Teaching Philosophy
Teaching as ‘Educational Friendship’
Teaching is foremost a matter of being able to cultivate relationships. In particular, an educator should be able to connect their students to specific bodies of content, other members of their class, and the wider world. A good teacher is therefore someone who challenges their students to engage critically with their coursework, to participate within an interactive learning community, and to think more deeply about the world they inhabit. Teaching, when conceptualized along these lines, is akin to what might be described as a practice in ‘educational friendship,’ whereby – in the mode of togetherness, as well as in the light of a shared sense of wonder and curiosity about the world – an educator works with their students to generate strong links between class content and a life lived in a broader (scholastic) community, environment, etc. To do so – that is, to study a given topic/subject from a place of friendliness, joy, and care for the world in which we all live – is to be fully engaged in a long-running conversation with one’s students, allowing their needs, concerns, and interests to give shape to the work being done in the classroom. Though there is of course a need to move through a well-designed curriculum, as well as to maintain a certain level of discipline in the classroom, it is important to remain focused not on the application of some pre-established, universal theoretical framework but, rather, on the specific needs of our particular class(es). This is a context-specific, conversation-driven, and person-focused approach to education that requires teachers to think and act as cultivators of relationships, as well as to go forward in their work from a place of care, curiosity, and friendship.
During a class on poststructural theory, I had students complete the following sentence: “Language is important because …” And just for fun, I had them draw a picture about their understanding of language. This particular sketch was one of my favorites — global political affairs represented here as being fundamentally shaped by ‘the text’. Pretty cool, no?
During a class on the so-called ‘Great Debates of IR’ (I know, I know there are issues when studying the history of IR in these terms), my class mocked up some posters of the main debates, doing so in the style of an old-school boxing poster. All of them were great but this was one has stayed with me.
From my students —
“Chris Peys has had a tremendous positive impact on my time here at Saint Andrews. His passion for what he teaches is infectious […] He has such a gift for teaching, it’s truly incredible […] I can honestly say I look forward to his tutorials […] I am a better thinker and writer for having had him as a teacher. Chris Peys is what all tutors should strive to be.”
“I would just like to thank and give credit to Dr Chris Peys, who is undoubtedly the best tutor I have had in my two years at St Andrews. He is very engaging, using many different methods of teaching and ways to facilitate discussion. He is also a very charismatic and caring person, making him very easy to approach and ask for help. He is willing to go the extra mile to help his students. Every tutor should learn from him as if they did it is my belief that everyone would have a much better understanding of the content and they would actually look forward to their tutorials.”
“My understanding of this module and the information presented is due solely to my Tutor Chris Peys. I hope what I write will be passed onto him. He is the best tutor I have had in my time at Saint Andrews, including other modules besides IR one. He engages with his students in a meaningful way. He pushed us to find the answers on our own and to develop our own ideas but while providing enough guidance to make that possible. He explained the ideas we were studying with clarity beyond that provided by any of the lecturers. If he found that his explanation was not sufficient he would find different ways to explain it and explain it until everyone understood. His class was engaging and extremely helpful. He made me wish we had more than one tutorial a week”
“Chris is a very good tutor and lecturer, so I was glad he was in charge of this module. He explains things very well and pushes us to think deeper than surface level. His lectures have always been very well organised and informative. He provides us with a variety of perspectives and understandings, whilst critiquing and evaluating. He clearly spends time constructing his lecture and tutorials, providing us with different methods of teaching and activities to stir conversation and debate. I always left feeling I had learned something new.
Overall the module ran smoothly, was very informative and interesting, and with Chris as the lecturer I would definitely encourage students to take the module.””
“You are my first IR tutor and, in China, we always say that your first tutor is always the most important. I am so lucky to have had you as my first tutor! [...] A lot of my friends dropped IR, and it makes me feel lonely sometimes, but this year I chose you and I don’t feel lonely. I really like your tutorial’s atmosphere, you help everyone to talk, and everyone is active in your class. You are an amazing tutor - even my friend who is not in your tutorial knows you are amazing! IR this semester was hard for me because it is about theories but I did learn a lot from your tutorials. I will not drop IR, I will work harder!”