in teacher education programs. As a seasoned teacher, I knew I had to learn about my students, their cultures and learning and thinking styles. I was also aware of my own cultural differences and had explored and reflected on many of my teaching and thinking differences. However, by no means had I prepared myself for the surprises that I was about to face. It never occurred to me that I had to prove my knowledge to my students, regardless of my educational credentials and many years of experiences. I also failed to recognize that my cultural background, my country of origin and my accent might be interpreted as a deficiency, rather than a difference. While, I realized that many of my students did not have much exposure to people different from themselves, I did not recognize that many of my strong beliefs in human ability and high potential for learning could be misinterpreted.  In sum, I had no idea that I would have to begin developing new sets of strategies to allow these learners a means to value my instruction.  This was very different for me. I was still thinking about learners and how to guide them in their learning, but this time I had to devise a way to prove my credentials, gain student respect and trust first.  This was a real challenge. Thus, I consider the first two to three years of my teaching in UNCW a beginning of a new phase in my teaching experience, one where I was challenged to prove myself in order for instruction to occur. While emotionally very difficult, I believe I was able to overcome the challenges and have become a much stronger teacher as I am able to meet such learner needs. 

My Teaching Philosophy

As an educator, I believe that thinking and rethinking about what we believe, what we do and how and why we do it (reflective thought) is important because such reflection enables us, as teachers, to realize we are not neutral transmitters of knowledge, but that our personal, social and cultural beliefs, values, and backgrounds are intimately connected to our teaching.  I believe I learn and continue to learn from my teaching and learning experiences by constantly reflecting on my teaching practices and how those practices are indicative of my teaching beliefs. As I continue to reflect on my teaching profession, I know that my philosophy will evolve further.

My teaching beliefs are influenced by a number of people, some of whom I know, and others of whom I have read.  Some of the strongest influences on my teaching beliefs and practice are the works of Paulo Feire, Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, and John Anderson.  Also, I have been greatly influenced by the work of Robert Gagne, a person whom I know and from whom I have had an opportunity to learn.  In addition, I have learned from and been influenced by working with and observing my mentors and my colleagues.

I think knowledge is constructed, not transmitted.  I believe learners do not necessarily learn from lectures, technology and instructional materials or from watching films or responding to computer-based instruction frames.  Rather, learners learn from thinking--thinking about what they are doing or what they did, thinking about what they believe, thinking about what others have done and believe, thinking about the thinking processes they use.  In other words, I think learning results from thinking.

I also believe that thinking is engaged by activity or task. Tasks or activities must be situated in meaningful real-world problems, which require learners to engage in higher-order thinking skills. Different activities or tasks engage different kinds of thinking (e.g., memorizing a list, reading a book, solving a problem, designing a new product or arguing for a belief).  These activities or tasks can be presented and supported by teachers (and technologies), but teachers do not necessarily cause thinking or learning.  They may cause thinking, if a learner has a desire to learn, but they may not cause thinking, if the learner is thinking about something else.  I believe the role of the teacher in learning is indirect. Teachers can stimulate and support activities that engage learners in thinking, which results in learning. I think teaching is a process of helping learners to construct their own meaning from the experiences they have by providing those experiences and guiding the meaning-making process.

I think meaningful activities or tasks are necessary conditions for construction of knowledge, but they are not sufficient conditions. Learners must reflect or think about the experience that gave rise to the knowledge construction. Learners should be given more responsibilities in the teaching-learning processes. While learners should be responsible for their own learning, they should not always do so alone. Learners learn from each other and from assistance of more capable others, such as teachers, peers, adults, and parents.  Therefore, as a teacher, my role in the classroom is not minimal, but critical.  

I believe learning is inherently a social-dialogical process.  As learners interact with other learners and experts/teachers (the community of learners), their knowledge and beliefs about the world are influenced by that community’s beliefs and values. I think through participating in the activities of the community, learners absorb part of the culture that is an integral part of that community.  Therefore, as a teacher, I have the responsibility of creating an environment in which learners can share and learn from one another, as well as from the teacher.  In such an environment learners learn to appreciate multiple views and gain understanding of the differences in perspectives and beliefs about the world. 

In my view, every learner is unique and special and deserves attention and respect, and as a teacher, I have an obligation to provide a learning environment that broadens every learner’s outlook, encourages independence and self-confidence, promotes mutual differences and tolerance, and respects for all cultures and ethnic groups.

Finally, in my view, good teaching means that teachers, as scholars, are also learners.  To create my own learning experiences, I must constantly reflect on classroom events, teaching practices, and pedagogical theories.  I am a strong advocate of the concept of “teachers as researchers and reflective practitioners.”  I believe in order to be a reflective practitioner, I must know what I want to accomplish and then engage in a careful collection and analysis of data to identify the effectiveness of my instructional approaches, strategies, materials and media.  I also believe that my student performance results must be one of the primary sources of my decisions with respect to teaching effectiveness. 

In sum, I think a teacher must be reflective and endeavour to be sensitive and responsive to learners’ needs. Teaching, for me, is a reflexive, communal activity.  Reflexivity, flexibility, sharing, and a willingness to negotiate meaning are important to me in my teaching practice.