“As an instructor, you shouldn’t discriminate between your students because of anything pertaining to their beliefs or origin. All of the students should have the right to learn and interact in class without being worried about how the instructor will treat them.”

So I don’t really agree with this. Surely if someone was seriously arguing that Hitler was justified in his genocidal efforts, it would be appropriate to ask them to leave? Or how do you handle a christian saying something like “The Bible says homosexuals will burn in Hell”? Have any homosexuals in the room been emotionally attacked? Does admonishing the christian constitute an emotional attack on them? Where’s the line?

Thank you for the post!

I agree there seems to be a growing culture of victim hood and people confusing Freedom of Speech with a Right to be Heard or even a Right to not be Criticized. Not that a diversity of voices isn’t important – it is essential to the vitality and function of our democracy – but we continuing to frame the discussion in terms of victims and oppressors isn’t very productive because it perpetuates a sense of conflict.

“I feel like arguing with a child.”
“I feel like arguing with a Democrat.”
“I feel like arguing with a philosopher (or a business person).”
“I feel like arguing with a Brit.”
etc.

Do you find any of the above statements offensive? There is nothing wrong with having preferences in a world of diversity. Our distastes are going to mix as much as our preferences and its foolish to think otherwise. I think you’re right that shielding children from stereotypes would do them s a disservice. They should see the world as it is so that they may evaluate it critically.

I think we have a similar teaching style and philosophy. I believe the single most important thing I can do as a teaching is inspire students to take ownership of their own learning and nurture their confidence to do so. I also do not like to just give students the correct information. I think its a far more valuable experience for them to discover something for themselves by working together and relying on me to help them formulate good questions when they get stuck.

I agree that teachers should be co-learning along side their students but in my experience teaching has very much been a performance. I tend to exaggerate my enthusiasm and underplay my knowledge of the material when I teach. Sometimes if I ask a question and give the impression that I really don’t know the answer, students seem to feel more confident in offering their ideas. This tends to get a discussion going and then I can guide them to correctly formulate their solutions. In some ways, this is me teaching them. But I really think its my performance that makes students feel like they are part of a learning team with me as simply a more experienced investigator.

I liked what you said about conceptualizing the teacher as a fellow student. Any educational interaction should ideally benefit all parties involved and teachers certainly have plenty they of learning they can do alongside their students. I also think you’re professor was right about the importance of simply feeling comfortable. It gives you the confidence to lecture when you need to but also the willingness to let the class carry on the discussion among themselves.

Congratulations on teaching your first class as well.

I would just like to share a different story I heard for the origin/purpose of tapas. I was studying abroad in Germany and visiting Madrid for the weekend. I was on a Tapas tour and our guide told us that some time ago all the peasants would come into the city for the lunch hour. Most could only afford food or alcohol so, naturally, most drank. This was causing problems so the King made it a law that you couldn’t serve alcohol without food. And that is where the little meals come from – to stop peasants from being wasted. I have no idea if its true but its comical.

But I like your tapas analogy to learning as well. I think a variety of experiences is likely to allow some students to identify more complex patterns than a structure lecture would.

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I think it is important to assess professors but, I think your proposal has some logistical problems. First cameras would be expensive and it would be quite an investment to only use periodically. Not to mention the resistance I imagine students and instructors might have to being filmed. I think a better solution is to have dedicated teaching faculty who undergo continuous pedagogical education. The student reviews are useful as well. I also believe professors peer-evaluating their teaching is a good idea.

I can appreciate your concerns about the sedentary nature of video games, but I also think you might be blowing it slightly out of proportion. Students and professionals spend much of their time sitting in front of computers now. Surely we want to keep children active but isn’t health like 80% diet?

I’m not sure how its anymore straight forward to give bad feedback constructively through a grade? Maybe in math and the hard sciences where there are right answers and rigorous proofs of things. But pretty much any assignment is going to be assessed subjectively. Care to elaborate your point?
Is “your performance” really that different from “your grade” not being enough to pass the class? It seems like there is more room for explanation in the former.

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