Matthew Gilbert | Doctorious! | Adjunct | Teaching | Education | Pedagogy | PhD | MBA

People who live in Los Angeles often harbor fantasies of being on television or in movies. Likewise, it is also not uncommon for the homes in which these people live to share the same dream! On Friday, March 7, 2008, my home was given a chance to live this fantasy when part of a commercial for the 2009 Dodge Journey was filmed in my driveway and the street on which my house is located.

The shooting itself took approximately 4 hours — beginning at roughly 7 a.m. and continuing until approximately 11 a.m. The crew, which numbered roughly 40 to 50 people, was exceptionally efficient and respectful. Had I woken up at noon that day I would have never even known a commercial had been filmed in front of my home! Overall it was a positive experience for me and is one I would gladly repeat if asked again to have a commercial filmed at my home.

Aside from the uniqueness of the experience (not to mention the nice check the production company gave me), I was also very excited about this opportunity because it gives me something to discuss in my marketing and business classes. The location scout was nice enough to obtain some of the items used to develop the commercial including stroryboards, photos of the car and even an azimuth bearing chart showing the projected location of the sun on the day of the filming! I plan to integrate these into future curriculum and feel they offer a great “real world” framework in which my students can better understand the world of advertising.

The commercial was part of Chrysler’s new ”If you can dream it, do it” ad campaign which launched on Tuesday, April 8, 2008. One of the largest digital launch strategies in Chrysler LLC history, the campaign showcases the 2009 Dodge Journey’s unique combination of innovative features, versatility and flexibility all available at a great value that can help turn dreams into reality.

The television portion of the campaign debuted two general market television ads and two multicultural spots — one targeted at African-Americans and the other for Hispanics. The spots will feature the world’s longest water slide at nearly 700 feet, animated people, a man climbing the ladder of success and a woman who meets her ideal man after winning over his dog. A third general market spot stars members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.

One of these multicultural spots, “Shaft,” which targets the African American market, was partially filmed at my Santa Clarita, CA home on Friday, March 7, 2008. An unintentional reference to the “Shaft” movies — ironic, given the target audience of the spot — the title of the commercial references the representation of the main character “moving up” in life as if in an elevator shaft — a concept illustrated during the transitions between each of the three parts of the commercial.

The 30-second spot opens on a man, dressed casually, walking up to his new Dodge Journey parked in front of his modest apartment. As he gets in, the viewer sees the Journey’s interior space and features like Flip ‘n Stow in-seat storage. As he drives through his neighborhood, the viewer sees the middle part of the frame lift up and doors appear, closing like an elevator until the next scene. The viewer then sees the same driver dressed a bit more professionally, leaving his nicer downtown condo. As before, the middle part of the frame lifts up and doors appear, again closing like an elevator.

In the next scene, the man is driving through a more suburban neighborhood where he pulls up in front of his house. The voiceover says, “The higher you go, the sweeter the journey. Introducing the new crossover that’s ready for anything.” My home is in the very last shot of the ad — the car is parked in my driveway!

The African-American spots will air on BET, the NBA Playoffs, “Girlfriends” and “Everybody Hates Chris.” Hispanic ads will appear on Telemundo, Univision and Galavision.

The ad is provided below via YouTube for your visual pleasure (note that you only see the driveway and garage door of my home, where the car is parked, in the closing seconds of the commercial):

I also filmed a few short clips of the crew in action from inside my house as they worked:

After several months of research and revision, I have finally drafted the first version of my teaching philosophy. It reflects my thoughts on what it means to be a teacher and how I go about engaging my students in the classroom. I have included it below and also added as a new stand-alone page to my blog. As always, your thoughts and comments are encouraged! 

Guided by the motto “learn continuously, live generatively,” I am continuously engaged in a process of investigation, discovery and application – as both an educator and a lifelong learner. It is important to recognize this duality because I believe that being a teacher is merely a different word for being a student. Echoing this belief in is Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard who once expressed that “to be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner. I am not a teacher, only a fellow student.”

