Teaching Philosophy

Curiosity, Empathy, and Social Innovation

Kathy H. Zhou approaches teaching as a practice of care, collaboration, and critical engagement. Grounded in critical making and speculative design frameworks, her classrooms are participatory spaces where students take initiative, share responsibility, and support one another through peer-to-peer learning and collective inquiry. Students are encouraged to become co-creators of knowledge—not just passive recipients but active contributors to a shared intellectual and creative environment.

Zhou invites students to connect personal narratives with broader cultural systems, using project-based learning, socially engaged art, and interdisciplinary methods to help them take creative risks and imagine alternative futures.

She views every problem as an invitation for exploration, dialogue, and transformation. Her pedagogy centers on empathy, ethical reflection, and critical dialogue, guiding students toward conceptually rich and socially responsive practices.

Whether facilitating workshops, organizing community collaborations, or developing classroom games like Fall of Artica, Zhou helps students grow into curious thinkers, thoughtful makers, and engaged citizens—creative individuals equipped to navigate change and shape the world with purpose.

COURSES

@University of Toronto

Co-Instruction of the course with Learning Scientist and Expert of Educational Technology, Dr. James D. Slotta, at the University of Toronto. Co-designing learning activities, leading group discussions, contributing to the community knowledge base, providing constructive feedback, and formative assistance for students.
Graduate Assistant at theplaylab.org at the University of Toronto. Assisting Learning Game design expert Dr. Paul Darvasi in his course. Facilitating in-class conversations, learning activities and games, leading group projects, and providing feedback to student work.
Graduate Assistant at theplaylab.org of the University of Toronto. Assisting the Playlab Director & Principal Investigator, Dr. Leslie Stewart Rose, in her course. Facilitating in-class conversations, learning activities and games, leading group projects, and providing feedback to student work.
Teaching Assistant for Dr. Michelle Lui, providing constructive feedback to students on their online discussions, prototypes, and design documentations. Provide game design-related methods, processes, and literature. Grading student assignments.
Graduate Assistant at theplaylab.org of the University of Toronto. Assisting the Playlab Director & Principal Investigator, Dr. Leslie Stewart Rose, in her course. Facilitating in-class conversations, learning activities and games, leading group projects, and providing feedback to student work.
Teaching Assistant for Dr. Michelle Lui, providing constructive feedback to students on their online discussions, peer reviews, and design artifacts. Provide media art and design-related methods, processes, and literature. Grading student assignments.
Co-Instruction of the course with Learning Scientist and Expert of Educational Technology, Dr. James D. Slotta at the University of Toronto. Co-designing learning activities, leading group discussions, contributing to the community knowledge base, providing constructive feedback, and formative assistance for students.

WORKSHOPS

@ Studio/Gallery/Museum

Toronto Historical Museums

Working as a Youth Mentor Artist at Print Studio in Mackenzie House, Toronto Historical Museums. Working with City of Toronto Archives, co-designing a curriculum, teaching leather work and printmaking projects, contributing to the final exhibition.
Artivition Projects (NGO)

Leading Internship Program at Artivition Projects. Mentoring undergraduate/graduate students from OCAD U, York U, TMU, Waterloo U, from new media art, technology, arts management, curatorial studies, art history, architecture, arts education.
Game-based Workshop at UTS

Co-design game-based K-12 interdisciplinary curriulum with teachers at University of Toronto Schools. Facilitate the game and artist-in-community participatory projects. Lead in-class discussions and curatorial projects.