Teaching Philosophy

In the tech world, we have people we called gurus, and people we called wizards. These are the people who can make a computer do anything, and are the go-to people when you had a hard task that you didn't know how to approach. Both types are equally talented technically, but they have a different method of interacting with people who come to them for advice.
Wizards feel that their knowledge is their valuable asset. They carefully hoard the fundamental information. When you ask them how to do something, they will tell you exactly how to do it, and nothing else.

Gurus feel that their ability to apply knowledge is their valuable asset. When you ask one of them for help, they will give you information about why the answer they provide is the right one.

Both give you the information you need to solve the problem. But the wizard counts on you coming back with fundamentally the same question time after time. The guru is bored by that, and doesn't want to hear the same questions, so they share as much information as possible. Wizards view their knowledge as zero-sum, gurus as synergetic.

I was one of the gurus. I see my role in teaching as similar. Yes, I have knowledge that the students don't. But what is interesting is to apply the knowledge. I want them to have done what they could to have declarative knowledge before they come to class, and then I work with them to see how they can apply that knowledge, also imparting some extra declarative knowledge in the process.

So I don't see myself as so much a guide or mentor, as a well-seasoned fellow traveler.

What I have done in the past is too much lecturing, sharing the additional information that the students can get from me beyond what is in their textbooks. But this is unsatisfying to me as a guru-- I want to have a conversation with them, not present them with the holy knowledge like a wizard.

So I am trying to do more work using case studies, but would like to start doing more things with problem-based learning; I think it is a very promising approach.