Confusion. Lack of Clarity. We don't expect these from subject matter experts. We expect our professors to know it all about whatever domain it is that they study. Yet, the fact is the more you know about a subject, the more you know you don't know, too. But we don't often hear academicians admitting that, at least not in front of the students.
That's one of the things I love most about the field of adult education. Our professors don't teach; they facilitate learning. They enter the classroom as fellow learners, not know-it-alls. To be sure, they are master learners whose guesses are a lot more educated than ours; yet they welcome contributions from us students; and we work together to figure out whatever it is that we are studying. Occasionally, we teach them a thing or two; but, more importantly, in this environment, we learn from everyone--the faculty member, our fellow learners, and ourselves. That would never happen if the faculty were afraid to be confused before us.
Vulnerability. That's another word that caught my ear at this conference. Naomi Boyer, a university VP for technology and faculty development and a few other things I can't remember, noted that implementing new technology in the classroom (or trying any new teaching technique for that matter) requires a faculty member to be vulnerable, a stance not often associated with expert status. We usually associate expertise with an air of intellectual invincibility (aka know-it-all), but that need not be the case.
Yesterday, the students in my wife's Plant Speciation class--both of them--told her that this class is their favorite class of all time. Needless to say that made her feel good, but she attributed the compliment largely to the size of the class. I'm sure the low student-to-faculty ratio helps, but I'll bet it also has to do with the way she is approaching the class. Though she is an expert in that area and she could simply rely on that expertise to get her through each session, she has decided to actually approach the class as a learner. Before each class, she does the same reading the students do, then they discuss it as fellow learners. She is vulnerable before her students, and it is paying dividends in terms of enjoyment for students and teacher alike and in learning.
And speaking of vulnerability ... on to "public drunkenness" ... OK, I admit it. I put that one on here to mostly to make the title provocative enough to get you to read my thoughts. I don't advocate getting drunk with your students. I don't advocate getting drunk at all. I, personally, don't drink alcohol at all, but I love the opportunities that graduate students are afforded to socialize with their faculty members, especially at conferences like ISDLS; and I think undergrads (who are of drinking age, of course) could also benefit from occasionally "having a beer" (or non alcoholic substitute when student age or other factors limit choice of beverage) with their professors. Teaching, after all, is not primarily an interaction but a relationship. What better way to build the learning relationship than over a brew (or, my favorite, a Dew)? Heck, witnessing faculty members responsibly partaking might even help the problem of binge drinking on campuses. It cannot be any more counterproductive than passing puritanical Faculty Senate resolutions!
