Professor as Student: A Gym Perspective

 Being forced to read your colleagues’ mail sounds like hell, not like fun. What would you look for?

And I asked Doreen if it was olive, safflower or canola.

 thank you for making my day!   sometimes we take ourselves too seriously.

This was a really helpful column–thank you so much for the post.  When I teach composition, I always give a first day of class assignment, where I ask students their expectations of the class, what they see as their strengths and weaknesses, and what they would like from the class.  I have an assignment at the end of the semester, where I ask what was most beneficial, what seemed like a waste of time, and what surprised them.  I’ve considered doing some sort of mid-semester short evaluative writing as well–I’ve heard of handing out index cards at midterm and asking for anonymous responses to similar questions.

This fall is the first time I’m teaching a non-comp class–I’m teaching Intro to Women & Gender Studies–and as I’m working on my syllabus, I’m curious about coming up with a similar kind of opportunity to gauge student expectations and needs.  For this first time, I’ll probably do something similar.

What a great column–most “teaching moments” happen outside the classroom, and we often don’t remember that. Thank you for the reminder.

I agree — this is a really helpful article. I teach a large mostly first year, mostly non-major intro course. I _hope_ I haven’t made these types of comments, but I probably have. This perspective makes me think. I certainly want my students to look back at their time with me and have really learned. We certainly do make assumptions about why students are taking our class. And, we (I?) may think about them in a single dimension — “Oh, you’re taking this class because you have to, not because you want to actually learn anything”). A student may well be taking the class because they “have” to, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t want to be there and don’t plan on working hard.

I’m not sure if an earlier post of mine was removed, or if I merely failed to post it properly, so this time (in case it was the former) I’ll try to make my remarks more to the point, and perhaps state my case with a friendlier tone.  In answer to the question, “ Is it our responsibility– as individual professors– to think about a student’s collective experience?,” my answer would be: not really.  

Certainly we owe it to our students to treat them with respect, but if their egos are as fragile as suggested by this article they’re going to have problems throughout life that are beyond my ability – or my responsibility – to fix.  Its my job to teach my subject material to the best of my ability.  If all of my attention and time are consumed in constantly worrying about being a counselor and psychic nursemaid, I’m not going to be very effective in my primary job.  Student success depends first and foremost on what they bring to the learning process.  As Ph.D.s we were all students, and for a longer period of time than most of our students will be. We’ve all had less than wonderful encounters with faculty, that while upsetting or even humiliating, didn’t cause us to pack up and go home.  When counseling an advisee that has had such an experience I emphasize that faculty are human and as such are not perfect, that we sometimes are subject to “bad days,” etc.   Today’s students need help in developing perspective and a degree of mental toughness.  

Excessive worrying about  whether my every move might be offensive or off-putting to the point of encouraging a student to fail is, IMHO, just another manifestation of one of today’s major educational fallacies: that student success or failure is almost totally dependent on what the faculty do or don’t do, which implies that student attitudes, attributes, and actions are all but irrelevant.

One final point: anyone who has endured military boot camp knows that it is certainly possible to learn in an environment that is anything but ego-friendly. I certainly wouldn’t advocate screaming at college students while using expletives and questioning their parentage and I.Q level as a new teaching technique, but the fact that it works, in an arena where learning your job has potential life and death consequences, is a pretty strong indicator that young people will not universally crumble at the slightest offense.

Perhaps your experience with trainers has more to do with the narcissicism that seems endemic to their interests, in an enterprise where the easily visible accounts for “excellence.” I suspect you might have gotten similar snarky comments from beauty consultants, or any others who dote on the first few millimeters of physical appearance. Ironic the ire one engenders when even suggesting that not everybody is equally intelligent.

And yes, I certainly agree that being an (observant) student teaches one about teaching. Just as trying to teach something is a valuable revelation to someone trying to learn. I tell my students that if they really want to penetrate the subject matter, try to teach it to each other.

Superb column, Bill. 

If I can quibble, I would expand your list of protected classes to nationality, sexual orientation,  religion, and veteran status.  Some teachers believe that homosexuals or certain ethnic groups are smarter–think of Horowitz’s supremely ignorant and prejudiced statement about only gay and Jewish pianists making great pianists.  The bigot totally failed to see Asian pianists (and Asian musicians in general) oftentimes winning and placing in such classical music competitions. 

Your point about boot camp is a good one.  And while mental toughness will help a student or military recruit overcome obstacles, what matters most is simply desire.  Do they want it bad enough?  Desire is what gets us where we want to be.  The author’s real strength was her desire – and why she saw past at least 7 different trainers.  How to put that kind of desire into students is the more fundamental question we have to answer.  Student responsibility must take over at some point.

I’ve always said that anyone who eats in a restaurant should first work in a restaurant.  You would treat the staff so much better.  If we are students, we appreciate their point of view.  Maybe if we had our students do more teaching they would also appreciate what goes into it more. 
 
May I quibble with the Trainer #6 point?  The way he responded to you is rude, but as you said, in the larger context of multiple customers being late over time, I can understand his response.  How many of us have set aside time for students who never showed up or showed up late and expected us to meet with them anyway because they are paying for their education (our salary.)  How many students show up late to class and then are upset that we won’t go over the points they missed before they got there.  I’m sure many students, like you, have a legitimate reason to be late (but many of them don’t).  However, it’s not as easy as you might think just to turn a 30 minute appointment into a 15 minute appointment.  And when it’s happened over and over again, not with you but with multiple individuals (as you said it’s the collective experience), I can understand (though not necessarily condone) his response.

