Instructor Profile

I began teaching in the BC Communication Department in August 1995. I will retire in May 2032. While I've struggled to learn how to teach post-pandemic students, my ADHD and Dyslexia have helped me adapt quickly and make necessary changes to remediate the learning gaps faced by each new post-Pandemic cohort. 

Teaching Philosophy, Helen Acosta, 
Professor of Communication, Bakersfield College

April 2025

Over the years, my teaching philosophy has changed with the changing demographics in my classes.  In our post-pandemic world, my philosophy and praxis have had to be far more agile than in the past. Each new post-pandemic cohort has different learning gaps that I must quickly learn to address. 

Ironically, in a world asking graduates to become increasingly agile and prepared to shift careers 5-9 times in their lifetimes, post-pandemic students tend to be far more linear in their approach to their work.  They often lack the skill to independently work through processes. These students face an uphill battle as employers expect them to be increasingly adept at grasping new ideas and finding their way through new processes. Since the turn of the century, in study after study of what employers want from both high school and college graduates, employers lament the absence of: “perseverance”, “work ethic”, “determination”, “following instructions”, “knowing how to work and getting things done” and, of course, as always, the lack of the basic communication skills that we have always taught in our Communication courses. As a result, I work to help my students break out of their post-pandemic rigidity and find their way to independent learning. 

In the last 20 years, my class structures have continuously evolved to help students learn how to learn new skill sets in a safe and friendly environment. Most of my teaching is experiential, and I never expect any student to exhibit skill in a performance exam that we haven’t practiced in the classroom. As students don’t know how to practice outside of class, I have spent years testing pen and paper logs and processes, had students take video of their practice sessions, created practice groups, and provided practice time in class.

My approach to supporting struggling students has changed dramatically. Post-pandemic students tend to put off their work until the last minute. For them, the last minute is the last moment I will accept an assignment rather than the posted due date. Post-pandemic students tend to shut down when they feel anxiety or fear. They are not motivated by either…which has been difficult for my Gen X mind to grasp, as we were entirely motivated by anxiety and fear. Finding new ways to motivate Gen Z is a constant challenge.

In all of my courses, I strive to help students attain “reflective competence”. The below model was created by Will Taylor, Chair, Department of Homeopathic Medicine, National College of Natural Medicine, Portland, Oregon, March 2007. This model shows the cycle that I hope to help my students experience as they move toward reflective competence.

Over the years I’ve come to understand that, in order to gain reflective competence, students don’t just race through the cycle above to reach reflective competence. Instead, along the way they:

1.  learn what they don’t know about any skill set (which may involve the uncomfortable discovery that a skill set actually exists and they have been ignorant of it throughout their lives)
2. become conscious of their own unconscious faux pas without becoming discouraged
3. accept guidance and support in gaining experience in the use of new skill sets
4. practice skills independently in order to gain proficiency
5. learn to work with peers to improve their skills 

Once students learn how to reach reflective competence they have learned how to learn any skill set. The trick for me, as an instructor, is to help them learn how to learn so that they can take what I’ve taught them in the communication classroom and apply their skills across all the new skill sets they need to master in order to succeed in a constantly shifting and dynamic world.

Public Speaking
Persuasion
Social Movements
Intercultural Communication
Performance Theory

Brief lecture segments followed by application experiences, flipped classroom prep days and active speaking days in which all students provide appreciative and supportive critiques of the speakers.