Skip to main content

Dear Professor......It's Good You Don't Call Yourself A Teacher

     Recently, a college professor of philosophy at the University of Houston-Clear Lake published a message to his incoming freshmen about what they could expect from him when they arrive in his class this fall (see complete article here).

     He went on a virtual tirade of professional threats/promises centered around the fact that, according to him, he’s not their teacher, but their professor. Additionally, he painted a picture of K-12 education teaching and learning that is ignorant at best and arrogant at worst.

     One of his central mantras said, “It is no part of my job to make you learn. At university, learning is your job - and yours alone. My job is to lead you to the fountain of knowledge.”
     This is problematic on many fronts.

     One, the tone is not one of inspiration or of leadership, but rather an arrogant one that is condescending, intimidating and even threatening.

     Two, it really relieves him of responsibility. In what profession, could one state that the product of their job is completely reliant on the consumer, recipient or customer? I would not want my doctor to say that my healing or cure is up to me. If I ever needed a lawyer and hired one, I would hope he would not say that my defense is up to me. You get the idea. For this college professor, his product, purpose or end game should be student learning. And he has absolved himself of this responsibility completely.

     Finally, it’s completely ignorant of educational research. Maybe the college researcher needs to bone up on educational research. Most educators acknowledge a few foundational elements of learning. And although high levels of learning can occur when the students takes high degrees of ownership, learning is truly maximized, optimized and realized when students have positive interactions with both their peers and instructors. In other words, teachers are at the heart of real learning. I’m not sure where this professor learned that teaching, or for that matter learning, was not part of his professorial duties.
     He explains that his students are from one culture and he from another. He’s from academia - rich in tradition, while they are from some strange tradition-free place called real life.

    Well professor, if your attitude represents academia, then I’m happy to be associated with the students and the real world.

     I’m proud to be part of the K-12 community that has always focused on teaching and learning. Indeed, we have been challenged with many things aimed at supporting the learning of our students. These include, but are not limited to relationship building, technology integration, curriculum development, professional development and learning, peer collaboration, parent and community communication, assessment and more. And although this list paints a picture of education that is often challenging, overwhelming and even frustrating, it is at least focused on the student and what students need.

     That’s the rub professor. True education and learning approaches students as the customers and their teachers, professors, administrators or others as service providers. We are here to meet students where they are and get them, all of them, to be successful. Also professor, your students are paying you for this.

     If this professor represents the standard higher education attitude towards students (and I certainly hope that he doesn’t), then no wonder that the college graduation and success rates are so dismal. No wonder many students drop out or do not complete. No wonder so many cannot find gainful employment even upon college completion.
     If one is in the education business, students are our ultimate customers. This does not mean that we cater to them at all costs, or that we don’t use our expertise in decision-making. Indeed, it’s quite the contrary. Our role as teacher and directors of learning are irreplaceable. To learn and again maximize success, students need us, their teachers, to challenge them, support them, guide them, mentor them, listen to them, push them and lead them. They are the customers and we are the servants or educational customer representatives.

     I don’t have all the answers to our educational challenges, but telling our students that “it’s all on them” certainly cannot be the response or plan.

     Good luck next year professor. If your university surveys your students at the end of the class (and I hope they do), I would love to see the results. I can promise you one thing: I will never pay you to not teach me.
(Photos courtesy of Foter)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Evolutionary Education - 5 Things That Could Be Extinct Soon

     It has often been uttered, that “only the fittest survive.” But when it comes to education, it seems things that might not even be that fit have continued to survive. However, just like in living species through time - dinosaurs, saber tooth tigers and the wooly mammoth just to name a few - even things that have lived on for a long time eventually go extinct. So, with that in mind, it seems educational evolution is occurring too and extinction might be inevitable for a variety of standard educational pedagogy, tools and practices. HERE ARE MY FIVE THINGS THAT COULD BE EXTINCT SOON:  Textbooks/Single Source Curriculum: (this includes ebook textbooks too). Regardless of whether they are digital or not, depending on and surviving on one text as the foundational source of information and context - regardless of course, age group and purpose - seems almost prehistoric at this point. Information changes daily and resources are born every minute on line. Anyone doing serious academ

21st Century High School Student Bill of Rights

     Since I began teaching in 1990, I have repeatedly heard the term “reform” with regards to our educational system. And as someone who has always believed in and practiced teaching that worked to be real world, relevant and student-oriented, I can still get excited about the “possibilities” of real change. However, even with all of the classrooms, schools and some systems that have embraced new standards, new technology, project-based approaches, democratization/student voice and more, it’s almost appalling how little has changed in many of our nation’s high school classrooms. They are still dominated by outdated pedagogies, resources, activities and learning environments. Many still live and die by the lecture, low level note taking, and low level quizzes and assessments, as well as teacher/administrator mindsets not in line with anything related to 21st century workplaces or careers.       This lack of overall progress has lead me to be more anxious, adamant and even angry about

Lead Like A Punk Rocker

(Inspired by and dedicated to #LeadWild, David Theriault, David Culberhouse, Jon Corippo, Dr. Brad Gustafson, Tom Whitford, Ken Durham, The Ramones, Bad Religion, The Clash, X and many others.) "PUNK IS: the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions.” - Greg Graffin, Bad Religion “The thread of culture that runs through the entire history of punk is also a dedication to challenging the authoritarian.” - Greg Graffin, Bad Religion      You can’t peruse social media, even for a minute, without coming across another book, blog post or quote about LEADERSHIP. But, here I go anyway. Leadership, and leadership theory, are applicable to all industries, endeavors and human interactions. And no doubt that leadership, and our leaders, are going through major transformations as our entire global society questions traditional approaches and yearns for more meaningful and empowering ones.