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Outstanding Teacher -- Debra Harms

Debra Harms

Learning comes in a variety of forms. Sometimes it’s through a lecture. Other times, a lab experience. For Debra Harms’ students, it’s as the result of supervision in the University’s Mary Jane Rees Speech, Language and Hearing Center.

On the path to their master’s degrees, speech pathology and audiology students take part in a clinical experience where, under the supervision of faculty members like Harms, they gain experience in treating members of the community for a number of communication disorders.

Harms, this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Health and Human Services, says that it’s important for students to learn through trial and error to bring who they are to their skills of the profession rather than becoming “a mold of me.”

“I can give them wings to fly but I encourage them to fly on their own,” she says. “My goal is to give them the tools they need to venture out on their own. But I think it’s also important for them to discover what they need to focus on in therapy that will be meaningful and functional for the individual.”

It’s an approach that resonates with students.

One student who recommended Harms for the Outstanding Teaching Award wrote, “Her ability to give the proper amount of feedback to foster my growth of knowledge was unsurpassed in my experience. She provided both positive feedback and constructive criticism in a positive manner which directly and profoundly contributed to my growth as a competent and confident clinician.”

Another wrote, “She creates an environment of learning that is both nurturing and informative to the students. She has the unique gift of genuine care and compassion for not only the clients we provided service to, but the students as well. In addition to her role as clinical supervisor, Mrs. Harms provides vital information to classes of students through in-services and conferences in the field of sensory integration.”

Harms balances her teaching work at the University with a position as an early intervention speech-language pathologist working with infants and toddlers at Alta California Regional Center. She also is a clinical team member of its monthly Down syndrome clinic.

She has also worked with children and adults as a speech therapy coordinator in the neurological program at Mercy Outpatient Rehabilitation Center in Roseville and in preschool, elementary and high school special education. Before coming to Sacramento State, she taught speech pathology and audiology courses at the college level in Walla Walla, Wash.

Harms says these experiences have influenced her teaching philosophy by giving her the opportunity to work as a member of a clinical team that often includes occupational therapists, physical therapists and respiratory therapists, as well as clinical psychologists. “I emphasize to the students that they need to look at the client as a whole, not just through the lens of a speech-language pathologist.”

Harms holds a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from Loma Linda University and a master’s degree in speech and hearing sciences from Washington State University.

In addition to her clinic work, Harms has been putting in time in the front of the classroom, filling in for a colleague who is on sabbatical.

“I love what I do here at Sac State. I love seeing students succeed and seeing their enthusiasm that I saw in myself 25 years ago,” she says. “I appreciate their willingness to learn and grow. And the learning process is very reciprocal. I learn a lot from the fresh ideas and fresh approaches they bring with them.”