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Kellie M. McKinney
1/25/2017
Statement of Teaching
My experiences as a tutor for elementary to university level learners, as well as my time as an
Adjunct-Professor for the County College of Morris and Raritan Valley Community College,
have helped me develop my current style of teaching. As a professor, I believe it is my duty to
not only create an ever-encouraging and lighthearted classroom environment, but to encourage in
my students a passionate respect for writing, reading, and English Literature by showing both
how and why each are important to the understanding of their every-day lives. As a teacher to
students of all ages, I understand that most of my students have preconceived notions concerning
writing skills, reading comprehension, and literature. When it comes to the art of reading
comprehension and writing, I am a strong believer that most answers, even if incorrect, have
some form of misled personal reasoning behind them. Therefore, it is my job to help lead my
students to a stronger understanding as to why their responses are wrong, partially wrong, or
poorly supported. I also understand that most of my students are not Literature majors; therefore,
they often become frustrated in the belief that my particular class or lesson does not benefit or
have any effect on their future careers. This reoccurring belief has only challenged me to find
new ways to ensure that my students, despite their oppositions, at least gain valuable critical
thinking skills for their future careers. This world is not perfect, and I am a firm believer that if it
is filled with ____ critical thinkers, all of its imperfections can be ____ by future generations, for
future generations.
As a teacher, I know it is my job to correct students in their bad writing habits, but at the same
time, I do not want to further discourage any students’ understandings of the significance of their
reading comprehension and writing skills. I have observed a number of students stray, coming
close to giving up on difficult concepts that they struggled to grasp. This is why I make it my
ultimate goal to encourage students to confidently and comfortably challenge all their
preconceived theories, as well as writing habits, in order to create a classroom of critical thinking
individuals who develop more open-minded outlooks on life.
I feel an open-minded classroom environment is most important in at least instilling, if not a
deep-seeded passion, a high-respect for the necessity of the above topics. In order to provoke
classroom discussions, I often rearrange the seating of my classroom so that all students are
facing one another. This open seating plan often allows students to relax and, if not vocally
participate in conversations, more readily listen to what I, as well as what their fellow students,
have to say.
As a university-trained dancer, I am a more kinesthetic learner. While I am also a visual learner,
this has proven difficult in my past Literature classes. As a kinesthetic and visual learner, I often
found myself frustrated with repetitive teaching tactics that only benefited auditory learners. This
has allowed me to be hyperaware of students who may face, in a more reading/writing based
classroom, similar difficulties. As a tutor for the past 7 years, a mentor for an undergraduate
class during my time at Slippery Rock University, and a dance instructor, I have also learned
how to consistently adapt my teaching style in order to engage all types of learners. Therefore, I
strongly believe, in order to be an effective teacher, it is vital to watch, listen, asses, and cater to

