Teaching Philosophy

Kenneth believes that learning should be an engaging and enjoyable experience for students; an experience that encourages mutual respect and free exchange of thoughts and ideas without fear of judgement or rebuke.  As a committed teacher, he considers it his duty to provide a safe learning environment that encourages students to be themselves and actively participate in the learning process. His goal is to provide practical education that achieves the following objectives:

• Provides knowledge about the criminal justice system that will be useful to students in both their academic and professional pursuits 

• Challenges students to question and verify public reporting about criminal justice issues

• Provides the necessary skills for students to engage in social science research

• Enhances student communication competency (both written and oral)

• Inspires and enables students to be responsible, champions for evidence-based criminal justice practices

His classroom environment is guided by three principles:

1.     Students should feel comfortable to actively participate in class and share their thoughts and beliefs. Each brings their own unique perspective and life experience to the class and this collective experience enriches the learning process. Kenneth points out that even with his experience and education, he remains teachable. Everyone in the class will learn from one another.

2.     All students must show each other respect and be considerate of each other’s views. Too often in modern society we shut ourselves down from hearing opinions that vary from our own. The wise person opens their mind to all perspectives before deciding how to proceed.

3.     While students are entitled to their own opinions, they are not entitled to their own facts. As future criminal justice practitioners, students are encouraged to use evidence to back up their arguments and to refrain from making judgements or recommendations based solely on opinion.