http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html Feed for In favor of teaching en-gb http://vitae.ac.uk 31-Jan-2010 18:19:03 http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html I agree, I think, with those comments which have emphasised a 'horses for courses' approach: some are going to be better at (and prefer) teaching, others research. Occasional lectures - which as several people have emphasised, are a great way for researchers to explore teaching - can help thrash out which works best for individuals, and the kind of balance they would like to aim for. All of this just underscores the fact that 'researcher' and 'lecturer' should have a great deal of flexibility as job descriptions... http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html Thanks Deborah that is always nice to hear! Hannah, I couldn't agree more. When I taught a class as a PhD student, I remember feeling that wonderful sense of accomplishment - especially when I could see that my students were suddenly "getting it". That feeling only seems to be duplicated when a research paper is finally in print after months or years -- and even then that is a moment of individual pride whereas teaching is more of a mutual sense of accomplishment. Lucy, I understand your point. I guess my view isn't so much one of "forcing everyone into a straight choice," but rather that transitioning into a lectureship is just a natural progression from contract researcher. For me it is like "why bake something if you are not going to eat it" or "why continue date someone if you are not going to marry them", or "why go to university if you are not going to graduate." I understand you (or many others) may not share a similar view, but that is where I am coming from. Nick, I see your point, too. But my view is grounded in the belief that if we can do research, we can teach. That if someone is "doing more harm than good" as a teacher then they are just not trying hard enough. I have a difficult time believing that there are people out there who are capable of obtaining their PhD, but can't teach. My reaction is that these individuals are being aloof and that they can and should take action to better themselves. I was once told that a bachelor's degree teaches you how to learn, that a master's degree teaches you how to do, and that a PhD degree teaches you how to teach. I really believe this. http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html An excellent article and agree almost totally, teaching is a good chunk of my job - not lecturing, but teaching and training to give them the skills to further their research. I am also a great believer in the 'teach a man to fish' principle, if I teach people to do things for themselves then ultimately I have a lot more time for my own research. My one caveat is this - some people are just not suited to teaching, yet they may make excellent researchers. In fact, these people by forcing themselves (or being forced to teach) can do more harm than good, mis-informing people or just putting them off a particular subject. These people should be kept as they are valuable to research but they should be kept far, far away from teaching. http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html I think part of the issue here is that there simply aren't the student numbers or the hours in the day for all researchers to be actively involved in teaching. Of course research should feed into teaching (& vice versa), but I don't think that means every researcher should be lecturing. I don't meet many researchers who aren't passionate about discussing their work & bringing it to the widest audience possible. I do think though that some of them would be best kept away from the students (for everyone's benefit!) I don't see what's wrong with playing to individuals' strengths and interests, rather than trying to force everyone into a straight choice between becoming a lecturer or accepting that you have no career path within the academy. Where I do agree is that the disctinctions between "lecturers" and "researchers" are often very artificial. In practice, many researchers are doing all of the things their academic colleagues are doing (research, teaching, proposals, papers, admin....) but without the status, job security or clear progression. As it happens, I have been lecturing recently, but the only students in my department are on PhD programs. It is difficult to see where teaching opportunities could come from for the majority of my colleagues. Having said all of that, if we could find some students somewhere, I think the idea of researchers presenting occasional lectures is rather nice one! http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html I'm entirely in agreement with you here, Matthew! In my current post-doc I'm not doing any teaching, which is unusual for me, and I find I really miss it. It's understandable (I'm working in France and my French is really not up to the job). But I miss the contact and I miss the feeling of achievement you can get from leading a good class or giving a good lecture. http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html A great post, Matthew, I couldn't agree more! http://vitae.ac.uk/researchers/209331/In-favor-of-teaching.html