Comments on: How “professional baggage” may be a key barrier in changing how we teach

By: Chris Buddle

Chris Buddle — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:56:16 +0000

Hi Liz- and THANKS for the comment and suggestion for digging deeper. I shall investigate further.

By: LizNeeley (@LizNeeley)

LizNeeley (@LizNeeley) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:52:46 +0000

I loved this post and am excited to read the paper. What I think you’ve captured beautifully is the importance of culture change in addition to problems of skills transfer and bandwidth. This is true in teaching, and true in science communication, outreach, and engagement more broadly.

I am excited to read the Brownell & Tanner paper. For those interested in digging deeper, I’ve found the term ‘epistemic frame’ to be really powerful in getting into that literature. It’s the idea that our communities have a shared culture of:
Skills: the things we do
Knowledge: our shared understandings
Identity: how members of the community see ourselves
Values: the beliefs we collectively hold
Epistemology: how we make decisions and justify our choices

To achieve culture change, we have to think of all those dimensions.

By: Barbara (@barbalink)

Barbara (@barbalink) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:09:49 +0000

To be fair my group of mentors were simply being honest with what would get me further for jobs and postdoc opportunities, and looking out for my best interest. But it was *very* difficult to tell them that despite their opposition I was choosing to teach the course. I felt like I had to be twice as productive to make up for the ‘wasted’ time. Absolutely no regrets though. I’m a firm believe in: Those who CAN do, also teach.

By: Chris Buddle

Chris Buddle — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:08:46 +0000

Thanks, Barbara, for the insightful comments – they resonate strongly, and your thoughts are probably aligned with many of your peers. So, a ‘culture shift’ is surely req’d, so that mentors / supervisors help enable students who wish to improve their teaching skills.

By: Barbara (@barbalink)

Barbara (@barbalink) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 14:08:28 +0000

I think this is a very important discussion to have within the academia framework – it also leads into the problems that we see today where graduate students are often not taught/fostered in skills beyond research and TT positions. Even in the best situations (i.e. no sequestering in the south and cuts to university in the north), its not feasible for each PhD to eventually have a job as a prof (TT or otherwise) – so its imperative that during their grad studies students learn a skill set appropriate for their career path.

Yet for those that *do* want to continue on to be a prof there is often little emphasis or even encouragement to hone their teaching skills. TAships are ubiquitous and a good start – but in no way prepare you for teaching a real course. I actively sought out to teach a course during my PhD despite the respectful yet strong opposition from my mentoring team. I was told several times that it would be ‘far better to get another publication’ than spend 3 months teaching. But it wasn’t just for the experience that I wanted to do it (which was great and improved my presenting skills by leaps and bounds – it was like giving a talk at a conference 3 times a week!) – I also wanted to test myself whether I would actually *enjoy* being a professor – a career path I had dedicated the last 6 years of my life.

Did this push back my research productivity, yes. Might it cost me post-doc scholarships or job possibilities due to one less paper – maybe. Do I still want to be a prof? More than ever. I discovered I love teaching as much as I love research and I’m determined to find a career in which I can do both. I still dream that my work as a conservation biologist will make a difference in this world… but if not maybe a student of mine one day will.

By: Jim Thomerson

Jim Thomerson — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:23:51 +0000

A couple more comments. At some time in the distant past, my department started including teaching experience as a necessary component for any hire.

One easy thing to do: I had a general education class that I did not enjoy. I fell into the habit of showing up a couple of minutes late. I was surprised to be roundly criticized for it in the student evaluations. About that time I read of the idea that showing up five minutes early was a good thing to do. Just sort of hang out, do a little preparation, etc. I took it up and felt that it made a real difference in class atmosphere.

By: Jim Thomerson

Jim Thomerson — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:24:02 +0000

I have always thought that if I had to spend a lot of time teaching, I would like to be successful at it. I have tried various things some of which worked and some of which didn’t. I think a fair number of places have become concerned about retention; having more students actually graduate. So there is some emphasis on improving teaching. One colleague we hired about 15 years ago had had a teaching post doc. I see students as part of my legacy, perhaps more important than publications or grants I have had.