My Educational Philosophy

Last week I posted about starting the University of Michigan’s Sexual Health Certificate Program (SHCP). It began with a sexual attitude reassessment (SAR) module. Part of the SAR work was an assignment to write a short essay on my “professional philosophy statement and goals.” Because I am in the sex educators track, I wrote it about as a statement of educational philosophy and goals. I share it here …

I am a biomechanist and ergonomist by training. I have taught these subjects in a wide range of settings, from university engineering courses and orthopedic surgery resident education to industrial training for shop-floor workers. Over the years, I have developed a teaching philosophy based on “meeting students where they are” and on the assumption that learners bring a deep well of lived experience and knowledge, some formal and much informal. As such, it is a constructivist philosophy. For example, a lecture on industrial ergonomics for hourly workers assumes that learners have an inherent understanding of how their bodies move, which movements are stressful and fatiguing, and which aches, pains, and injuries arise from their work. In many ways, the lecture becomes a way to provide a new framework for understanding why their bodies hurt and what can be done about it in the workplace. For orthopedic residents, my approach has been to present biomechanical principles that explain what they have experienced in the clinic and operating room. A secondary component of my teaching philosophy is demonstrating the value of lifelong learning, which I do by providing many resources and modeling the behavior. For hourly workers, this means demonstrating the practical utility of lectures like mine in their daily lives and encouraging them to continue attending such lectures, reading materials in a bibliography I provide, and seeking out similar materials on YouTube and other digital media. For orthopedic residents, I use journal clubs to teach them how to critically read research papers in a way that helps them integrate the knowledge into clinical practice. Now that I am pivoting to educating older adults about sex, my philosophy means recognizing that older adult learners have many decades of experience with their sexuality. They have had many experiences – possibly ranging from very good to very traumatic – related to sex.

My primary goal in educating older adults about sex and aging, including biomechanics and ergonomics, is to provide knowledge that helps them maintain and improve their sex lives as they age. This includes understanding that the biomechanical changes that occur, whether it is reduced natural vaginal lubrication and tissue elasticity or erectile dysfunction, do not necessitate ending sexual activity. A secondary goal is to provide learners with many resources they can access to learn more about sex and aging in general, including preventing sexually transmitted infections, widowhood, sex after grieving, and sex with chronic diseases like arthritis, cancer, and diabetes.