Authentic Teaching with Hannah Shinault
After the university shifted to remote learning, a colleague shared with Hannah Shinault that her class had done a “silent disco,” where the entire class danced to music with their computers’ microphones on mute. The exercise provided a badly needed break from the stress of remote learning and afterwards her colleague made a playlist for her students.
It sounded like the kind of fun, engaging idea that faculty are always looking to bring to their classrooms. But when Shinault, an instructor in the School of Communication, mentioned it to her students, they weren’t interested.
“My students told me it was ‘not my personality,’” said Shinault. “After I got over not being the ‘cool, fun’ teacher, it forced me to think about what it meant to teach authentically, which to me, means when your work aligns with your personality and core beliefs.”
And while teaching during a pandemic created a lot of challenges for students and faculty, the last two years have allowed staff a rare opportunity to step back and re-evaluate their approach to teaching, she says.
“I think many of us at some point have felt like a fraud while teaching or pressured to chase the latest fad for student engagement,’ said Shinault. “But COVID made us more authentic teachers; it stripped people down to the basics where everyone only had the energy to be themselves while teaching.”
Below is an adaptation of a talk Dr. Shinault gave on February 11, 2022 at the 14th annual Conference of Higher Education Pedagogy presented by the Virginia Tech Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
Here are a few suggestions that Shinault recommends when thinking about authentic pedagogy:
Don’t try too hard to entertain your students.
Each year new teaching techniques - like multimedia assignments and gamification - become buzzwords for college instructors. While trying something new in your classroom can be a great idea, Shinault says, students aren’t looking for entertainment from their lectures.
“What’s important is students need to know that you care about how they’re doing and whether or not they're meeting expectations,” she adds. “They want engagement not entertainment.”
Don’t anticipate outcomes that might prevent you from trying something new.
When planning something new in your classroom, it’s easy to let your expectations get in the way of experimentation in your teaching style, said Shinault.
If you don’t think something will work with your students, it may be because you’re underestimating their ability. Also, don’t get too emotionally invested in trying a new element to your pedagogy, not everything works for a specific class or group of students. Regardless, it’s important to evolve as a teacher and experimenting is a part of that process, says Shinault.
“Students are forgiving and won’t hold it against you if you experiment,” she said. “Plus, those failures can become memorable bonding experiences for everyone.”
Don’t compare yourself to others.
Often, when fellow faculty will share what they’re doing in their classrooms, Shinault says, they’re sharing their successes, not when things fall apart.
“Don’t compare yourself to your colleague’s highlight reel,” said Shinault. “It’s them at their best, and like comparing your living room to the perfectly-decorated ones you see on Pinterest.” Instead, she says, look for elements in those assignments that match your skills set and class.
Do create a community of faculty and staff to support your teaching.
While comparing yourself to others isn’t alway helpful, it’s important to have a group of colleagues you can turn to for feedback.
“Having people you can troubleshoot problems and help you progress in your pedagogy is invaluable,” said Shinault. “And if they’re part of your department, it can be really helpful for learning about university resources and funding that might be available to you.”
Do teach using your strengths.
“There are a lot of tools out there, but if you’ve been teaching for a while, you know what you're good at,” said Shinault. “Use that knowledge to adapt ideas you get from colleagues. Authentic teaching reflects your strengths and core values.”
Hannah Shinault is an advanced instructor and academic advisor at the School of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. She is also the faculty lead of the Pathways Minor, Health Communication.