In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent The Merciful

Statement of Teaching Philosophy
“Statement of Teaching Interest”
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(A Draft In-Process)
By:
Mohammad Babur Tanveer <MBT> Khalid
http://pk.linkedin.com/in/IBA369
MBT.Khalid@gmail.com

“May You Be in Peace and Allah’s Mercy & Blessings Be upon You”:

Introduction:
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“Allah will raise up to ranks, those of you who believe and who been granted knowledge.” 58:11

Al-Qur’an states Knowledge and Learning as obligatory for every Muslim individual.  Ahadith formulate Knowledge and Learning concepts as a prerequisite to be a good Muslim.  Knowledge and Learning is considered as an essential to good deeds and it should be continued till the end of life.  It is said that the best way to learn is to teach others.  Being Muslim we see Teaching and Learning task at top of all professions.  A teacher’s level is considered close to Prophets’ because of imparting Knowledge and Education to others around them.  A Muslim’s Teaching & Learning task, irrespective of his/her profession, never ends … rather it continues till his/her life’s end and keep on increasing as an essential part of other routine tasks.

“In Islam, according to the Qur’an, Wisdom is of the greatest gifts humankind can enjoy, as it can be seen in many verses such as: “He gives wisdom unto whom He will, and he unto whom wisdom is given, he truly has received abundant good. But none remember except men of understanding.” [2:269]* (This is the translation of the interpretation of the meaning from the original Arabic text).  And in Surah (Chapter) 31 is named “Luqman” after a wise man that God has bestowed Wisdom upon him. The man example is made in response to other kind of people that is mentioned in the beginning of the Surah who speaks without knowledge and misleads people through corrupted discourse. In many verses in the Quran, many Prophets described as wise or be given Wisdom as a grace from God. For example, in Surah 3 “Aal-Imran” (the Family of Imran) it is mentioned that Christ Jesus the son of Mary will be taught the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel (verse 48)”
– Source: Wikipedia

Through the following “personal” thoughts I tried to demonstrate my “professional” teaching & training interest that I feel that require further improvements that’s why I am still in the continuous learning-process since my consciousness.  I am trying to find here for my own learning and development sake that whether teaching as an intention or teaching with intention, is required.  Your valued comments will be welcomed (and awaited) for my correction please so that I can write a final draft.

The Responsibility I Feel As A Teacher:
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As I understand, It is the duty of a teacher to build up students academically, morally, physically, and spiritually to make them socially-aware and God-fearing so that they can effectively play their future roles be as an honest worker, responsible citizen, helpful neighbor, valued family member and even as an ideal parent in the long-run to complete the process to form a responsible community.

Teaching is an altruistic service that’s why it is considered as a noble profession in every religion and culture.  A teacher has to play his/her splendid role along-with parents’ and environment’s support in molding and modeling next generation.  Teaching is a very sensitive profession and a teacher’s small mistake can destroy the noble process of molding the most important units/sub-units of a society where teacher and his/her own family also live.  That’s why a teacher must be God-fearing, self-accountable, and have a good moral character.  Quality of a teacher’s delivered services will count at the end to explore students’ talent, skills and abilities.

A teacher acts as a substitute parent.  To maintain the class discipline and order, a teacher has the formal or informal right to correct the behavior of students through fair punishment.  However, the students must be defined the boundaries of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and/or its reward and punishment types.

My Teaching Traits:
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I think that a teacher is more than a lecturer or a good presenter or a great demonstrator who catches the attention of listeners during his/her demonstration.  I think that a teacher and his/her taught knowledge along-with its logic should be remembered after the demonstration and/or after the students have entered to their practical lives.  It is good to share that “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires,” – (William Arthur Ward).  I always found myself as a motivator, counselor, mentor, and researcher. I always tried to explore or study the different mental-filters of my students to understand their perceptual selectivity level and possible barriers to learn.  I develop my own logic to subject course.  My teaching philosophy is that the best thing I can give to students, next to good knowledge, are good logic and sense of responsibility.  I heard and noted a number of times, through my taught classes’ Teachers’ Evaluation results; I am exceptionally energetic and enthusiastic teacher; I project a charisma that captures the imagination of students; and I have a God-gifted skill to manage the classes of either age-groups.  I believe that success has nothing to do with what I gain in life or accomplish for myself, it is what I do for others.

“Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I’ll remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” (Confucius)

I deeply involved in learning about the education state-of-the-art, investigating research, and designing instructional materials.  I believe that a good teacher is one who makes himself progressive-unnecessary.   My natural ability to motivate students and share a love of learning fosters a successful classroom environment, because what I learned that each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it and wiser than the one that comes after it.  Actually it is the first barrier that must be handled by the teacher through his/her devotion, effective demonstration, and high standard of his/her designed instructional materials.  I don’t expect a marked quality or high standard from my students before I have had delivered to them myself.  Students need a model not a critic.  They want to see their teacher as a role-model, after that … they will show their teacher a desired tenderness for what they are, and a required respect what they may become.

My Subject: Business Administration (Management Sciences
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My teaching style or nuts & bolts change with the type of subject.  I have key qualifications in Business Education and Training for Corporate and Faculty Personnel.  I plan and instruct Accounting (Principles/Financial/Cost/Advance), Finance, Marketing (Principles / Management / Seminar),  and Project/Operations Management curricula using wide variety of teaching aids, motivational techniques and implementation strategies to engage students in active learning.  I incorporate learning modality principles into the classroom as well as individual instruction and develop and conduct intergraded activities. I utilize a multimedia presentation system, implements technological approaches to subject material; utilize research educational resources on the Internet and assist with information retrieval.  I have designed and conducted various faculty and student workshops for training in: multimedia presentation techniques, marketing & selling techniques, preparation & analysis of financial statements, and practical use of internet research. 

