Teaching Philosophy:
I believe learning is a process of the living; a growth and developmental process that is more or less social, emotional and intellectual than physical. Learning is facilitated by instruction or teaching, either of which is a process of transformation, primarily through the imparting of truth or knowledge. Such truth is often realized through experience, in shared relationships. As such, the end goal of teaching is to better know one another, with education itself facilitated by a system or environment by which we are all made “perfect” or complete.
I share the following quote by Malcolm Forbes:
I am sure someone would disagree with this saying, claiming the purpose of education is more than just filling the mind with information. Yet, according to scripture, education should involve an increase in knowledge over a period time, ideally over the period of a lifetime. As a researcher, I have learned the importance of acquiring knowledge and also contributing to the body of knowledge to understand and provide instruction related to God’s design for us as stewards and managers of his Creation.
Romans 10:2 says, “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” This scripture suggests that we can be very active in our pursuits, yet ineffective in God’s sight because the activity is not directed through knowledge. I can attest to this in my own life, as a young person without a Christian foundation, making attempts at a better life, but not possessing the knowledge to go about it in the proper way. The result is zealous activity, moving quickly towards an unpleasant end.
I have also observed a healthy cycle of experiential learning that I believe every student begins with their entry into ACU and follows to their exit into the World. It is a “super-scary” journey, as my grandson would say, that befuddles the decision-making process and results in both excessive praise and criticism, metered out in a most methodical fashion to those in authority, particularly towards those who teach. What I once thought were honest evaluations based on objective insights into the instructional process, I realized were mainly moments of biased expression, and sometimes group-defined aggression, shared through digitized personal reflection and socialized fear. I believe that these assessments occur within any social network, in both communities and churches, as they reflect the thoughts and views of its leadership. As such, the teacher evaluation process is fraught with the insecurities of many, only part of which are actually real student concerns.
As a result, I am careful to weigh comments provided through the evaluation process as a reflection of both who I am or where the student is in their life at the time of the evaluation. One of my best examples is the change in evaluation scores that appeared during the semester the movie “The Help” was released in local theatres. The improved scores did not seem to correlate with an appreciation of the challenges and history of people of color, nor from the acceptance of African Americans as professional instructors. The change was revealed when more students began to comfortably address me as “Ms. Orneita” rather than Dr. Burton. Depending on their family backgrounds, students are often troubled with being instructed by an African American female. With the advent of movies such as The Help, both students and adults are now more comfortable with confirmed proof of the role expected of African American females, not as professionals, but as the Help.
I see this as a real challenge for some ACU students. I attended an AIS conference this year where two faculty members from another school confused me and my husband as food servers at the dinner session. When our students see this response from adults, it does not elevate them as credible participants with competent faculty support. In our Church family, we were recently accosted by some of the leadership who were offended when we asked for prayers for the young man in Dallas who was recently shot in his apartment by what seemed to be a disoriented off-duty police officer. The leaders’ response was that we had defaced police officers by reporting that the young man had been shot by an off-duty officer. No appeals for prayers were announced to the Church for this Christian family’s loss.
Sometimes reality is skewed by the person in the mirror, which could in fact be the framing of my own image imposed on someone else. Sometimes it is actually a reflection of the dark spirituality that resides within the viewer. What do others see when they look at you? Do they see a professional person with the skills and capabilities of other professors, or, do they see the image of someone on television, in a magazine, or, worse yet, someone from their family heritage of servants or those who, without evidence, are believed to disrespect the authority of police officers and soldiers? With such pre-conceived views of who I am, it has been a challenge to gather reflective insights from the impressionable 18 to 24 year-olds who evaluate my teaching.
Although I am challenged by the impact these associations have on students under my guidance, I realize the benefit they receive in knowing me as the person I really am. I have learned alternative ways to gather constructive feedback from students. For example, in class, I have initiated a peer evaluation process to provide instruction on how to objectively assess the contribution of their peers without making judgments on them as people, especially when some students are dealing with significant life struggles. I communicate that the intent of these evaluations is not to condemn their team members, which is often a reflection of the condition of my heart, but to help them become more productive contributors in the business environment. After completing two or three of these evaluations during the semester, students are better prepared to make useful teacher evaluations at the end of the course. I also invite students to my office with every opportunity, to establish a person-behind-the-color/gender relationship that recognizes both of us as created beings, jointly serving humanity’s needs in a fallen world.
Dr. Monty Lynn was the COBA Associate Dean when I first arrived at ACU. Through his wisdom, he encouraged me to consider teacher evaluations as you would a filtering process that overlooks the bad, but captures jewels of opportunity to improve the teaching process. Because of his insight, I learned to adopt an objective view to teaching as an improvement process, very much similar to what I experienced in industry as a quality improvement manager.
With this in mind, as a teacher in the middle of this reality, I serve students by teaching them to overcome the “dark” nature of spirituality by practicing love and forgiveness – to others, but especially to themselves. We pray against the nature of personal guilt and experience-based aggression to abound in the grace and wisdom of our beloved Christ. I encourage students to speak and think without fear, transcending the lower levels of humanity to strive in the Spirit and Truth of the Divine. To do so requires many personal sacrifices that are difficult for those who are young and easily swayed by the status and preferences of the others. As such, I have walked with students as they struggle to stay in their walk in Christ, despite what their family heritage has bound them to do.
Proverbs 4:7 says, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”
Paul said, “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
Teaching is vital to imparting knowledge in a way that assists students in learning, both today and for a lifetime. I believe teaching students the importance of conducting their own personal research to acquire knowledge and using it as a valuable decision-making resource is a vital part of our purpose as facilitators of the learning process. I also believe it is equally important to examine ourselves in light of the influence we have on students who are so easily captured by the lure of the World in Us. With this in mind, I take my spiritual walk and example of mentorship seriously as a faithful response to my stewardship in Christ.
In an academic community, all learn. Sometimes we learn things we would rather not know. In Christian higher education, we experience deep learning, as guided by the Holy Spirit, that cuts through sensitive areas to promote growth for the common good. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
In Genesis 50:20, Joseph experienced what life can be like when the saving grace of God works for the common good: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” From these scriptures, I believe we are here as a sacrifice for the saving of many students.
To this goal, I have taught a number of courses across various disciplines, as needed in Management Sciences. A list of these courses, and more specific pedagogical contributions and reflections can be found in the expanded links under the Teaching header menu.