What is your teaching philosophy?

Empirical judgment is distinct from reason. If one cannot meet their student at a place of consensus as to the value and estimation of truth, then no amount of reasoning or logic will be able to communicate facts. A teacher must begin by operating within a particular student's understanding of reality and build upon that student's interests and concerns. Teaching is a dialectic process.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

Strive to understand a student's expectations of me and the subject at hand. Insist that while I can provide answers to questions, it is much more fulfilling for the student to find their own, unique answers together with the experts and the public. Ask the student to be skeptical, use their own reason, and find their own evidence.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Convey to each student that what is at stake is truth itself and that they must figure that out on their own in a world full of different and distinct voices. Express to them the importance of specialist opinion, as well as the weaknesses of tradition and habit that can sometimes present obstacles to new perspectives. Impart to them that they matter and that they exist to utilize their minds no matter what struggles arise along the way.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would provide a contrary opinion or introduce a doubt whenever possible. I would be careful never to allow a student to merely acquiesce to an emotional affirmation or reproach but to hold a direct and personal relationship with the subject matter beyond their relationships with teachers or classmates.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

I would re-evaluate the approach which has lead to the disconnect between the subject and the student, and I would then recalibrate the student's approach to one more suited to their prior experience with the subject.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

I would first ask them to try different grammatical structures for expressing the same or similar ideas. Comprehension could be lacking as a result of limited grammatical skills. Unusual or complicated sentence structures can often be easily learned by extending the principles of sentence structure already familiar to the student, or by simply providing the student with a methodological pattern for 'translating' unfamiliar grammar. Also, giving a living voice to the new written voices which a student encounters in their studies is important. If a student is asking themselves 'who actually talks like this?' then they clearly haven't heard the form of speech before, and might similarly have a limited capacity to discuss complex ideas themselves. Getting to the complex ideas which a student possesses and then helping to bring them out using complex language skills can be a great motivator.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

Getting to know a student's approach and interests are important, but so is a degree of showmanship. I find it useful to demonstrate the effectiveness of knowledge in a subject I'm teaching like a magician might perform a trick before explaining how he/she did it. While this won't necessarily work with students who have a strong aversion to a subject, in other cases, it is very enticing. It invites immediate interaction and soon inspires imitation.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

I would challenge them to think of the ways that the subject influences them and affects their lives, regardless of whether they are paying attention to it or not. Once a student can see that a subject pertains to their life, and does so despite their resistance to it, then they will normally be empowered to acquire some mastery over it.