A new faculty member sat in the faculty lunch room listening to two seasoned senior faculty members (both of whom enjoyed reputations as very entertaining lecturers) lamenting the good old days. They spoke fondly of the personality quirks of now retired professors, describing in humorous and wistful ways how the life of the university was weakened by the relentless conformity of our current stage of history.
“Ah,” one finally sighed, leaning back in his chair, “the trouble with us all today is that we have no real characters teaching on this campus.” The new faculty member could barely suppress his laughter at this conversation: One of the senior faculty members was wearing a kilt (he enjoyed playing the bagpipes at the end of the day on Fridays) and the other was wearing a bathrobe (having just completed a swim at the university pool). “No real characters, eh?,” he thought.
Academic novels are rarely at a loss for such real characters, for they are the stuff from which undergraduate memories are made. In many cases, such quirky professors are marvels in the classroom. I could spend the better part of a day describing some of the teachers I had during my freshman year alone; I am keenly aware, however, that they shaped the thinker I am today. In fact, I often have wondered if the characters weren’t preferable to most of the “plain vanilla” faculty members whom I now barely remember.
Do you think that there might be a connection between being a character and being an excellent or inspiring teacher?
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11 Responses to Faculty Characters
oatmeal - September 30, 2009 at 4:01 pm
No there is not. There is no connection. Having said that, characters often do brighten up a place. I know characters who were excellent teachers and I know characters who were terrible teachers. I also know boring faceless people who make excellent teachers (which is surprising, perhaps). So, there is no connection.
_perplexed_ - September 30, 2009 at 4:29 pm
With oatmeal, I think there is no connection; but those characters who are excellent teachers are at the core of many sentimental and consequential moments recollected and savored by generations of graduates.
browng8 - September 30, 2009 at 4:49 pm
no
everettfrost - September 30, 2009 at 4:56 pm
No!
drj50 - September 30, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Some characters are excellent teachers — but not all are. Being unusual is no guarantee of good teaching . . . or good scholarship, or good leadership . . .
lydacher - September 30, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Perhaps teachers are “characters” because they are geeks (which I define as a person who has found a passion and embraced the sometimes odd behaviors that accompany the pursuit of passion). Too many of my students are afraid they won’t look cool if they are enthusiastic about anything. As a full-on rhetoric geek, I want my students to see what joy geekdom can bring. If that makes me a character, then so be it, but a consistent comment on my evaluations is that my level of interest in/love for the subject matter caused a student to change his/her mind about the value of the course.
itc2000 - October 1, 2009 at 8:52 am
The username “oatmeal” perhaps suggests a preference for bland? There is, of course, no necessary connection between eccentricity and good teaching, but characters are clearly more memorable than ‘ordinary.’ It’s not that ‘characters’ comprise the majority of good teachers, only that they comprise the majority of memorable ones.
11272784 - October 1, 2009 at 10:55 am
Being a character doesn’t make you a great teacher – but being a bland person with no spark and no flair for presenting can easily make you a lousy teacher. Being in a classroom is a performance, and you have to not only bring content, you have to make a performance and keep it interesting to the audience – the students.
gbrowne - October 1, 2009 at 11:32 am
You don’t need to be a character to be a great teacher. But I’d like to think that all the great characters are great teachers.
oatmeal - October 1, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Itc2000. I like oatmeal, hence the name! Thanks. Thank you for agreeing with my statements. As someone who is considered a “character” (apparently–I found this out from my students and my colleagues), I was poking fun at the question asked. Yes, characters are memorable, but there is no correlation between characters and good teaching. Thanks!
cathybwilcox - October 10, 2009 at 7:53 am
Since I am a character and a very good teacher, I heartily agree! Most characters (if they are like me) have very fertile imaginations, enjoy a good laugh, are performers at heart, and are not inhibited by the opinions of others. Combine those traits with an ability to teach, to break down complex ideas and explain them in multiple simpler ways, and you have a great teacher who is both informative and entertaining.