Teo teaches courses in the College of Education at the University of North Texas in both the Educational Psychology and Teacher Education & Administration Departments.

My course designs are informed by orientation as a critical social-constructivist. What does that mean? I assume that learning is fundamentally social (even if you’re reading a book, someone wrote that book, someone taught you to read, and you bring your prior experience and ideas to the table to make sense of that book). Perhaps most importantly, all learning happens in the context of our social and cultural worlds which include interlocking systems of oppression that shape learning opportunities for different people in different ways.

What does this mean about how I design for your learning? (1) I’ll always design around social interaction; even if some of your work starts out solo you’ll always end up working in small groups and in whole class discussions to make sense of it. (2) Learning occurs over time through apprenticeship and is reflected in changes in learners’ practice. That means that I’m as much of a learner as I learn from your perspectives and experiences as you are a learner shifting how you design for future students because of the ideas and experience I share. (3) Individuals bring unique experiences and viewpoints that must be centered in order for us to do our work together; dialogue is essential to talk across differences, value differences, and construct common understanding. (4) Learning new ideas is great, but it must be applied to transform the experiences of others in addressing injustices. I draw on these orientations and commitments in all of the courses that I teach (described below).