The more I learn about learning, the more I am convinced that learning is a transformative experience in which knowledge is shared and each personal experience is intertwined as part of a larger story. I am an educator, instructional designer, and fine artist. I teach with a holistic view of the world but focusing on the specific needs of the learner and their experience. I aim to guide learners to connect and use knowledge in practical ways. Experience motivates theory, and theory substantiates practice as experience supports theory. In my practice, I provide learners with opportunities for sharing knowledge and experience, exploration, experimentation, and discovery, in both individual and collaborative levels.

My teaching experience includes individuals of all ages, children with disabilities, working adults, seniors, and corporate training, individuals from all academic and professional levels, and one emerging common denominator is fear to try new things based on past experiences. I had experience transformations firsthand from my students from fear to eagerness to try new things and also becoming advocates and inspiration for others. As I wrote in my dissertation, “Individuals can develop skills through experience and exposure and become candidates for success in the process, influenced by previous experiences and how they have interpreted achievement and failure in the past.” I provide experiences that improve self-efficacy, which is the perception of skills to achieve a goal, by bridging new concepts to known concepts and experiences, focusing on short-term goals, guidance, feedback, and motivation. Commitment to short-term goals leads to accomplishment, which improves self-efficacy creating a cycle of transformation.

Seeing how knowledge becomes alive is of great motivation and validation for the effort. It is also a learning experience for myself. “Individuals are not just the result of their environment or life circumstances, but rather individuals consciously contribute to their environment or life circumstances to change their environments and themselves.” It is a rewarding experience to see and being part of the transformation, more so when I see my students serving others for the same purpose.