My Heartfelt Teaching Philosophy
Karen June Myskiw
My philosophical foundation for teaching Home Economics takes a process- oriented, inter-disciplinary approach. Within this context, I will include sustainability, design and creativity as well as spirituality and the development of consciousness as the guiding paradigms for mentoring the potential of students.
Sustainability
From my upbringing, and my varied yet complementary educational background, the underpinnings for a sustainable pedagogical practice emerge. Key educational moments influenced my choices.
Landscape Architecture and Human Ecology operated from similar theoretical model: a nested ecological framework. How is this approach applicable to Home Economics? Home economics is an open discipline that allows for the recursive transfer of knowledge to younger generations, by providing the skill set necessary to make informed decision for the self, family, local and global community. .
Art and Design: Truth, Beauty and Creativity
From an early age I was inspired by Arthur Erickson. Desire to study design was planted within me. This spawned a love of art, design and culture, and desire to expose myself to variety of experiences included music, drawing and sewing projects.
Once an intellectual in my pursuit of knowledge, I learned about the value of hands on learning as a means of celebrating embodied knowing, and having joy in discovery. My work experience with Evergreen Foundation and KidSafe Project encouraged this not only for myself, but for the schools community that took part. Importantly, I noticed firsthand how children benefitted from being more closely connected to the land and to the food they ate.
As witnessed in the talks of Sir Ken Robinson, imagination and creativity can be woven into the subjects of Clothing and Textiles; frappeed within the Food and Nutrition domain; and fostered in Family Studies programs. Incorporating the design process, creative problem solving, and the use of the imagination fuels my desire to teach.
Mindfulness: Positioning human spirituality in home economics
Within the framework understanding individual, family, and community the relationship to the whole invites commedctedness: a conscious mindfulness. Time in my life when I have enjoyed clarity of intention, an opening for creatively has emerged the creative act is a gift. Here the potential of the individual is realized. As an educator, nurturing the potential of others sits at the core of my choice to teach.
Connectedness also enables a grater appreciation of our place in the world, being connected to something greater than ourselves and a positive image of hope. The opportunity for transformation both on an individual, classroom, school and community level becomes ripe with possibilities engendering attitudes in society of peace, love and compassion.
Similarly, the notion of wellness has direct implications in Family Studies and Foods and Nutrition and Clothing and Textiles. Wellness embraces this holistic approach to health wherein one deals with the body, mind and emotions as a whole by combining diet, exercise, and rest and stress management. A wellness approach places personal responsibility at the core of the problem. Again, my passions are congruent with this approach.
From the TED talks, Jane Bolte-Taylor eloquently alluded to nirvana and the portal of the right brain. All students would benefit from a growing awareness of mediation and activating the silence within. Synapses leap in creative bursts of clarity through mindfulness exercises, connecting mind, body, spirit and heart to something beyond ourselves. The choice is personal, yet the results profound.
Coming full circle, I am entering teaching at a time in my life when I have gained wisdom and maturity. I am ready to engage the potential of others to bring diversity to the classroom from the breadth and depth of my experience. I have from a young age aspired to be a renaissance person.
For me, it is simple: I want to take on the transformative process of teaching of subject matters that are vital, varied, relevant, rich in content and eloquent.