PIDP3260 – Week 2 – Intro
My name is Areeb Soo Yasir and for almost 20 years I’ve been a seasoned IT professional and Entrepreneur through my many past and current ventures. However, the purpose of today’s post is to speak to my teaching experience, identity and values.
In 2018 “I got bored” of just watching my companies as they are primarily “self-running” through my staff. I was driving downtown past my old school at BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) where to no surprise, I studied IT and also worked there while I was a student. I said to myself “I wonder if they need any help” and fast forward a few weeks later I was back in the classroom, not as a student but as an instructor, where I was now responsible for my own group of students and to help them train for and successfully enter their own career.
It was a very natural fit that I grew fond of right away and I remember I was asked “if I could handle the pressure of teaching” but in reality the pressure that I experienced during armed meetings, guards and high-stakes IT deals and running mission critical infrastructure really pales in comparison to that of the classroom. I’ve had to lead, train and support countless companies and professionals over the years so I felt I was ready for the classroom and looked forward to bringing my industry experience back to whee I started from. And I believe that experience, combined with the business and extensive IT experience made me a natural fit and thrive in the classroom.
As experts like Brookfield’s “Skillful Teacher” can attest to, when it comes to my truth, your truth or anyone’s truth of teaching there is no “universally true truth” of teaching. We all have our unique experience because we are all unique individuals with varied life experience, skill sets and we operate in different areas, and even then, two people could still have a completely different experience and “truth of teaching”. My truth is that I thrive on the unpredictability of teaching, I am both rewarded and impressed at students who seem to just “pick everything up” and are so “keen” and equally so, there are still unexpected challenges from students. But this is my “truth of teaching”, in that I find new experiences and successes with each new group of students I encounter, and each time I use that experience and success to create increasingly better teaching experiences. The truth about teaching is that “there is no truth”, it is a dynamic as the world is around us and no two students will be the same, nor will the learn the same. The truth is that I embrace this opportunity and challenge and do my best to make sure each student leaves my classroom satisfied, engaged and receives as much hands-on, industry knowledge as possible from whatever course I teach.
When it comes to my professional identity, I took what I experienced as a student, and gave all of the good things back to the students and improved on anything that I felt could have been improved on from my time as a student. I believe in being ethical, genuine, honest, transparent, and in giving my students 120% of my time, attention and effort whether during lecture, lab and whether it be offering advice or encouragement I am always there to help them succeed. The best pay I’ve ever had on this job, which is more like a passion and dream, is to see students succeed and when they make the connection that I am truly there out of passion, to give back, help them succeed and not out of need for a job. I’m a firm believer that you get back what you put in and I am very thankful at the experience and warm welcome I’ve had from all of the students I’ve been able to teach.
Although I am very young in the teaching profession, I’m keen to continue this journey and to help shape the next generation of successful, young IT professionals while still holding fast to my professional identity and values that have brought me here.
Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. John Wiley & Sons.
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https://vcc.ca/programscourses/instructor-training/