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all types of learners in order to ensure that every student leaves my classroom a stronger critical
thinker.
As a teacher and a life-time learner, I strive to never structure my lessons in a repetitive way. My
teaching techniques have and will continue to provide every individual in my class the best
chance of understanding all content. In order to ensure this, I always openly welcome feedback
from students concerning the context of my course and teaching styles. Up to this point, I find
that open-communication is the best solution in catering to all types of learners. In the past, I
have always openly discussed all lessons, topics, and class material with my students in order to
encourage them to participate in and contribute to class discussions. While many may believe
keeping strict boundaries between student and teacher is wise, I tend to take a different approach.
I ensure that I do not cross any unprofessional boundaries with students; however, I find my
students, even the more quiet ones, are willing to share personal stories that relate to the text(s)
we are studying, if I share some of my own. I know my sensitive and up-beat approach to
classroom material not only mirrors my passion, but creates a very welcoming environment
where students participate, knowing their answers will not be negatively criticized. My passion
for classroom content is often vibrant enough that my positive energy motivates my students,
naturally creating an environment where they are encouraged to speak their minds even if they
are unsure their answers or interpretations are correct. I have noticed that this approach not only
encourages students to confide in me as their professor and/or mentor, but to also confide in
each other, both inside as well as outside of my classroom, finding encouragement and support in
their fellow classmates.
As I have previously stated, I have a strong understanding that literature and writing are not
every student’s strong-point. However, I have found that showing students the how and why of
what they are learning is useful in everyday life. This is not a lesson that is frequently covered in
an English classroom. I am a firm believer that writing is the most important skill any individual
can master for any career he or she chooses. It is not only useful in the educational world, but
necessary for all careers. Whether in memos, letters of recommendation or even with simple
note-taking, writing and reading comprehension are used in day-to-day life. Because not all my
students understand how and why, I know simply telling them is not enough. I have a steadfast
awareness that this subject I love unconditionally is not similarly loved by all. Therefore, I
continuously work to create a classroom that also shows how my classes’ content is important for
all their futures. I want to allow all my students to develop a respect for reading comprehension
as well as writing by encouraging a personally-based understanding of how the tools and lessons
that I provide in my class will benefit them throughout their future.
Whether in a basic writing class or a literary theory class, it is my aim to push students to
question, challenge, and explore any preconceived notions they may have. Most importantly, I
do not want each student to simply discount, discredit, or eliminate any one theory without
having properly researched in order to fully explore the topic at hand. Literary research is one of
my academic strengths. I have a vast and clear understanding of how to utilize various online
scholarly sources along with an uncanny ability to patiently find the most useful sources to best
support my theories. Many of my past professors, as experts of their field, have expressed that I
have found credible sources they were not aware of in their own studies. My thesis on George
Eliot’s Middlemarch has taught me that patience is key in learning how to utilize all tools of

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research. I spent semesters looking over George Eliot’s letters, searching for a stronger
connection to her dear friend and profound sociologist, Herbert Spencer. I soon found that my
patience and understanding of how libraries, resources, and scholarly sources work allowed me
to accurately find exactly what supporting information I needed. I believe that my ability to
research as well as my understanding of its importance best help me to provide my students with
the tools to consider all sides, arguments, and ideas surrounding a single argument.
I want to encourage all my students to develop an open-mind when it comes to the lessons at
hand. In my opinion, in order to do so, it is not wise to discourage a single way of thinking, but
to instead, show my students more than one way of interpreting classroom content. I always
demonstrate various researching techniques of print and web sources to my students in order to
ensure they understand the difference between reliable and unreliable sources. This also ensures
that they find sound evidence to accurately support their arguments or opinions. It is my aim to
listen to all students’ opinions; show them how they can research alternative points of views; as
well as teach them how to find research to back up any beliefs, theories, or ideas that they are
considering.
By teaching each student how to keep an open-mind, I hope to expand my classrooms’ passion
for reading as well as writing. I accomplish this task by encouraging my students to critically
think. My ability to improvise classroom lessons as well as my knack of relating to all types of
learners allows me to fulfill my teaching philosophy. I can confidently state that if I provide my
students with the tools they need to find and support their various points of view, as well as
properly show them how and why each lesson we cover is beneficial to them on a personal level,
that my students naturally develop a respectful understanding, and may even develop a passion,
for reading, writing, and literature.

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Research Interests
Past Research
I have completed research projects as well as papers on Modern Drama, focusing on playwrights
such as Tennesee Williams, Henrik Ibsen, Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, and Samuel Beckett; on
the Victorian novel, focusing on all novelists from George Eliot, to Jane Austen, to the Brontë
sisters, to Charles Dickens, and to Thomas Hardy; and, as most lovers of literature, on advanced
theories of Shakespeare, focusing on other playwrights of his time such as Marlowe. I also have
a strong research background in theories involving, or related to, the concepts of New-
Historicism, Psychoanalytics, Sociology, Native-American folktales, Irony, and Satire.
My completed thesis, “Middlemarch: Eliot’s Spencerian Sociological Study of Provincial Life,”
is evidence of over 12 months of research of primary and secondary scholarly sources in relation
to George Eliot’s personal and professional life. After reading the novel, I instantly admired
Eliot’s vast sociological understanding, mainly through her imagery, of country life in England
during her time. I started my research by analyzing the people as well as the circulating theories
that may have surrounded her during the serialization of Middlemarch. I soon discovered that
Eliot had a strong connection with a dear friend, and world-renown sociologist, Herbert Spencer.
It is through this personal relationship that I discovered a similar stream of sociological theories
between these two individuals. As a professionally trained dancer, I find that I focus on any
gestures recorded within human interactions; so naturally, I was intrigued by the gesture-based

