Personal Statement on Teaching PhilosophyI. Teaching Philosophy and Goals I have one goal for my teaching: to help students think and learn for themselves. This goal is as simple as it is illusory. The more experience I have as a teacher, the more I understand that there is no one way to achieve my goal. Clearly, the real focus of education is learning, not teaching; but I know that it is within the teacher's power – and therefore the teacher's responsibility – to create the conditions necessary for students to learn. The question is how best to create these conditions. While this involves a performance, it is not performance art. While it requires the rigor and systematic methodology of scientific inquiry, it is not a science. There is no algorithm for good teaching. I believe students look to their philosophy teachers to challenge and inspire them. I think that learning philosophy is a process that involves wonder and awe, a process that evokes an emotional as well as an intellectual response, and that invites laughter and awakens a serious commitment to reasonable and responsible behavior in the world. I think I serve my students by embracing challenges and honestly reflecting and addressing difficult questions in class, rather than dodging confrontation and evading the tangle of discussion. Teaching, clearly, does not mean demonstrating one's knowledge or simply disseminating information. Good teaching stimulates self-reflection, increases intellectual curiosity, and allows students to actively participate in and shape their own education. My goal is that my teaching is nourished by a...... paper medium...... distance learning. My current website contains pages that showcase student work in class, a page that provides search tools and links to other relevant Internet sites for students to pursue further interests, and finally my email and a group bulletin board, which allow students to ask questions whenever they arise. The above teaching methods and strategies derive from an educational approach that appreciates and celebrates the diversity of students. I believe that reaching a student through how they most fruitfully interact with the world is a prerequisite for effective teaching. Finally, I recognize that I still have a lot to learn about teaching, but I hope that my passion for learning and for remaining critical and rational is contagious, that it serves as an example and stimulates students to challenge themselves..