Jun Taek Kwon
Department of International Affairs
University of Georgia
Teaching Philosophy Statement
J.T. Kwon in Political Science
POLS 1101 American Government is a required course for all undergraduate students here at the UGA. However, it does not mean that they take the course because they have to. They must have some goals in taking this American Government course. As an instructor myself, I also have some goals in teaching this course.
My main goal is to help students get you interested in American Government and politics in general and to help them apply what they learn in classes to current political issues and events. In doing so, I hope to prepare students to be effective citizens of the United States, regardless of their field of study.
As a teacher in American Government 1101, I make every effort to go beyond presenting my students with basic textbook facts and definitions to memorize and recall. As a discussion facilitator, I try to create a setting in which student-generated discussion and learning can take place. To this end, I bring some interesting and controversial questions and issues to each class, in the hopes of stimulating my students to express their ideas and opinions. I believe that critical thinking and an active classroom can be achieved in this atmosphere.
In order to render this introductory politics course more fun and relevant to our daily life, I spend about 15-20 minutes talking about current events at the beginning of each class. I believe that it is crucial to incorporate “what’s going on in the real world” into the classroom. I share with students one or two evening news items on video which are very relevant to the topics of each class (I record the TV evening news everyday).
Beyond the “who and what” of the event, I have asked how the classroom materials are applied to and connected with the real American politics. I am convinced that this valuable teaching (learning) tool is very conducive to students’ understanding in terms of connecting the textbook concepts and facts they discuss in classroom with actual events.