For me, teaching relies on establishing a fun and intriguing environment for learning, whether that means pronouncing the rooster’s call in the Grimm Brothers’ “Bremer Stadtmusikanten” or exploring the question of voice and allegations of plagiarism in Helene Hegemann’s Axolotl Roadkill. To cultivate an environment of inclusion I focus on student participation and interaction. Rather than simply repeating the rooster’s “kikiriki” in class, we perform it together as part of a reenactment, which allows each student a chance to decide how they should act out the part themselves. Similarly, instead of discussing contested passages in Hegemann such as "Berlin is here to mix everything with everything,” we assess the remediation of language, literature, and DJ culture by first listening to Paul Kalkbrenner’s electronic dance track Aaron (2008) before observing how the main layer is actually a sample from Aaron Neville’s Summertime (2003), which is itself a rendition of the jazz standard that dates back to George Gerschwin’s opera, Porgy and Bess (1935). By turning student attention to the entanglement and arrangement of the parts, this act of listening forms a perception of the synthesis that underscores acts of citation and distinctive layers that bind language together.
While such a learning environment allows students to find their own voice or learn to listen attentively in class, it also proves effective for gaining valuable skills for their overall studies. To quote an evaluation of one Advanced Intensive German student at McGill, “I used the techniques to analyze works that I learnt in this class in order to pass my other ones. In all honesty this professor unknowingly helped me stay positive throughout the semester and as a result pushed me to put effort into my other classes.” Or as another student says, “Best time I have had so far in a German class, this teacher is the only teacher who made me feel like I belonged in a language class. He didn't make anyone feel discriminated against on the basis of accent or level of knowledge in German. He actually helped each and everyone of us to achieve our full potential in class.” Both evaluations attest to the stock I put into each student’s acceptance, self-respect, and growth in the classroom and the resulting academic empowerment they take away from it.
When teaching literature or cinema, for instance, I concentrate on the essential idea that each class contributes to an ongoing intellectual conversation by working together and learning from each other. In my Introduction to German Literature course, one sequence of activities requires students to engage with visuality in W.G. Sebald's short story "Ambros Adelwarth," since images appear intermittently in the text and are precariously related to the plot. In my first pedagogical step, I ask students to write down a brief analysis of one image from the text. Then, the groups share their analyses and present to the class one collective argument about the relationship between images and their surrounding narrative passages. As I advocate, group work like this models the importance of conversation for spurring new modes of collaborative thinking. In this case, it even prompted one student to point out the “literal and metaphorical snapshot” as a key framing mechanism in the narrative, a position which not only vigorously galvanized our class discussion of Sebald but still continues to influence how I teach and read his works.
As a language instructor, I combine creative activities with the written, oral, and visual production of language. This can be as simple as asking students to illustrate a textual description, which allows them to convey a nuanced, personalized comprehension of a text at an early phase of learning. Or it can also include a task like searching for an actual Austrian, German, or Swiss restaurant online and placing an order on our course Padlet, which extends the classroom and emboldens students to engage with realia authentically.
At the core of my pedagogy, students bring conventional and non-conventional sources into historical perspective, unpack narratives from within their contexts, analyze film sequences in and out of their frames, and succinctly position their presentations of written and verbal arguments. This humanistic skill-set is vital for succeeding within the university classroom and, just as important, in the diversity of pursuits, interests, and professions beyond.
Please click on the link below to download a PDF of my teaching statement.
Other Teaching Links
Evaluations and Feedback
Syllabi and Course Materials
While such a learning environment allows students to find their own voice or learn to listen attentively in class, it also proves effective for gaining valuable skills for their overall studies. To quote an evaluation of one Advanced Intensive German student at McGill, “I used the techniques to analyze works that I learnt in this class in order to pass my other ones. In all honesty this professor unknowingly helped me stay positive throughout the semester and as a result pushed me to put effort into my other classes.” Or as another student says, “Best time I have had so far in a German class, this teacher is the only teacher who made me feel like I belonged in a language class. He didn't make anyone feel discriminated against on the basis of accent or level of knowledge in German. He actually helped each and everyone of us to achieve our full potential in class.” Both evaluations attest to the stock I put into each student’s acceptance, self-respect, and growth in the classroom and the resulting academic empowerment they take away from it.
When teaching literature or cinema, for instance, I concentrate on the essential idea that each class contributes to an ongoing intellectual conversation by working together and learning from each other. In my Introduction to German Literature course, one sequence of activities requires students to engage with visuality in W.G. Sebald's short story "Ambros Adelwarth," since images appear intermittently in the text and are precariously related to the plot. In my first pedagogical step, I ask students to write down a brief analysis of one image from the text. Then, the groups share their analyses and present to the class one collective argument about the relationship between images and their surrounding narrative passages. As I advocate, group work like this models the importance of conversation for spurring new modes of collaborative thinking. In this case, it even prompted one student to point out the “literal and metaphorical snapshot” as a key framing mechanism in the narrative, a position which not only vigorously galvanized our class discussion of Sebald but still continues to influence how I teach and read his works.
As a language instructor, I combine creative activities with the written, oral, and visual production of language. This can be as simple as asking students to illustrate a textual description, which allows them to convey a nuanced, personalized comprehension of a text at an early phase of learning. Or it can also include a task like searching for an actual Austrian, German, or Swiss restaurant online and placing an order on our course Padlet, which extends the classroom and emboldens students to engage with realia authentically.
At the core of my pedagogy, students bring conventional and non-conventional sources into historical perspective, unpack narratives from within their contexts, analyze film sequences in and out of their frames, and succinctly position their presentations of written and verbal arguments. This humanistic skill-set is vital for succeeding within the university classroom and, just as important, in the diversity of pursuits, interests, and professions beyond.
Please click on the link below to download a PDF of my teaching statement.
Other Teaching Links
Evaluations and Feedback
Syllabi and Course Materials
| Schweppe, teaching statement.pdf |
