Learning transcends the sum of content knowledge and skills
Content and skills are crucial elements of the learning-teaching process; however, how we connect and articulate those elements is the foundation of transformative thinking and action. My approach is to create a teaching environment centred on students’ experiences and aspirations, allowing students to examine how these elements connect to the content and skills required to address global environmental health challenges.
This strategy has two goals. First, elucidating the connection between the course material and the student’s perspective of the world is a source of motivation. Guiding students to reflect on the linkages between global health issues and their individual and collective backgrounds, creates a long-lasting relationship with the content and skills beyond the requirements of the course. Second, the health geography and the global environmental health fields draw on a wide range of skills and topics and is evolving to understand the multiple connections and scales driving planetary health issues. Thus, learning should develop students’ abilities to critically appraise connections between different themes, skills, and disciplines as well as their positionality toward those elements.
Creating and delivering knowledge sharing experiences
My teaching philosophy has been shaped by more than 15 years of experience teaching in different countries, with students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels. In addition to having been a TA for numerous courses both in Latin America and Canada, I designed and taught courses, served as a methodological advisor, and supervised graduate students.
Some examples:
- Designed and facilitated Mixed Methods in Public Health Research, Graduate Online Course, Master of Community Mental Health and Master of Reproductive and Sexual Health, Universidad El Bosque
- Designed and facilitated Qualitative Research in Occupational Health, Faculty Workshop, Department of Occupational Health, Universidad El Bosque
- Designed and facilitated Social Sciences for Engineers, Undergraduate Course, Engineering Program, Universidad de Antioquia
- Teaching assistant at The University of British Columbia: Global Health and Human Security (Graduate), and Topics in Environmental Health (Undergratuated))
- Teaching assistant at Universidad de los Andes: Introduction to Anthropology (Undergraduate), and History, Technology, and Society (Undergratuated)
