Welcome to Hannah Shaw’s Digital Teaching Portfolio for University of Florida VME6814 - Principles of Teaching for Animal Shelters.

Teaching Philosophy

My transformation from kitten rescuer to humane educator wasn’t intentional at first. Nearly two decades ago, I began caring for neonatal kittens from animal shelters, and I was struck with a painful realization: no matter how hard I tried, I could never personally save them all. Even if I dedicated every waking hour to kitten care, the volume of need was simply too great. Orphaned neonatal kittens in shelters were widely euthanized at the time, and it became clear to me that the only way that could change was if more people were willing to foster them—but few people even knew this was a need, much less an opportunity. It was then that I realized if I couldn’t do it alone, I would need to engage others, and that the best way to multiply my impact was to inspire and teach.

I began creating the resources I wished I’d had when I started so that I could make it easier for others to say yes to fostering, and discovered how powerful education can be. In the years since dedicating my life to kitten-focused humane education, I have seen firsthand that education has the potential to create systemic change that extends far beyond what any individual rescuer can accomplish through direct care. Every community member, foster parent, shelter professional, or veterinary professional who accesses educational resources can help exponentially increase the number of kittens who survive in their own community, creating a ripple effect that can genuinely transform kitten welfare at scale.

I believe people learn best when they start from a place of deeply caring about the reason the issue matters, whether that means understanding the physiology behind a husbandry principle, or the purpose behind fostering at all. Before introducing the how, I always begin with the why. Adult learners, who are the target audience for this material, are much more likely to engage with information when they can understand how it is relevant to real situations they may encounter. I intentionally begin each class by helping learners understand what is at stake, and their power to make a meaningful difference. Once learners understand the purpose behind a skill, they become much more motivated to develop true understanding that positions them to apply knowledge appropriately rather than simply following, or perhaps forgetting, a set of rules.

One of the primary ways I help learners connect evidence to practice is through stories. Stories help transform abstract concepts into memorable teaching moments that connect learners emotionally with the content and demonstrate how evidence-based decisions play out in real life. I intentionally share both successes and challenges from my own experience because it helps learners understand that expertise isn’t built through perfection, but through curiosity, perseverance, and continued learning. In addition to making the content more fun and engaging, I believe stories help learners see themselves in the work and leave believing that they, too, can make a difference when faced with a similar situation.

Not everyone engages with educational content in the same way, so I rarely teach a concept in only one format. I intentionally vary my resources, creating books and audiobooks, educational posters and charts, webinars and in-person sessions, and videos that are both long and short form. My goal is to make information as accessible as possible so that learners can engage with it in the way that best fits their needs and preferences. Because foster parents need information not only during a scheduled class, but often in the middle of the night in a hurry, I strongly believe educational resources should be accessible in ways that are easy to find, revisit, and apply.

While transmitting information is essential, I don’t think it is enough without also building confidence. Many people believe they don’t have what it takes to care for fragile neonates, but I remind them that it’s scary because they haven’t done it yet—not because they can’t do it. In my classes, I teach about an ethos that I call “stubborn hope”: the belief that we should embody equal parts hopefulness that a positive outcome is possible and stubbornness to do the work required to make it true. This ethos is about taking the leap, trusting your feet to follow you, and looking back to realize that with each experience, your skills and confidence grow. I share examples of how I have actively employed this ethos in unfamiliar cases, and how I have developed my expertise simply by having the audacity to try. Confidence is as important a learning outcome as technical competence, because without the former, the latter may never come.

Although I often serve as a subject matter expert incorporating elements of the transmission style, I ultimately see my role as a coach who helps learners build the confidence to apply their knowledge independently. I believe in translating complex concepts into practical and accessible instruction. I pull from a blend of research, shelter data, expert consultation, and personal and organizational experience to develop materials that can be easily understood by members of the public from all levels of experience. While I aspire to do more than transmit information, I believe I have more capacity to grow this area of my work, and have recently become interested in incorporating more developmental and nurturing teaching styles into my materials and classes.

I have also come to recognize how my own learning preferences have shaped, and at times limited, my work as a humane educator. As a Type 4 learner, I often learn best through experience, observation, and experimentation, yet much of my teaching takes place with large audiences or with a broad range of anonymous internet learners, making it difficult to provide the kinds of one-on-one experiential learning opportunities that have been so valuable in my own learning. Because of this, I naturally gravitate toward direct instruction and storytelling, approaches that I also enjoy as a learner. I have come to realize that while these methods can be engaging, engagement is not the same as participation. I am now aiming to create more opportunities for experiential learning, discussion, reflection, formative feedback, and assessment that allow learners to actively construct knowledge for themselves. I have already begun incorporating more audience participation and hands-on experiences into my live sessions, and I am currently exploring learning management systems that will allow me to build interactive educational experiences where participants can discuss, practice, reflect on, receive feedback about, and apply concepts rather than simply consume information.

Looking back on my career in humane education, I believe my teaching philosophy aligns most closely with a social reform perspective because my goal extends beyond providing individual learners with practical skills. My intention is to empower learners to create systemic change in their own communities by equipping them with the knowledge, confidence, and skills to eventually become mentors themselves. I aim to cultivate a community of compassionate, evidence-based caregivers who not only understand the need but feel confident enough that they have the skills and ability to meet it. I want learners to leave with the knowledge, practical skills, and ethos of stubborn hope so that they can save lives in their own communities and, in turn, inspire and teach others. In this area of such intense need, I’ve watched education become a force multiplier that transformed what once felt hopeless into something filled with possibility. My goal is to facilitate learning that is both practical and inspirational, maximizing the impact I can have during my lifetime while leaving behind ripples of knowledge and empowerment that continue to spread long after I am gone.