Knowing this, I strive to create learning environments that embody the ideals of collective individualism: a knowledge management process that leverages the contributions of independent, but interconnected participants to generate answers to a question of common interest. I don’t instruct my students from afar, I actively engage and learn with my students. Pulitzer Prize winning poet and Professor Mark Van Doren reflected this idea when he commented “the art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”

My goal as a teacher is to initiate “generative learning,” which management professor Peter Senge defines in The Fifth Discipline as “learning that enhances our capacity to create,” (p. 14). Generative learning is the process of integrating your existing knowledge with new information about a subject. The result is a deeper, more personal, and ultimately more meaningful understanding of that subject. In short, generative learning is about owning information by engaging it and making it uniquely your own knowledge.

With this in mind, I see myself as a partner with my students who facilitates their learning process as they actively explore an area of interest through hands-on exercises.  I listen to my students and act accordingly. In Leadership is an Art Max DePree, chairman of furniture company Herman Miller, argues “the leader listens to the ideas, needs, aspirations, and wishes of the followers and then…responds to these in appropriate fashion,” (p. xxi).  I have two ears and one mouth for a reason!

With a youthful enthusiasm (and a dry sense of humor) I inspire my students while engaging my maturity to keep them focused. Acting as a “guide on the side” and not a “sage on the stage,” I am first and foremost about my students. Embracing Goleman’s concept of “emotional intelligence,” I remain responsive to their unique needs. Having taught students of various ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds I am sensitive to issues of diversity and the need to adapt my style to my students — not the other way around.

I am committed to making my students’ educational experience as practical and, hopefully, transformational, as possible. I connect theory with reality while encouraging them to relate their own experiences and life stories to ideas discussed in class. Notably, Max DePree also emphasizes, “Stories help us learn and remember who we are, where we have been, where we are going. Stories preserve our sense of community,” (p. 1). Sometimes stories, however divergent, can ultimately lead the class to a better understanding of the specific subject matter!

I am drawn to the study and teaching business because it offers an invigorating intersection of people, technology and commerce – a hub of humanity. I approach business from the human side of the equation because I feel that is where its essence exists. It offers a tangible environment in which students and teachers alike can apply their knowledge and witness an immediate result — however anecdotal. It provides a microcosm of the larger setting and elevates everything to a level of educational inquiry and academic achievement.

Teaching is as rewarding as it is challenging – but no other professional experience has allowed me to help shape the future of my students while simultaneously giving my life greater meaning and purpose.

If you’ve been to this blog before you might have noticed I changed the header image. Previously I was using an image of the space shuttle in orbit over earth to reflect the adventures I have experienced over the past few months, but I never felt that it adequately captured who I am and what I am about. It was close, but just not quite right.

After thinking through my options I remembered that in December 2001 I started working on a header design for a personal website I was thinking about launching, but never did. Using Adobe Photoshop I scanned items and pictures while also finding various images online — merging them together in a cohesive digital illustration. I tinkered with the design on and off until July 2004 — three and one half years — until I got busy on other projects.

When I found the design I instantly knew it was the perfect fit — though it needed some polishing (a few things had changed in the nearly four years since I last worked on it). Looking through the evolution of the designs was a bit like looking through a photo album — the core component did not change, but many of the details did. The design itself is very similar to its original incarnation, but many of the specifc items changed to more accureately mirror changes in my life over the past few years.

For people who know me, the relevance of some of the images will quite clear. The meanings behind some of the other images is reasonably self-evident — even to individuals who have never met me. Still others might be a bit less obvious. And, considering that the only constant is change, I am sure I will modify this collage over time. My goal is to make it as timely and relevant to who I am in the present moment.

I won’t actually go into detail about what the various parts of the header mean, but would be happy to answer any questions via e-mail at doctorious (at) generative (dot) com.