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Matt Wheeler has been involved in secondary education since 2005. Since then he has taught courses in World Literature, American Literature, British Literature, and the Literature of Climate Change.
Mr. Wheeler holds a BA in English Literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara (2001) and a Masters in Teaching from Chapman University (2008). The summer of 2014 saw Mr. Wheeler earn his doctoral candidacy as a graduate student in the Mythological Studies PhD program at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where his studies focused on gaining an understanding of human experience as revealed in mythology and in the manifold links between myth, ritual, literature, art, and religious experience.
Mr. Wheeler holds a BA in English Literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara (2001) and a Masters in Teaching from Chapman University (2008). The summer of 2014 saw Mr. Wheeler earn his doctoral candidacy as a graduate student in the Mythological Studies PhD program at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where his studies focused on gaining an understanding of human experience as revealed in mythology and in the manifold links between myth, ritual, literature, art, and religious experience.
He describes his teaching philosophy as such:
My mission as a teacher is to provide a safe and optimal learning environment for my students and facilitate a learning process that will help those students become effective communicators, critical thinkers, problem solvers, socially responsible citizens, and self-directed learners.
My courses are designed to be journeys through language, literature, and the imagination. They are opportunities to engage our creative and reflective energies through the shared experience of deep reading, writing, and discussion. As I see it, the study of storytelling -- in all of its modes and manifestations -- is one of the most enlightening fields we can study in the contemporary world. The earth is made of matter and energy, but the world is made of stories and myths. The earth is a material phenomenon whereas the world is a symbolic reality that requires our interpretation.
Think of our two semesters together as a quest: there will be magical worlds to explore, opportunities to perform heroic feats, mentors and companions to help you along the way, and trials and obstacles to encounter and overcome. Fortunately, it is not a treacherous journey, fraught with dangers and littered with traps. It is a gateway to growth: an opportunity for discovery and the application of new knowledge and skills. I look forward to my journey with you.
My courses are designed to be journeys through language, literature, and the imagination. They are opportunities to engage our creative and reflective energies through the shared experience of deep reading, writing, and discussion. As I see it, the study of storytelling -- in all of its modes and manifestations -- is one of the most enlightening fields we can study in the contemporary world. The earth is made of matter and energy, but the world is made of stories and myths. The earth is a material phenomenon whereas the world is a symbolic reality that requires our interpretation.
Think of our two semesters together as a quest: there will be magical worlds to explore, opportunities to perform heroic feats, mentors and companions to help you along the way, and trials and obstacles to encounter and overcome. Fortunately, it is not a treacherous journey, fraught with dangers and littered with traps. It is a gateway to growth: an opportunity for discovery and the application of new knowledge and skills. I look forward to my journey with you.
A native son of Hermosa Beach, Mr. Wheeler resides with his two sons, Kellan and Owen, in the South Bay, where he enjoys being a baseball dad, surfing, paddle-boarding, and myriad other Englishy things.
