Teaching
The primary aim of my teaching is to cultivate the professional critical thinking that students will need to lead fulfilling and effective careers. I was first exposed to this approach to teaching during my legal education, which prioritized learning to “think like a lawyer” over the mere memorization of facts and rules. I believe that I have a professional obligation to my students and the profession to similarly teach students to “think like a social worker”—namely, to approach ideas and facts critically, to consider individuals and contexts with empathy, to value competence and the role of research evidence, and to believe that positive change can occur when the social work profession applies these principles to advance social justice.
Because thinking on a policy level and understanding the validity of research evidence can be difficult but crucially important aspects of many social work students’ professional development, I find it helpful to begin my courses by discussing a George Bernard Shaw quote: “The only person who behaves sensibly is my tailor. He takes new measurements every time he sees me. All the rest go on with their old measurements.” I challenge all of my students--and particularly those who have been told implicitly or explicitly that they cannot be skilled in these areas due to their background or membership in historically marginalized groups--to view themselves as a tailor would and to constantly reflect on how their understandings not only of course concepts but of their professional selves change throughout our class discussions and activities. I aim to support them in this growth process through facilitated one-on-one and peer support, the use of technology and practice-grounded perspectives, and the presentation of inclusive and social justice-oriented course content.
I am confident in my capacity to support students' development in various policy and research methods courses. It is also my goal to (1) develop and build upon courses related to data science and social work, law and social work, and child welfare practice and (2) teach and mentor doctoral students to think critically in their unique roles as future builders of evidence in this field.
A more detailed statement of my teaching philosophy can be found here.
Courses Taught Independently
Spring 2022 SOWO 810: Evaluation of Social Work Interventions
Spring 2021 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fall 2021 SCWK 614: Social Welfare Policy II (Asynchronous Online)
Summer 2021 Winthrop University
Summer 2020
Spring 2020
Fall 2019
Spring 2018 SOWK 322: Social Policy Analysis (co-instructor)
University of South Carolina
Spring 2017 SOWK 778: Advanced Analysis of Social Policy, Programs, and Services (co-instructor)
University of South Carolina
Feedback from Students
"Daniel is such an amazing instructor. He always went the extra mile to ensure that students understood the content. He provided a wealth of insight, resources, and knowledge to help students digest the content... he spent hours meeting with me and supporting me in the pivot to a new project. He was always very understanding and patient and really helped me through the process. If I had to take this course again, I would definitely want to take it with Daniel."
"Daniel was very helpful and accommodating throughout the process of identifying evaluation projects, analyzing data, and presenting it. He made himself available and acted as a thought partner to help with thinking through barriers and providing feedback on how to create a compelling narrative. He made what was an initially daunting and scary task more manageable."
"Daniel made learning research--a tedious process--interesting and it is evident that research is his passion."
"Daniel is very knowledgeable and displayed a lot of patience and understanding throughout the course. He was always available and very responsive via email, phone, and during office hours. He also had appointment times available outside of his office hours via Calendly. Daniel really devoted a lot of his time to ensure that students felt confident about the information and content of the course... He made sure the material was inclusive to a diverse range of learning styles and student backgrounds... and did a really great job of connecting students to resources and information... he really is the best of the best."
"Daniel is a fair and respectful professor who understands the realities of graduate school. He readily offered accommodations and adjustments to ease the pressure of deadlines and other life stressors. He used the class time well and offered real–world examples of how the material is applied in social work practice."
"I initially came into this class with anxiety and at a deficit. I really enjoy how Daniel delivers information and how he connects it to realistic examples. He is also very encouraging and more researcher professors could learn class engagement from him."
"Daniel was an exceptional instructor. He was accommodating, patient, helpful, and knowledgeable, despite the many responsibilities he had in his life. I learned a lot from Daniel, especially in our the consultations. I never felt patronized or as if I should be ashamed for asking a question or not knowing anything during class sessions or consultations. Daniel provided excellent resources to us throughout the semester and gave as much support as was necessary... it was a joy to learn from him in the classroom."
"Daniel made himself so available to us outside of class for help with projects, explained things in such a clear way, and I just overall felt truly supported by him and like he wanted us to succeed. He managed to make a very intimidating course not intimidating at all, which I think helped me learn more."
"Even though I was dreading the course because I don't typically enjoy statistics or research methods, he helped to make the class more applicable and understandable. He was engaging and so helpful whenever we had questions or if any problems came up. Class was well–structured, but he was flexible to accommodate for problems that arose and understanding about the difficulties of navigating class completely over Zoom. He is an asset to UNC and I know that MSW students would benefit from being in his classes in the future."
"Daniel was honestly so great. He made a this beast of a course and project easier to understand and more enjoyable to complete. He was available to us if we needed him and explained tough concepts really well... I actually enjoyed completing parts of my program evaluation."
"He was so kind and helpful. We all got to meet with him individually as much as needed to ask questions about our projects, and he seemed genuinely interested and gave really specific feedback. I was worried about this class because one semester seemed really short to do an entire evaluation, but he broke it down clearly for us and paced the course content well. And he was very understanding about issues that came up due to COVID and helped us find appropriate ways to frame our questions/results during this weird time."
"I typically struggle with research/evaluation courses, but Daniel taught the content really well and I appreciated his continuous grace and patience with us as a class as we navigated through this unprecedented pandemic year."
"Daniel is very empathetic and flexible as an instructor, while still maintaining rigor in assignments. I so appreciated how communicative he was via email, especially when he would send emails throughout the week to provide details and update everyone in assignments, etc. He also quickly responded to emails that I sent him, which was invaluable to me during such a busy last semester. His feedback on the worksheets were so helpful to me and I appreciate that he took time to write so many comments on each assignment."
"Daniel did a great job of explaining concepts in different ways to accommodate different learning styles... simply one of the best instructors I have had. He conveys the material in a way that is approachable and provides individual help on a regular basis."