Teaching
Teaching Certification (UK)
2019
Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
AdvanceHE certification
Supervision
Individual
2023-present
Co-supervising a Bachelor (Hons.) 100-page research thesis in the philosophy of disability (University of Santo Tomas, Philippines)
2022-present
Supervising three separate research papers from medical students on medical assistance in dying and the impact of health-adjusted life years (HALY) as a tool for primary care workers.
Group
2022-2023
Supervising second-year medical students writing a research paper and oral presentation on the future of medicine for disabled medical students
Teaching medical students (undergraduate)
Introduction to Feminist Approaches to Bioethics (2022)
Managing Uncertainty in Public Health Policy-making (2023)
COVID-19 and Vulnerability (2022)
Teaching law students (postgraduate)
Cyborgs (Ethics and Health Technologies)
Eugenics in American Hygiene Programmes in the Philippines (Public Health Ethics)
2024
2023
Philosophy Tutorials
Modern Philosophy - History of Philosophy
PH1023 Experience, Knowledge and Reality (2017;2019), University of Aberdeen. Teaching Assistant.
This course introduced first year undergraduate students to modern rationalism and empiricism through the philosophy of Descartes and Hume. This was a heavily text-based course and I focused on teaching my students analytical reading and writing skills. The syllabus allowed us to explore themes of the self, freedom, the quality and accessibility of knowledge, as well as the role of imagination and emotion in science.
This was the first introduction to philosophy for most of my students. Therefore, I chose to emphasise the transferable skills that philosophical reading teaches us, like critical thinking, identifying an argument, noticing how writing structure and style influences the strength of an argument, and how to adapt writing for an audience.
Values and Ethics in Public Health
This is a Master’s level course geared at students following a medical pathway or a Masters in Public Health. Its aim is to empower future clinicians and policy makers to engage critically with research and literature in bioethics.
Feminist philosophy - Contemporary Themes
PH2535 Gender Equality (2017; 2018; 2020; 2021), University of Aberdeen. Assistant teaching.
This course was a thematic approach to liberal feminism intended for second-year undergraduate students. The topics covered ranged from workplace equality, to gender justice in sports, engaging with the debates on abortion and pornography. I prompted my students to work these themes by considering their political and ethical components in tandem.
Selected authors from the syllabus:
Jennifer Saul (political philosophy)
Veronica Ivy (epistemic injustice)
Torbjörn Tännsjö (philosophy of sport)
A view of Belmont Street in Aberdeen with gray stone buildings and a church spire and covered market stalls on the left.
Philosophy of Mind
University of Aberdeen. Teaching Assistant. (2021)
A second year undergraduate course introducing students to classical problems in philosophy of mind (e.g. mind-body dualism, the identity problem, autonomy). The course is structured to teach students analytical reading and writing skills, from learning how to identify arguments to breaking them down and critiquing their premises in order to develop one’s own argumentative response.
Student Feedback
“I had Elaina as my tutor, and she really wowed me. From our first day, I found her exceptionally accommodating, warm, friendly, and modern. On our first day she even made the effort to identify her own pronouns, and she encouraged us when we spoke to of course say our names, and then to give everyone our preferred pronouns, and I really thought that was going up and above to make people comfortable. At the same time, I think she challenged us to come out of our comfort zones when asking us to read aloud things on the board, asking us direct questions about the literature, and the way she was so engaging and enthusiastic about the content of the course was great. It really made me feel so involved. I would honestly take this course again just to sit in the class and watch her method of teaching, I really thought it was excellent. .”
— Anonymous Student, 2019
“Elaina made the tutorials interesting, relevant and actually fun for 9AM on a Friday morning!”
— Anonymous Student, 2019
“My tutorials with Elaina were amazing. She’s a very good tutor and helped me gain better understanding of the readings.”
— Anonymous Student, 2019
Pedagogical approach
Inclusivity & Diversity
Inclusivity to me means creating a safe space that is conducive to learning. If students feel undervalued, unheard, and unwelcome there is no amount of sound communication practices that will help them learn. It is my responsibility as an educator to continue to expand my pedagogical vocabulary to reach a rich variety of learning styles and needs. This ranges from asking my students their preferred pronouns to expanding my range of practices to engage students who are not comfortable reading or speaking up in class. I also provide examples from a variety of experts that, because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation, are not traditionally part of a curriculum. I believe that for all students to think of themselves as Knowers they must see people like them being respected as Knowers as well.
Primary Source-Based
I believe that high expectations yield high-end results. In philosophy especially it can be daunting to present students with primary texts, but I argue that the encounter with the different vocabulary, historical context, and social constraints in each text, old or new, is an essential part of someone’s relationship with philosophy. This is not to say that I don’t use supporting materials like commentaries, podcasts, editorials, or comic strips to help learners grasp difficult concepts; rather, it is emphasising that the desirable transferable skills of analytical and critical thinking are best developed when students are asked to grapple the issues directly. The point is not to be right or to find “the” solution, but to to gain a variety of tools and exercise our patience, perseverance, and ingenuity.
Liberationism
Inspired by Paulo Freire, I want to continue to find new ways of teaching that embrace de-colonialist methods and performative pedagogy. I present myself as Knower to my students and endeavour them to see themselves and each other as Knowers. In practical terms, this means that I try to be as transparent as possible about my role as moderator and questioner, all while being openly vulnerable about my limitations, including the ones caused by my disability. In the past, this has made students willing to approach me to disclose their own disability needs, thereby helping me to better adapt my classroom management practices in an effort to create a more inclusive space.
For me, liberationism as a pedagogical theory means de-centering myself as an expert while leading by example, showing my students that they don’t have to conform to a certain type of person before they can respect themselves as Knowers with something of value to communicate.