Faculty Excellence at UMUC

Interviewer:

Please tell us about yourself—what made you decide to teach at UMUC? What kind of work do you do when you are not teaching at UMUC? Are there any life experiences that have influenced your teaching at UMUC? If so, please share one story.

Hiromi Edwards:

After marrying my husband, who was a Marine, I started attending UMUC on the military bases. It took me seven years to complete my bachelors degree and another three years for my masters, since I was taking care of my three daughters at the same time. Basically, I had been attending UMUC ever since my first daughter was five months old. I felt I simply could not stay away from the university.  However, since I could no longer attend the school as a student, I thought, "Why not participate as faculty member?"

Currently, I am translating a book called Listen to the Voices of Yasukuni from Japanese to English. Occasionally I give lectures; the last one was given in October of last year regarding the importance of family. I plan to attend the “World Congress of Families V” in Amsterdam this August.  Also, I sometimes write articles for a Japanese magazine.

Shortly after finishing my masters degree in Okinawa, there was an alumni meeting with the Okinawa Area Director and the President from Adelphi, among others. When everyone was asked to introduce him or herself, I commented that “the University made my dream [to obtain a higher education] come true.” The comment was well received, and when I asked the Area Director for a teaching position, he showed no hesitation in giving me a “go sign.”  My experience as a student with UMUC for more than 10 years made me feel that I couldn’t stay away from the environment.

Interviewer:

How would you describe your teaching style or philosophy? What experiences or person(s) have influenced your style or philosophy?

Hiromi Edwards:

My teaching philosophy is "learning should be fun." I try to have students involved in classroom activities as much as I can. I also believe that language should be taught in context; thus, I try to explain about Japanese culture and what the Japanese do differently from Westerners.

I have attended meetings held by the JALT (Japanese Association of Language Teachers), and by listening to other teachers’ experiences, I understood the importance of student involvement in the classroom.  

Interviewer:

Please explain if you do something special or unique in your teaching and what made you develop this.

Hiromi Edwards:

When I have time, I divide the class into groups and have them compete against each other. Something about American students is that they hate to lose, so whenever I have them compete against each other. They seem to be more involved in the activities simply because they don’t want to lose.

Interviewer:

What do you think it is about your teaching style that appeals to students?

Hiromi Edwards:

I try to go the extra mile for my students, and I am very accessible to them as well. I also try to be as humorous as possible to keep their attention and to make the class as interesting as possible.

Interviewer:

Do you teach face-to-face, online, or both? Do you have a preference between teaching face-to-face and online? If so, please explain.

Hiromi Edwards:

I only teach face-to-face. I prefer teaching face-to-face. In teaching language, I personally believe that the interactions between teacher and student, or between student and student, are an important part of the learning process. Speaking a language involves not only what is being said but also how it is said – something that is not easy to see online.   

Interviewer:

Please tell us about your chosen discipline-i.e., what made you interested in the area initially? What do you do to stay current in your discipline? What do you like best about teaching in your discipline?

Hiromi Edwards:

I teach Japanese language and culture. As we all know, Japan and US shared a dark history half a century ago because of the lack of understanding between each other.  After marrying my husband, I started desiring to be a bridge between the two nations, albeit a small and weak bridge, so that the two nations won’t repeat the same mistakes again.  The best way to facilitate a good relationship is to facilitate an understanding between the two nations. Teaching the language and culture seems to be the best way to accomplish this.

I keep studying Japanese grammar and read different books written both in Japanese and English. Also, I am studying my third language, Spanish, just to remind myself how difficult it is to study a different language, so that I can better understand the difficulty students face in studying another language.

The best thing about teaching language is seeing students progress in their language ability. Somebody who has limited ability in the language when he or she started taking the first level can communicate in the language after taking the third or fourth level. It is wonderful to watch them go through this process of proficiency.

Interviewer:

What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge?

Hiromi Edwards:

The most challenging thing is to have the students engage in the class activities. Whenever I feel students are getting bored with the class, I try to explain different aspects of the culture that may be interesting to students or have them do pair work or group work.

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to students who are interested in majoring or working in your discipline?

Hiromi Edwards:

It is important to preview the material before coming to class and to review it afterwards. 

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the college of choice for students?

Hiromi Edwards:

The number of students in a class is usually small. It is very easy to approach instructors and many of the instructors are helpful.

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the employer of choice for future faculty members?

Hiromi Edwards:

The school offers good workshops, and the pay isn’t bad.

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to new faculty who are interested in teaching in your discipline at UMUC?

Hiromi Edwards:

Be flexible when working with the schedules of the military students.