I have taught to MBA/BBA/MIT/MCS/ACCA/CAT/CPA’s Senior and Junior classes almost all the subjects of Business Administration / Management Sciences, except Business Mathematics and Statistics.  However, my favorite subjects are as under (preference-wise listing):
1. Principles of Accounting
2. Financial Accounting
3. Cost Accounting
4. Advance Accounting
5. Fundamentals of Accounting
6. Principles of Marketing
7. Marketing Management
8. Seminars in Marketing
9. Project Management
10. Operations Management
11. Logic
12. Principles of Management
13. Business Research and Methodology
14. Sales and Marketing
15. Islamic Finance, Principles
16. Business Communication and Report Writing

The Unique Combination In My Teaching:
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I am eager to bring business administration / management sciences students into the twenty-first century using a unique combination of 13 years’ Teaching Experience coupled with 14 years’ Industry Background in Financial, Marketing, Project and Education Management.  I started classroom teaching in early 1991.  I have been working for corporate sector as well throughout my post-graduation career.  I could not select one profession to work with (from teaching and corporate sector services), because a teaching profession always provided me the opportunities of learning from young generation the new ideas, emerging trends and the transitional stages of society/culture/media/IT and its impact on a specific generation.  And the industry experience gave me the opportunities of applying learned innovative concepts.  I have worked as subject specialist for renowned institutes and was responsible to research & design course curriculum and the evaluation of students through exams, quizzes, tests, presentations, class participation, industry tours and article writing besides project & thesis work. 

I held myself responsible to provide the students with the latest business administration concepts, theories, and practical exposure in which my corporate sector experience always helped me.  Due to my strong industry-linkage and hands-on experience, I provide real situation training, workshops, seminars, and prominent business speakers to my students.  This unique combination always helped me to provide my students certain career placement opportunities like part-time during their studies, or paid internship, and executive positions as fresh graduates.  This social part of my teaching’s unique combination with corporate sector motivate me toward my own continuous professional development in both sectors and to cover effectively & efficiently the gap between Industry’s required Core & Job skills and Sr. students’ HR attributes & development.

Constructivist Approach In My Teaching:
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Mostly, while managing my classrooms, a constructivist approach in my teaching is shown.  Before taking any class, I ask myself a question that what my students are and what they ought to be after completing this course.  To answer this question, I always put my students in a drop-test through a one page questionnaire coupled with one page brief write-up on their perceived “philosophy” about their coming in the certain institute, field, or specific subject.  This very first day exercise gives me a comprehensive picture of each and every student as an individual regarding their pre-exist knowledge, learning patterns, family background, previously passed courses, general behavior, interest level, ambitions, and their personality type and traits as well.

As compared to traditional teaching in which study materials are primarily textbooks and workbooks; learning is based on repetition; a teacher’s role is directive rooted in authority; assessment is done through testing and correct answers only; students’ adherence to fixed curriculum is highly valued; and students work primarily alone … The following features advocate the constructivist approach more preferable :-
 Flexible Classroom Environment
 Student-Centered
 Active Participation & Environment
 Uses Process Approach
 Involves Negotiation To Contribute
 Teacher Is A Researcher
 Students And Teachers Are Interactive
 Democratic Organization And Management
 Shared Power And Control For Better Learning

Constructivist approach in teaching create problems which has value to students; Structure learning around primary concepts; seek and value student’s points of views; adapt curriculum to address student’s suppositions; and assess learning in the context of teaching … so I believe (and observed from my more than a decade teaching experience and application of knowledge at real workplace) that constructivism is important due to following plusses:
 Students Learn more
 Concentrate on “How To”
 Transferable Learning
 Ownership of Learning
 Create Creativity
 Applied Knowledge
 Promote Social Attitude
 Communication Skills
 Inevitable for Practical/Real Life
 Quality of Education & Life

Conclusion:
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It is not only a simple belief but proved that none of the available BOK of any field of study around the globe is beyond the true knowledge of Al-Qur’an.  The 195 or 196 cultures / nations and around 7 Billions human beings are not difficult to understand with the help of Al-Quran’s subject matter and knowledge.  Every one of us, irrespective of different culture/nation/religion/cast/sect/language/age is a teacher (on one hand and a student on the other) in his/her respective role.  You see that the best one of us is who, who is more dedicated to his/her cause (profession, subject, task or target) and more sincere to the dependent (student, teacher, family, or peer), or Allah-fearing (i.e., appraisal or evaluation, self-accountability or answerability).  In my views, there is only one relation exists from the very start and will exist till end, i.e., Teacher/Student and one profession, i.e., Teaching/Learning.. And one supreme Knowledge, i.e., given through Al-Qur’an. 

However, in the role of a classroom teacher, we are responsible to teach a set of guidelines that must reach beyond the classroom, in guiding behavior, in building character, and in developing teaching attitude & values that should stick with the students the rest of their lives.  A classroom must prepare students for the world by giving them the tools they need to become responsible decision makers, better problem- solvers, and self regulated learners till their life’s end.  It is a teacher’s responsibility that the students must be able to exercise the learned traits effectively and simultaneously in their personal and professional endeavors as well.

“If you are planning for a year …
Sow Rice;
 If you are planning for a decade …
Plant Trees;
If you are planning for life-time …
Educate People.”

May You Be In the Care of Allah …
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(MBT-Khalid)
http://pk.linkedin.com/in/IBA369

(Allah Ta’ala Knows Best)