Denise Horoky

Professional Biography

An experienced educator and member of the Teaching and Learning team, I am a lifelong student of andragogy and the research of Malcolm Knowles and Peter Jarvis. My dedication to student success incorporates teaching transferable skills and fostering critical thinking. My teaching is deeply rooted in critical pedagogy, as evidenced in the research of Paulo Freire, Henry A. Giroux, Peter McLaren, and bell hooks. Recognizing my privileged positionality within the academy, I work diligently to understand, and integrate into my teaching, the concepts of Indigenous ways of knowing, decolonization, Indigenization, and reconciliation. This personal call-to-action and attention to culturally sensitive pedagogy is guided by the work of Jan Hare, Margaret Kovach, Jo-Ann Archibald, Shawn Wilson, and Marie Battiste. Currently, I am integrating Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw’s intersectionality framework into my teaching. Keenly interested in the theory and practice of anti-oppressive research, I also co-chair Western Libraries’ Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Subcommittee.

Education

• BA Honours, Western University
• BEd, University of Windsor
• MLIS, Western University

Teaching Philosophy

“When everyone in the classroom, teacher and students, recognizes that they are responsible for creating a learning community together, learning is at its most meaningful and useful.”
― bell hooks, Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom