TEACHING PHILOSOPHY Theatre and drama are powerful tools for fostering constructive transformation in the lives of students.  Positive experiences in theatre and drama inspire creativity and empower students, while also enhancing conceptual and cognitive skills. Through the act of play in an abstract or imaginary context, techniques such as role-play, storytelling, and improvisation enable students to develop abstract and critical thinking, which can be directly applied to improve academic studies and personal lives. Drama and theatre enable students to develop positive attributes, such as empathy, while promoting life skills such as self-control and perseverance. Students experience the benefits of collaboration and teamwork, improving interpersonal, writing, reading and public speaking skills, while gaining self-confidence. By exploring themes, stories and imaginary characters in a dramatic context, students have the opportunity to experience new situations and relationships, outside of the roles they play in their day-to-day lives.  This philosophy fuels my commitment to making drama and theatre available to all persons and communities, especially those populations that have little or no exposure to theatre. As an arts educator, I consider myself a facilitator or guide, creating a space that enables learning, and the ownership of learning, to take place--a space that encourages creativity, collaboration, and innovation, with clear rules for participation, dialogue, contribution, constructive criticism and evaluation.  My teaching is student-centered, and the methodologies I use are as important as the information imparted.  By incorporating a variety of methodologies, such as collaborative and cooperative learning techniques, I am able to connect the material to individuals from diverse backgrounds. As an educator, it is my responsibility to make sure that I create situations and opportunities for students to use and develop critical thinking. Skills used to analyze text, character or situation can be applied to every other aspect of a student’s life--personal or professional. This is one of the reasons why reflection and evaluation are an important part of my methodology.  Reflection and evaluation require the student to use critical thinking skills, while promoting and heightening self-awareness, as well as awareness of others. By reflecting on one’s self or one’s work, students develop a deeper understanding of creative processes as well as personal and academic progress. Another important aspect of my pedagogy is the goal to model appropriate behavior, language and problem solving skills.  This is invaluable for children and young adults, as it helps them to develop social skills. For college students, modeling appropriate behavior helps to prepare for the professional world in any discipline. It is my hope that students leave my classes and rehearsals not only with a love of theatre, but also with a love of learning, and a desire to use their knowledge and experience to improve the quality of their lives and the world around them.