Doctorious! — Adventures in Education with Adjunct Professor Matthew Gilbert

Guided by the motto “learn continuously, live generatively,” I investigate, evaluate and translate information into knowledge as a teacher and a student. This duality is fundamental to my belief that being an educator is a different way of being a learner, a concept echoed by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard who wrote “to be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner. I am not a teacher, only a fellow student.” I therefore consider my students colleagues joining me on a journey of educational exploration.

As their symbolic leader, I guide my students towards generative learning. According to MIT professor Peter Senge, generative learning “enhances our capacity to create.” More than memorization, generative learning links our existing knowledge about a subject with emerging ideas, resulting in a more systemic, personal and meaningful understanding. The key to learning generatively is the individual investment it requires. Therefore, in a classroom setting, a generative learning approach stimulates self-reliance among students who are asked to actively engage material rather than passively listening to lectures.

To help my students learn generatively, I embrace the idea of Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mark Van Doren that “the art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” However, I give my students a hand up, not a hand out: they must earn their grade. Knowing that relevancy is essential to discovery, I avoid assignments that only require repetition of information in deference to papers, presentations and similar projects that provide my students a platform from which they can address and resolve pressing personal or professional issues.

With this in mind, at the start of each new class I survey my students to determine their knowledge of the topic, the types of assignments they prefer and what they hope to achieve. I then customize the curriculum while making sure it still satisfies established learning outcomes. I monitor my students’ progress through the term and make additional changes as needed. Considering Peter Drucker’s observation that ”learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change,” how can I effectively teach without responding to an environment that will evolve?

Acting as a “guide on the side” and not a “sage on the stage,” the comfort and confidence of my students is my top priority. I combine learning with laughter in my classrooms and always encourage students to pursue their individual ideas. Following Goleman’s concept of “emotional intelligence,” I remain responsive to them at all times. And, having taught students of various ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, I am especially sensitive to the diverse challenges with which my students might be contending.

In keeping with this idea, I believe an educational environment should encourage students to compete with themselves, but not with each other. Learning should create community, not competition. I support the idea of collective individualism: a knowledge management process that leverages the contributions of independent, but interconnected participants to solve a shared problem. In short: when one of us succeeds, all of us succeed.

Interdisciplinary by nature, I teach courses in communication, English, information technology, management and marketing. While each discipline is distinct from the other, I approach them all from the perspective of their shared intersection with humanity, technology and industry. Given my interconnected perception of these disciplines I often include elements of one or more of them in every class, regardless of its primary focus.

I enjoy challenging my students to think evolutionarily in an attempt to shatter preconceptions and create meaningful knowledge. It is because of this potential outcome that I am drawn to teaching. I find that it can be as challenging as it is rewarding, but no other professional experience has allowed me to help shape the future of other people while simultaneously giving my own life greater meaning and purpose.

Revised: September 28, 2008