Importance Of Human Experience

India has a rich tapestry of cultural and linguistic diversity. I grew up in a different state from with cultures different from my ancestors. At home, we spoke a different language, learned to speak another language outside and learned three more languages at school. All these experiences in my formative years have taught me identify and value the commonalities and differences of the human experience.
My first experience as a teacher was during my undergraduate years when I tutored first-generation learners in my neighborhood. These were children of small business owners and were the first to enter formal schooling. I am grateful that parents gave me their listening and decided to continue formal education for their children in spite of many …show more content…
During this time, I trained several field assistants in use of tools and in the techniques for fieldwork. I continue to be amazed by their natural intelligence and ability to grasp, even if they had no formal training.
Training forest officers from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam as a part of the FAO training series on Biodiversity, I felt deep respect for the forest officials who carry out routine work with a sheer will and persistence and in face of severe dangers. They were eager to learn and apply the knowledge from the training course in their countries. We spent long hours discussing strategies about the need for enumerations, suggestions to keep staff motivated, how they could start the work with the resources they had and how to continue to keep it moving forward.
Teaching undergraduate students in North America has provided me with more perspectives about the life experiences that students bring into their learning. I appreciate that every student will bring their own views, perspectives, opinions, experiences, and come from varied backgrounds. Sharing these experiences and perspectives in the context of the lessons enriches all of us to develop a richer, wider, and deeper understanding of the worldview and give a better understanding of how to apply ecological and sustainability principles to solve real-life problems. Through these methods, I strive to …show more content…
I want to make sure that each student has had an opportunity to explore areas of the topics I teach that were personally relevant to them. I will give my students a range of assignment choices to let them identify and explore their own interests. For some students, this could mean completing a final project by writing children’s books about biodiversity. Alternatively, they can choose to interview their elders or parents, or interview people who had immigrated to the United States in order to learn more about the biodiversity and ecology of their ancestral lands and