The Other Side of the Fence
I'd written a short essay during the summer session about how easy it is to forget where you came from once you've managed to jump over the fence. Let me clarify that metaphor by relaying an anecdote.
In class, we were asked to brainstorm a list of qualifications the ideal writing teacher should have, and among those listed was "should have two to three years of teaching experience" and on the surface that seems fair enough, reasonable enough. A writing teacher probably should have experience.
Unless he doesn't have a drop, but happens to be an outstanding teacher, then he's been disqualified on a technicality. How is he supposed to gain experience if no one will give him the chance to teach?
I dealt with this when I was on the job market. It was frustrating to say the least. So, I had experience as a graduate teaching assistant, and I had experience as an adjunct, but none of that experience counted. When they say they want experience, they mean full-time experience, and breaking into full-time teaching, getting a foot in the door as it were, was not easy, but my persistence paid off and I finally broke through.
In the upcoming departmental newsletter that they are putting together now, they want to do a section about how teachers transition to being students again, and I certainly have a lot to say about that, but the number one thing is the fact that this transition was very humbling for me. In a lot of ways, I had forgotten what it was like to be a student. No, I didn't forget what it felt like to sit in those uncomfortable desks, but, for example, I did forget how big of a pinch buying textbooks can be.
My books for this term cost me $370, which is not chump change to me, especially with my current predicament of my impending progeny. I was not happy forking out the cash for books that I need to own, but that will be obsolete in one or two years as the publishers change a couple of sentences and release another edition. But, when I was teaching, I never gave the cost, the outrageous cost, of textbooks a second thought.
In an earlier post I wrote about having to adjust to being the student again and having a professor who didn't see teaching quite like I did. It took a week of giving him the benefit of the doubt before I adjusted to his teaching style, but I've gotten a little more nimble since then. This term I'm taking three courses from three different professor who have three different teaching styles, and it feels like second nature. I guess I'm settled into being the student again.
I think this experience will help me become a better teacher when I get back to work. I had forgotten a lot about being a student, what it was like on that side of the fence, and this experience gives me a point of reference so I don't forget so easily next time.
In class, we were asked to brainstorm a list of qualifications the ideal writing teacher should have, and among those listed was "should have two to three years of teaching experience" and on the surface that seems fair enough, reasonable enough. A writing teacher probably should have experience.
Unless he doesn't have a drop, but happens to be an outstanding teacher, then he's been disqualified on a technicality. How is he supposed to gain experience if no one will give him the chance to teach?
I dealt with this when I was on the job market. It was frustrating to say the least. So, I had experience as a graduate teaching assistant, and I had experience as an adjunct, but none of that experience counted. When they say they want experience, they mean full-time experience, and breaking into full-time teaching, getting a foot in the door as it were, was not easy, but my persistence paid off and I finally broke through.
In the upcoming departmental newsletter that they are putting together now, they want to do a section about how teachers transition to being students again, and I certainly have a lot to say about that, but the number one thing is the fact that this transition was very humbling for me. In a lot of ways, I had forgotten what it was like to be a student. No, I didn't forget what it felt like to sit in those uncomfortable desks, but, for example, I did forget how big of a pinch buying textbooks can be.
My books for this term cost me $370, which is not chump change to me, especially with my current predicament of my impending progeny. I was not happy forking out the cash for books that I need to own, but that will be obsolete in one or two years as the publishers change a couple of sentences and release another edition. But, when I was teaching, I never gave the cost, the outrageous cost, of textbooks a second thought.
In an earlier post I wrote about having to adjust to being the student again and having a professor who didn't see teaching quite like I did. It took a week of giving him the benefit of the doubt before I adjusted to his teaching style, but I've gotten a little more nimble since then. This term I'm taking three courses from three different professor who have three different teaching styles, and it feels like second nature. I guess I'm settled into being the student again.
I think this experience will help me become a better teacher when I get back to work. I had forgotten a lot about being a student, what it was like on that side of the fence, and this experience gives me a point of reference so I don't forget so easily next time.
posted by Jason M. Wester at 8:46 PM
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