BY: FARAHNAZ NAZARY
Staff Writer
Jean Dempsey, an English professor at STLCC-Meramec, found her passion through teaching and helping students who are native and non-native speakers. Dempsey started her career in 2011 as a part-time faculty member on the Meramec campus while she was getting her master’s degree.
She said that STLCC is a place where students from all over the world with different backgrounds and cultures get together to improve their lives, so she chose the college because of its diversity.
“I like to work with immigrants and refugee students,” said Dempsey. “In my opinion, a good instructor or professor should be compassionate and empathetic. An instructor should understand that their students are people who have their own lives and many of them have struggles that make it difficult for them to be successful, but it is important that an instructor be understanding and helpful.”
According to Dempsey, her passion for reading and writing was fostered long ago. “I became an English teacher because I was interested in reading and writing since I was a child,” she said.
Later, when she started college, she decided to major in English. Dempsey said that she thinks the best part of teaching English for her is meeting new students from different countries, cultures and backgrounds, which has helped her to inform herself about others.
In the classroom, she said she tries to utilize different methods of teaching, and one of those methods is encouraging teamwork, where she divides the students into small groups to have conversations. These conversations help them solve their problems, which builds their confidence and courage, said Dempsey.
Expanding her teaching strategies was also the focus of her sabbatical research, said Dempsey. “I want to explore new teaching strategies and create more engaging and effective learning experiences for my students,” she said.
