Servant Leadership, as defined by Greenleaf is the desire to serve first and lead second. My teaching philosophy can be summarized by this theory as well, I desire to serve my students first and lead/teach second. I strongly believe each student is unique and has gifts and talents that they alone possess, and society can benefit from. I see my role as being a cultivator of these gifts and talents by guide them in their pursuit of truth and knowledge. The following three areas are priorities in the classes I teach:
self-knowledge, competence, and communication.
Self-Knowledge
I assume that my students are still learning about their interests and navigating their professional development and could benefit from focusing in increasing their self-knowledge. During the first few weeks of class I like to assign the completion of a couple of self-knowledge instruments i.e., personality traits, learning styles, etc., to assist students in better understanding themselves which in turn leads to better understanding others and respecting others.
Competence
I see my students as having the potential to be competent professionals in their fields. I challenge my students to find innovate ways to find solutions to problems by issuing assignments which promote creative application of theories to real life situations leaders experience in the world today.
Communication
Proper communication is key to the success of any leader or manager, it is important to articulate ideas and directives well. Tapping into my students’ desire to be successful leaders and communicate well, one of the major assignments for my class consists of an oral group presentation, where students learn how to communicate with each other and in turn articulate their ideas to the larger class.
Dr. Michelle Nuñez 