my teaching philosophy is rooted in inclusive teaching and learning ethos: fairness, respect, growth mindset, and support for all students.¹ in practice, i tend to model the activities in and out of my inclusive teaching and learning classroom akin to a marketplace for a unique product.

in this market, on the one hand, i, as the teacher, would appear to belong mainly to the supply side. i produce goods and render services. the core good i create is the body of knowledge that i suture and (typically) elaborate in a course syllabus. the core service i render includes my frequent adaptations and sequential delivery of this body of knowledge over several scheduled class sessions. this service also includes using properly designed grading schemes to validate the students’ efforts and the progress they make relative to the set expectations. the service could also extend beyond the classroom (or even the course periods) and may morph into providing reference letters for the students’ next steps in life (e.g., internships, job applications, or other area of progress for which they may need a statement of attestation). on the other hand, the students would appear to belong mainly to the demand side, eager to receive and help refine my goods and services.

given the supply-demand relationship in this emblematic market, i strive to tailor my teaching to the needs of the students. yet, in equilibrium and for this market to continue to function well, my supply-side must optimally intersect the students’ demand-side, and, at that sweet intersection, we must become co-creators of the outcomes we jointly desire. the specific dynamics of this apparent marketplace might vary, especially in the context of a business classroom, as one progresses from teaching the undergraduate students to teaching the graduate (masters and doctoral level) students and teaching the corporate participants in the senior executive programs.