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Rachel F. MoranProfessor, School of Law
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Statement of Teaching Philosophy
Shortly before I began kindergarten, my family moved to an all-white suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. This move would have been unexceptional except that my mother is Mexican. Despite some reactions of uneasiness, doubt, and hostility, my neighbors had largely made their peace with us by the time I entered second grade. However, this fragile truce was disrupted when I was placed in a newly-created class for gifted students. Several parents were outraged and called the school to question my placement. On the first day of class, I arrived feeling both excited and apprehensive. I wasn't sure what my reception would be. Imagine my delight, then, when I discovered that our teacher, Mrs. Lola Cleavenger, liked me! She seemed to see all the potential in me that others had denied, and I thrived under her tutelage. Teaching is a tradition handed down from one generation to the next, and I continue to draw on the basic model of pedagogy that Mrs. Cleavenger introduced to me.
First, Mrs. Cleavenger was always extremely well-prepared, and she seemed genuinely excited by the lessons she was conveying. To keep my own teaching fresh, I always reread all the assigned cases, update the material, and devise new hypothetical problems for the students to analyze. By regularly revisiting the issues presented, I can avoid giving lectures that sound like stale recitations of last year's notes.
Second, Mrs. Cleavenger went through material that we were all expected to learn, but she also gave us open-ended assignments that permitted us to assume a creative, active role in our own learning. I also try to strike a balance between structure and fluidity in the classroom. I use structure to build a "scaffolding" that gives each student a basic foothold in the material. I achieve fluidity by initiating discussion on topical examples, such as voucher initiatives in California, and by using hypothetical problems. This balance between structure and fluidity gives students the foundation upon which to develop their own unique approaches to legal problem-solving.
Third, Mrs. Cleavenger conveyed a sense of respect for my contributions and a belief in my abilities. To implement a humanistic vision of pedagogy, I use interactive question-and-answer formats to enliven discussion, demonstrate the range of perspectives on a given issue, and promote a better understanding of the complexities of legal decision making. In the end, learning is not just about objectified principles that reside outside the students but is part of a complex process of integrating insights about the outside world into their own identities.
Thirty years after I entered my second-grade classroom with hesitation and hope, I try never to forget what it is like to be a student. Though at times I fail, during my best teaching I reach out to the lonely, frightened child in each of us still searching for Mrs. Cleavenger.