I was fortunate enough to have exactly the opposite experience. When starting on a winter term course on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages I was fortunate enough to enroll in a beginning yoga class here in Middlebury, Vermont. The instructor modeled many of the characteristics and skills that I hoped to instill in my student teachers. The affect in the class was serious, yet light at the same time. The space was well-prepared before the class began. The techniques, which were new for everyone, were introduced thoughtfully and carefully. There was great balance between group and individual instruction. People were challenged to a level that they were comfortable with. There were a variety of classroom activities to keep people’s attention. The progression of activities was carefully thought out. As the course progressed from week to week, we built on knowledge and skills we had attained earlier. And above all, every student was treated with respect, kindness, and genuine interest. So perhaps there are positive models we can find as well?

I’m pretty sure it’s not OK to shorten “Billie” to “Bill,” when that person has made it pretty clear that she’s a middle-aged woman.  But I guess this is another wonderful example of the way we make assumptions without looking closer, isn’t it?

Au contraire: if someone paid you for a half-hour of your time, and showed up 15 minutes late, would you not give them the remaining 15 minutes to do whatever you could for them?  If not, how can you call yourself a professional? 

When I was tutoring, this issue came up often enough; I would only sometimes allow them to “run over” (depending, mostly, on whether I liked the kid in question), but it never occurred to me to not give them their paid-for time.

MAYBE you could be excused for not going to lengths to make up for lost time, on the grounds that you want to give the tardy person motivation to show up on time next time.  But refusing to work half the paid-for time because only half remains is not only unprofessional, it’s probably also criminal (fraud, most likely).

I think you might be missing the point. Billie is writing about thinking of things from the students’ point of view and considering how off-putting it would be to the student if a professor were to treat the student the way the trainer treated her. She’s inviting professors to be empathetic and not so self important.

Many thanks for this set of reminders (or maybe new ideas). I will share with column with new faculty and think about myself as well.

But of course.

My single, biggest complaint about my professors as a “returning adult” is they don’t respond to emails.  If I’m lucky they might respond within a few days generally just in time for the information I needed to be too late.  But mostly they don’t respond at all.  This frustrates me as a professional in my own field where I respond to emails as quickly as I can, even from home.  The customers won’t tolerate being ignored and vendors need answers quickly to get the job done.  As a college student, I am the customer.  Without me and everyone like me the college doesn’t make money and won’t need professors.  That’s part of the job and it absolutely needs to be taken as seriously as any other aspect of teaching. 

Yes, exactly. Stick to the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid. It’s a contract.

The “student as customer” analogy is not particularly appropriate for educational enterprises, even though we hear this so often. It’s a favorite bromide of academic administrators . . .

When you have an appointment with a physician, “you’re the customer.” However, you don’t diagnose, prescribe, nor outline the prognosis, do you? Why not assume some of the same job requirements and conditions for academic “doctors?” If your teacher broke away from all the things the job requires outside the classroom to compulsively answer every email upon receipt, perhaps s/he might be engaged in serving all h/er students-rather than several individuals . . . (I certainly agree, it sounds like you haven’t been afforded ordinary courtesy here. Failing to answer at all is absolutely deplorable.)

But the point about “clients” or “customers” in education is specious. Education is not a JIT (Just In Time) assembly line process, as in making widgets. Answering emails is indeed ” . . . part of the job.” Emphasize “part.” However, many students’ questions and problems don’t constitute emergencies-regardless of students’ perceptions of such. The key is ” . . . on a timely basis.” I’ve had students ask me at 11 AM whether I’ve read their email sent that morning. “No, I don’t answer emails prior to breakfast, and I just commuted more than an hour, had an ad hoc early meeting with a student, prepared materials for a class, and taught from 9AM to 11AM this morning!”

It is about timeliness. Likely, there is no exam at every class meeting, only a midterm, a final. A paper due during the semester. There are simply not thousands of parts working in conjunction with each other, as on an assembly line-there is time to learn. (By the way, I’ve worked in that JIT scenario and appreciate your comments about vendors, et al).

Ask yourself this question: prior to the availability of email, what would your recourse have been? Yes, going to an office hour . . . It wouldn’t be the end of the world if this were the only recourse. It’s just not a factory . . .  Also this: does your physician answer your emails? I wish. (I do have a few progressive physicians who actually will take brief email questions!)

Your experience is obviously real and your impression valid. Nothing excuses being condescending or offensive. Yet consider the other side of your question using the lens of the trainer or that of your students.

Have you ever had a student that wanted to dig into higher level content before mastering the
fundamentals? How did you handle that?

Ever have a student that doesn’t want to heed your warnings about lab safety? Ever coach a sport and have to reprimand a player for not using proper technique to avoid injury?

But the main point I got from your article is you’ve equated trainer with teacher/educator.

One can provide guidance without putting the client or student down.
 
When I teach young people painting and they insist that their lack of technical skill is a bonus, I ask them why they think that. Most think abstract artists started with abstract art and that is all that they have ever done. I like to show them the art that Pablo Picasso did for years before he ever began abstractions; he first mastered the skill of realism with such amazing accuracy, one would rarely guess that it was indeed a Picasso being viewed.

I also teach/coach tennis, skiing, and swimming. It has always been sufficient to illustrate how poor techniques leads to injury– and what the specific injuries are, to effect change. There has never been a need (nor inclination) to be rude. Most are extremely grateful!

Let’s not.  What’s worse, Horowitz bigoted statement was usually quoted as if it were a witticism, quoted without the condemnation it deserved.  Those writers (unintentionally?) advanced Vlady’s bigotry. People need to speak out when they see injustice.

What’s the big deal?  if I refer to a female thespian as an actor, even if she self-describes as an actress, am I commiting a faux pas?  You’re being way too precious.

This is interesting, I thought a personal trainer is that guy I pay 60 quid per hour to tell me “up down up down one two three” and then just try to sell me more of that! Unfortunately it looks like anyone can be a trainer nowadays, and the quality is really scarce compared to price.