After doing numerous web searches for blogs on pedagogy relating specifically to philosophy courses (university level or otherwise) and coming up empty-handed, I decided to start my own. There apparently used to be a community blog devoted to teaching and learning in Philosophy, according to this list of philosophy blogs (see the “teaching philosophy” entry under “group weblogs” on this page). But it appears to no longer be up and running. The blog you are reading right now is owned and operated only by one person, Christina Hendricks at the University of British Columbia. I’d rather have a blog about teaching and learning in Philosophy be a community thing, since such topics are best discussed and reflected on through interaction with others (otherwise, all you’re going to get is my experiences and reflections. Anyone who is interested in collaborating can email me (see my UBC Philosophy dept. page for contact info).
Why a blog on pedagogy in Philosophy? Probably the most helpful things for me in terms of improving my teaching over the past 10 years or so of my teaching career have been, in no particular order: (a) serious reflection on what works and doesn’t work and why, and recording of that reflection for later consideration (hence the blog), (b) discussion with others to get ideas on best and not-so-good practices from them, and their ideas on why things work or not (this can hopefully be enacted through the comments on the blog…especially if this blog manages to someday be more of a community effort than that of one person only), (c) taking seminars, workshops, etc. on teaching and learning generally–where I not only get great ideas and techniques from the workshop leaders, but also from the other participants (I hope to share some reflections here on the blog after attending such things, and then get feedback from readers).
