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Dr Richie Howitt - Teaching Orientation

Philosophical orientation

I came to University teaching after a period of professional practice as a K-6 educator. My move to the higher education sector was motivated by a commitment to an empassioned pedagogy which aims to:

forge ethical and effective links between social theory, public policy and professional practice in the broad field of resource and environmental management,
challenge students to develop philosophical, ethical, technical and practical sophistication through their studies,
contribute to an institutional commitment to access and equity, particularly for indigenous students,
increase access to higher education opportunities and research services for Aboriginal communities and organizations, and
increase the range of young researchers motivated to work for indigenous groups

My educational philosophy has led me to an enthusiastic and innovative participation in teaching at all levels, in all modes, and to diverse groups within and beyond the University. It has also led to development of a close link between my teaching, research and community service work which might best be described as a dialectical unity that brings the insights and enthusiasm of current field-based and theoretical investigation and an active practice as a professional geographer to undergraduate teaching and research supervision. In working with Aboriginal students, I have aimed to reflect a commitment to ideas and to nurture a respectful valuing of intellectual work within Aboriginal communities. This approach is reflected also in my efforts to support a number of Aboriginal students in pursuing further studies at graduate levels. In working with undergraduate students, I have aimed to engender a commitment to critical thought and the interplay of the world of ideas and the world of professional practice, and to encourage students to be conscious and careful of their responsibilities as intellectuals. In working with honours and postgraduate students, I have aimed to foster a sophisticated and literate engagement with theory and society, and to nurture research excellence that is based on thorough disciplinary knowledge, careful empirical investigation and sensitive social relations.

Teaching achievements

I see my principle achievements as a teacher as:

development of GEOS303/GEOS310 Resource Management as an innovative course that brings together practical, philosophical and theoretical issues, and is widely recognised as an influential and effective curriculum in an area where many more pedestrian courses survive in other universities because of the popularity of the general field.
my contributions to development of undergraduate field-based research units (GEOS389, GEOS349). Although these units are currently unavailable because of resource constraints, these units offered powerful educational experiences and recruited many students into the Human Geography honours program, and offered an element of practical experience into the degree program.
my contributions to honours supervision and postgraduate research supervision. Since arriving at Macquarie I have supervised large numbers of Honours, Masters and PhD projects. I continue to be approached from within and beyond the discipline to supervise research in a number of both theoretical and empirical fields, and believe I have a reputation amongst students and colleagues as a sensitive, supportive and effective supervisor (reflected in my recent organization of an innovative writing project on supervision and preparation of a collectively produced manuscript on supervision). I have been involved in nurturing a commitment to transparent research ethics within the Department through my work with Honours and Postgraduate student project.
my contributions to the Aboriginal program at Macquarie University, including contribution to the Diploma in Community Management and the interdisciplinary program in Aboriginal Studies. This has included unit development in the DCM, program development in Aboriginal Studies, guest teaching in units in other disciplines, and contributing to development of the undergraduate and honours programs in Aboriginal Studies (reflected in my part in a Teaching Development Grant in 1995 to develop a 300-level unit on indigenous voices, now taught as ABST300).
reinvigoration of external mode offerings through development of Web-based teaching support in the Resource and Environmental Management program (reflected in 2 grants from the Vice-Chancellor's Development Fund in 1998 and 1999).
my continuing commitment to teaching innovation at all levels, through novel approaches to small group teaching, contributions to departmental investigation of graduate coursework options, exploration of web-based and external approaches to student-centred learning, and cross-fertilisation of various components of my teaching program with community-based action-research work in a wide range of Aboriginal communities and organizations.

In December 1999, Richie Howitt was awarded the Social Science Award in the Australian Awards for University Teaching. Go to statement on these awards.

e-mail toRichard.Howitt@mq.edu.au

go to Richie Howitt's PublicationsList

go to Richie Howitt's homepage

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