I perceive the purpose of teaching as an activity that goes beyond the delivery of factual knowledge and fundamentals associated with a specific discipline. Therefore, I utilize active and participative learning while bringing to each class three overarching objectives that embrace the students' intrinsic motivation. First, through autonomy-supportive motivation, I promote an environment where students take ownership of teaching and learning processes. This might involve the freedom to choose assignment topics, the decision to conduct additional activities for bonus points, and schedule submission deadlines within the semester. In other instances, like role-playing activities, students decide their roles (from the available pool), develop their understanding and solutions to the problems at hand, and negotiate with each other with minimum intervention on my side. As one of the students explained
I like that it was different from what we are regularly taught, I felt that it allowed you to be your own boss.
The first objective focuses on developing students’ abilities to think independently and take responsibility for learning outcomes.
The second objective, through relatedness-supportive motivation, within each class, there is a place for serious engagement of the subject at hand. Still, also there is time to discuss various day-to-day issues with a bit of humour. It is also a chance to share personal experiences from my nomadic life to humanize the relationship with the students. Furthermore, I implement an open door and accessible partnership policy by inviting students to write an e-mail, arrange a face-to-face meeting, and discuss various academic or daily-life-related matters. Each course has a WhatsApp/Telegram group chat that allows direct, day-to-day communication. I frequently share links to job openings, thesis-pertinent sources, conference calls, and other self-improvement opportunities with students. As explained by one of the students
The lecturer was accommodating to all students even outside of the classroom and we were able to communicate on assignments if something was unclear.
Within the second objective, the purpose is to create a professional partnership-type environment and to show students that ‘I have been there and done that” therefore, I can empathize with their situation.
The third objective, through competency-supportive motivation, is to go beyond traditional in-class presentations and lectures. Role-playing is an activity that places students as country leaders or experts who have to solve real-life dilemmas. One particular case of hands-on experience is the wargaming simulation course. War-gaming is a tool that immerses students in a realism-based environment to improve their negotiation techniques, body-language communication, and decision-making skills under significant time pressure and tiredness. It is a student-centred learning approach promoting critical and evaluative thinking by engaging students in ambiguous or open-ended self-created problems. I also integrate various online software for formative and summative assessments like FeedbackFruits (as a part of the Educators Initiative Program). One of the students explained
The third objective, through competency-supportive motivation, is to go beyond traditional in-class presentations and lectures. Role-playing is an activity that places students as country leaders or experts who have to solve real-life dilemmas. One particular case of hands-on experience is the wargaming simulation course. War-gaming is a tool that immerses students in a realism-based environment to improve their negotiation techniques, body-language communication, and decision-making skills under significant time pressure and tiredness. It is a student-centred learning approach promoting critical and evaluative thinking by engaging students in ambiguous or open-ended self-created problems. I also integrate various online software for formative and summative assessments like FeedbackFruits (as a part of the Educators Initiative Program). One of the students explained
I liked the nature of the course delivery. Every week we engaged in class tasks based on our individual readings, which made learning a hands-on experience.
The third objective is to develop confidence among the students in applying political science-relevant skills.
As a life-long student of human relations, I believe that teaching constitutes more than mere academic knowledge. Instead, it is a continuous process, a form of a rollercoaster with ups and downs, of constructing and re-constructing personal identity with each new interaction for both the teacher and the student.
As a life-long student of human relations, I believe that teaching constitutes more than mere academic knowledge. Instead, it is a continuous process, a form of a rollercoaster with ups and downs, of constructing and re-constructing personal identity with each new interaction for both the teacher and the student.
The following quotes represents overall students' feedback across all courses and other activties like workshops