Learning Through Risk, Experience, and Connection: Gerard Hoefling’s Approach to Teaching at GBC

At Goldey-Beacom College, education is not just about earning a grade or completing a degree. It is about helping students build confidence, gain real-world perspective, and learn how to navigate challenges with curiosity and resilience. For Gerard Hoefling, that philosophy is at the center of his work as a faculty member at GBC.

Hoefling brings a wide range of life and professional experience to the classroom. His own path into higher education was anything but traditional. After leaving Penn State during his senior year, he worked in human services and nontraditional educational settings, including Job Corps. Those experiences sparked his interest in psychology and eventually led him back to complete his undergraduate degree. From there, he went on to doctoral study and built a faculty career that included time at Penn State, the University of the Sciences, Drexel University, and the University of Delaware before arriving at Goldey-Beacom College.

That unplanned journey has shaped the way Hoefling relates to students. He understands that career paths are rarely linear, and he encourages students to remain open to opportunities they may not have expected. For him, college is not only a place to prepare for a specific job. It is a place to discover strengths, test assumptions, ask questions, and learn from experiences that may push students beyond their comfort zones.

Dr. Gerard Hoefling speaking on 2026 Commencement

At GBC, Hoefling has found an environment that supports that kind of learning. He values the College’s close-knit community, where faculty and students can build meaningful relationships over time. Smaller class sizes allow him to know students as individuals, sometimes teaching them across multiple courses and seeing their growth unfold from semester to semester.

That connection matters. It allows faculty to challenge students while also supporting them. It creates room for conversation, collaboration, and experimentation. For Hoefling, those qualities are part of what makes GBC distinctive.

His approach to teaching reflects a willingness to rethink traditional classroom methods. While tests and papers still have their place, Hoefling has explored creative ways for students to demonstrate what they know. In one senior seminar, after students repeatedly discussed the stigma surrounding mental health, he changed the direction of the course and asked them to create children’s picture books that explained mental health topics to younger audiences. The assignment challenged students to understand complex ideas deeply enough to communicate them clearly, compassionately, and accessibly.

The result reinforced one of Hoefling’s core beliefs: meaningful learning often happens when students are asked to take risks.

You’re not going to have a real college education if you don’t take chances. You can have a 4.0 and not get a college education because you played it safe.

Dr. Gerard Hoefling, Faculty

That perspective is informed not only by his academic career, but also by his life outside the classroom. A lifelong surfer and sailor, Hoefling has learned firsthand the importance of humility, awareness, and staying calm in uncertain conditions. Those experiences have taught him that fear does not have to be the thing that stops a person from moving forward.

He also took up guitar during the pandemic, an experience he describes with humor and honesty. He does not claim to be great at it, but that is part of the point. Learning something new as an adult has reminded him that growth does not require perfection. Sometimes, the value is in the effort, the progress, and the willingness to keep going. That mindset carries directly into his advice for students.

Hoefling encourages students to see failure differently. A disappointing grade, a difficult assignment, or an uncomfortable learning experience should not be treated as proof that a student is incapable. Instead, it can be information. What worked? What did not? What could be done differently next time?

When students succeed, he wants them to ask why. When they struggle, he wants them to ask why then, too. Both outcomes offer lessons.

He also emphasizes the importance of collaboration. In his view, students are not meant to move through college alone. Each person brings a different perspective to a class discussion, lecture, assignment, or project. When students work together, compare what they noticed, and explain ideas to one another, they deepen their understanding.

That belief connects closely with GBC’s emphasis on practical, career-focused education. Experiential learning, field experience, applied projects, and internships give students opportunities to move beyond theory and begin understanding how their education connects to the world of work. For Hoefling, those experiences can be transformative. They help students build confidence, clarify their goals, and learn what kind of professional environments fit them best.

Ultimately, Hoefling’s contribution to GBC is not only what he teaches, but how he teaches. He brings humor, honesty, creativity, and perspective into the classroom. He encourages students to take ownership of their education, to be willing to struggle, and to see learning as an active process rather than something handed to them. His advice is simple, but lasting: do not let fear of failure keep you from learning.

At Goldey-Beacom College, students are supported by faculty like Hoefling who understand that growth takes practice, courage, and community. Through his teaching, mentorship, and life experience, he helps students build the confidence to take the next step — in the classroom, in their careers, and beyond.