Computer Writing and Research Lab | University of Texas at Austin

Am I a bad teacher?

Submitted by jonathanlamb on March 18, 2008 - 12:58pm

It recently occurred to me how little I consider the difference between how I imagine myself teaching an how I actually teach. I fancy myself quite an innovator in the classroom--or at least, that's what I tell people when they ask (if ever) about what I like about teaching. I talk about how I like to put unlike things together, or find unexpected analogies, or give assignments that move perpendicularly to their goals, or how I try to turn student questions back on the student, or how I create an atmosphere of healthy anxiety.

I say these things, but only infrequently do I consider that these characteristics neither belong to some explicitly stated pedagogical goals (of the sort one might expect in a teaching philosophy statement) nor hold to my actual classroom practice.

Setting aside the question of how one actually becomes innovative in the way I describe above, I wonder how one might gauge one's teaching. How much credence do we give teaching evaluations? How much should we compare ourselves with other teachers? And perhaps most importantly, how might I tell whether I'm doing this or that thing in the wrongest way possible?

Admittedly, these are naive questions, yet it's dismaying how few teachers, young and old, stop to ask them as a way of assessing their instructional practice.

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No Real Answers

Submitted by krdorsey on March 24, 2008 - 9:32pm.

I actually think that a lot of teachers DO ask themselves these questions (maybe particularly writing teachers, since there is a whole genre of writing about being a writing teacher--). But there are also panels at conferences on teaching/pedagogy, master classes for teachers, pedagogy courses, and so on. The Blogroll includes blogs which are primarily about thinking and writing about teaching (and blogging pedagogy itself is a place for that very kind of reflection).

The questions that you ask, Jon, about how we gauge teaching are attempts to get at the heart of the matter. There are as many answers to the question, "what makes a good teacher" as there are to "what makes a successful relationship" or "what makes a good parent" and "how do you know?" There are partial answers--like evaluations. The kinds of success stories like the one that Liz told in a post a few weeks ago. The progress you see in a particular student over a semester. OR the times when 20 out of 20 students turn in papers that don't answer the assignment that you gave them. Or the days when they all look at you blankly no matter how you come at the material.

None of these partial answers is totally satisfying. But teaching is not something that you can quantify. That's why it doesn't work to run educational institutions on business models. Teaching is about relationship, and we all know that isn't a clean or clear business.

I figure I'm doing ok if I keep asking the questions, and if I'm talking about teaching with other teachers, if I'm finding ways to mix things up from class to class and semester to semester, and if I am encouraging my students to speak honestly and critically about their experiences in my classes. It doesn't always keep the anxiety at bay, but it helps.

Now, enough of my hippie answer to your post. I'm going back to burning incense, beading, listening to sitar music, and hanging up my suede fringed vest.

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