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sociological interactions (body language) between the Middlemarch couples recorded by Eliot’s
narrator. I soon made it my goal to soundly prove that through her novel, Middlemarch, Eliot
fulfills the intention of her subtitle and uses sociological theories to conduct A Study of
Provincial Life. I found that Eliot’s letters, journals, and various essays provide evidence of
sociologist Herbert Spencer’s influence on her own writings. Spencer’s specific opinions and
contributions not only strengthen the sociological message of Eliot’s novel, but a handful of his
ideals shape the narrative voice of her novel. Variations of Spencer’s theories are seen in Eliot’s
“authorial narrator’s” comments and observations of the Middlemarch couples. With her
narrator, Eliot applies Spencer’s theories on “belief” and on the correlation of an individual’s
worldview to his or her society. Furthermore, Eliot creates an emotionally-based connection
between her narrator and her readers which allows her to lead her audience through her
sociological study and ensures her authorial narrator’s voice provides reliable expertise on the
provincial life of Middlemarch. It was through a thorough research of all biographical
information, historical information, reader-response theory, narrative theory, sociological theory,
and psychoanalytical theory that I was able to fully support and prove my own uniquely-
connected argument.
Current Research
As demonstrated by my varied and unique genres of research, I am not one to focus or hone-in
on a single area of theory. I have found that my unquenchable thirst to understand all areas, time
periods, eras, types, genres, and theories of literature will never allow me to choose an area to
specialize in, nor would I ever desire to. I am a firm believer that in order to understand a single
theory, one must understand what it is not, as well as understand how it connects to all other
literary theories. If I chose to limit myself to one genre or one field of literary studies, I believe
that I will stunt any future ability to discover uncharted connections between all areas of
literature. By further researching different areas, I have nurtured my passion and love for
literature in my ability to find new connections as well as explore already discovered connections
from one theory to the next. For example, I often love to study how one theory has grown out of,
branched into, or regressed back to another theory. Although I will admit that, with the exception
of Modern Drama, modern literature and poetry have not been as great an interest to me as
theatre or Victorian novels, I continue to adventure out into various types of literature.
I currently continue to stay in touch with any research on the Victorian novel, sociology,
psychoanalytical theory, and Modern Drama. A newer area of research that I have found myself
quite obsessed with is Irish folktales. I have recently found it fascinating how the Brontë sisters
almost always used the setting of the moors to instill an eerie, supernatural tone to their novels.
Once I discovered that their own father was indeed from Ireland, I associated the Irish folktales
(which demonstrate how the Celts and Irish citizens often believed the moors consisted of
supernatural beings, powers, magic, and so on) with these sisters’ mystic portrayals of the moors
throughout the England of their novels. I am also researching and comparing the various
structural elements and theories of time, between Native-American folktales and various Irish
folktales.

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I am continuing research concerning Jane Austen’s use of satire and irony. While many do not
see how this aspect of Austen’s humor flips particular societal beliefs on their heads, I have
always understood and appreciated her form of irony. I love to examine how she engages readers
into her stories, and how she pushes readers to question social standards through the structure of
her narrators’ or characters’ satirical or ironic remarks. Therefore, I maintain a close watch on
any research, related to Austen’s witty humor, which focuses on its relation to her generation’s
society.
As mentioned above, I have focused on the Irish playwright, Beckett, leading to my interest in
his novels, which in turn, has led me to the novels of James Joyce. Since I find it so natural to
focus on gesture/body language within writing, I have inevitably begun to focus on how both
Irish writers, Joyce and Beckett, express and interpret interactions between individuals through
body language. Although this research project is smaller than my others, I look forward to
growing it into a larger piece of writing.
Future Research
Most importantly, I hope to continue researching areas of interest. As a teacher, I feel it is
important to continue to learn just as my students do. Through further research, I hope all of my
current research will develop into future articles, papers, and/or collaborative projects.