Living, teaching and working in a community means living, teaching and working within the lens of my Catholic faith. To me, it is a way of life, it is intuitive. Learning from all members of the community, regardless of background, enriches the environments in which we live, teach and work.
Throughout my life, I have embraced opportunities to learn and interact with others who have had different experiences from me. Currently, this is embodied in the courses I teach and in the initiatives I curate, support and help sustain as a Catholic.
For example, I began my professional career teaching students with diverse learning abilities. I quickly realized that diversity took on many forms; diversity in the way one learns, diversity in culture, race or faith. In order to do my job well, I learned to teach in ways so learners of all ages felt welcome to learn. I create non-threatening, learning environments that challenge, yet support learners in their academic or professional journey.
Academic performance in the classroom is not an exclusive measure of success. Skills needed for success, for example, as a productive member of society and as a propagator faith, include adaptability and acceptance. Providing learners with opportunities to engage with persons, ideas or places different from their own, cultivates these skills. Through my work as an educator, I created many opportunities for learners to extend their learning from the classroom to the community as success looks and feels different from one individual to another.