David Zinger:  At Play in the Classroom
	Mitch Bourbonnière: Reciprocity in the Classroom
	Anne Poonwassie: Teaching Moment by Moment

David Zinger:  At Play in the Classroom

When asked what he’d most like to be remembered for as a teacher, Zinger doesn’t hesitate: “that I loved to play.  If you get adults to be playful with ideas and approaches, you tap into who that person really is and learning becomes easier.”

David Zinger was one of eleven instructors who were recognized by Extended Education at the University of Manitoba in June of 2008, for their commitment to students.  So it’s no surprise that Zinger, who has taught at the University of Manitoba for over 25 years, loves teaching.  Zinger has a Masters degree in Educational Psychology; his thesis was on the use of humour in counseling.  He relies on his counseling background to guide him, no matter whom or what he’s teaching.  As a private consultant, his business takes him from university classrooms to uranium mines to teach.
 “A good teacher should always be learning something new themselves”, says Zinger, who recently completed a course on improvisation in Calgary, in spite of having no experience as an actor or performer.  The best way to learn something is to teach it, he claims. For him, the excitement in teaching or learning is generated when teacher and learner take risks.

Then there is the personal and professional satisfaction Zinger finds in teaching adults - from the strong relationships he develops within the brief time of a course, to watching learners connect with the subject they’re studying and their surprise at finding what they’re capable of doing.
As the instructor, but like a good host, he extends a strong invitation to learn in the classroom and decries learning that is imposed on students.  “My classrooms are communities. The power of what students contribute in the classroom is incredibly rich. “He calls it an unanticipated gift to him as well as to the class. 

Zinger didn’t always view teaching this way. When he started out he didn’t trust that learners could do what he hoped they would.  Now he sets the stage and watches a community of learners grow, and is still surprised at what they are capable of doing.  “I never know exactly how a course will go,” says Zinger.  He plans a rough organization of it but looks for what can happen, while being responsive to participants. To facilitate his vision of learning, he creates a safe environment in the first class and often uses humour to set the tone of the class. Whatever he’s currently learning and reading about will often influence his direction in a course.

Zinger knows his strengths as a teacher: “Empathy, respect, humour and playfulness characterize my teaching.” Today he approaches his teaching with a “spirit of improvisation”, while trusting that things will unfold as they should. 

David Zinger teaches a variety of courses in the Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education Program (CACE). You can find out more about David at his website: www.davidzinger.com

Mitch Bourbonnière: Reciprocity in the Classroom

Mitch Bourbonnière recognizes brilliance in others. He’ll brag about his colleagues and doesn’t hesitate to acknowledge any “superstar” student who outshines him. Some of his students end up as his colleagues. “They appreciate what I’ve given them and they want to give back.” Borbonnière hopes his students remember him for how he made them feel, not for what he said – “a good person to deal with.”

Bourbonnière says he’s learning all the time. “Teaching keeps me on the cutting edge of my profession.” Seeing individuals flourish and blossom into their full potential is very rewarding admits Bourbonnière, who is also motivated to use his teaching to give back to his profession.
Spend a few minutes in his company and it’s obvious that Bourbonnière genuinely likes people. Meeting new people, making friends and establishing relationships keeps him energized. “Learning can be fun”, claims Bourbonnière. Calling himself a closet stand-up comedian, he admits he slips material into his teaching that confirms he’s a bit of a ham.

But don’t let the humour fool you- he is very serious about his teaching. “Nothing stops me”, says Bourbonnière. His goal is to produce top-notch counsellors. “I want to make sure graduates of the programs I teach in, will be ready and more than able to help their future counselling clients.”
Bourbonnière’s high energy level is not only reserved for his teaching. Currently he works half-time as a social worker for four schools in the Louis Riel School Division plus contracts as a consultant and resource person for Urban Circle Training, Rossbrook House, Métis Child and Family Services, the Gang Prevention Spotlight Program and Blue Cross. Oh, and he also teaches in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba and presents workshops to Aboriginal groups as far away as Nunavut and Wisconsin. This is one busy guy!

With so much going on, you might expect him to slow down in the classroom. Not so. Bourbonnière admits he’s competitive, a quality that drives him to find a way to “make it work” even with the most difficult students, who, he says, always teach him something. While he “sees the good in everybody”, Boubonnière expects full participation and attention from his students. In the classroom, he establishes a respectful environment for learning from the start. He admits he makes mistakes but he also takes risks in teaching.  “My students have taught me to be a better teacher”. While Bourbonnière expects a lot from his students, he reciprocates. “I give my all to my students. They get all of me for the time I’m with them.”

Since he started teaching in 1995, Bourbonniere has been a valued instructor in Extended Education’s Aboriginal Focus, Applied Counselling and Case Management Programs. So it’s no surprise that he was recognized by Extended Education in the summer of 2008 for his contribution to his students over the years. “I felt very honoured and proud to be recognized. The fact that my family, my peers and community members shared in my pride, added to the excitement for me.”

Anne Poonwassie: Teaching Moment by Moment

After 27 years of teaching adults, learning still excites Anne Poonwassie.  “My responsibility, as an adult educator, is to provide an experience that will leave no doubt in their minds that they want more of such experiences. My students are usually sorry to leave the class at the end”. More than remembering her, Poonwassie would like her students to remember the experience that she facilitated for them- the safety to be themselves, to grow beyond their comfort zone and to collaborate with others in an exciting way.

Early in her career, as director of Aboriginal Programs in Continuing Education at the University of Manitoba, Poonwassie found herself having to fill in for instructors in remote communities. She also spent a lot of time observing and advising instructors.  “My best learning was from watching other people teach”. In turn, she often shares stories of situations she has herself found challenging when she thinks it will help her students make connections.  

This is an instructor who thrives on challenges in the classroom. In fact, she says, she hopes for difficult situations. If a student doesn’t fit in, for example, she sees it as an opportunity to test her skill and to model for the class that everyone has something to offer.  “When you’re challenged you’re going to learn something important.”  Poonwassie credits this way of looking at teaching to the Aboriginal viewpoint she learned in the communities where she taught, as well as to her father’s approach to life.  When something doesn’t go the way they expect, she encourages her students to examine the situation with curiosity and interest rather than simply to react.  “This creates the flexibility required of a good facilitator and makes teaching more interesting.”

For her, it’s the unexpected that creates the exciting moments. “Teaching is a series of moments. I try to recognize the important moment when it comes and take what I can from it to facilitate a learning experience.”  She recounts how a student called her out of the blue about five years after completing a course to tell her how her personal and professional life had changed because of specific comments Poonwassie shared in class about evaluations. Hearing this from the student made her pay more attention to facilitating empowering moments and helping students process those moments.

When Poonwassie was recognized by Extended Education at the University of Manitoba, in June of 2008, for her commitment to students, it validated the care and passion she brings to her teaching.  “Adult education is a two-way process”, she says, “I get as much out of it as the students do. When you teach something you really get to own it.”

Anne Poonwassie currently teaches Facilitating Adult Learning in the Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) Program.