A preachy reflection on faculty commentary

     

        “I always remember my professor telling me…”

      "My professor used to say …."

These are the words that educators wish to hear. But is that what we want?  No!  Better memories for students are:

      “In that class I learned that I’m really good at …."

      “In that class I realized that …."

Because faculty usually don’t have tangible, market rooted abilities, they often try to "produce" students who share their views.  The goal can be to have students think like us.  This may seem reasonable if we ‘profess’ expertise in a discipline.  However, our expertise is a datum and the world is much more complex than we can capture.  

Why should a student care about our opinion on anything?  We should care about students’ opinions or opinions of those that don’t hold a power position in the classroom. 

Subjective assessment of student work is required for many of us. We like to call it "trained subjectivity" as we work through rubrics and past experience to critique work.  However, in trained subjectivity we must present our positionality with respect to our data.  For me as a Christian, the only sayings worth quoting are from the Bible, which presents what I believe to be the only eternal truths.  To quote the aphorisms of others is pointless.  

Of course, we can learn from great minds and those who have dedicated themselves tirelessly to our disciplines.  However, throwing out quotes from "experts" is weak exposition.  Where expert commentary is offered from the lectern, it should be two opposing opinions thereby allowing students to struggle with what they believe.  Our individual commentary is always connected with some intellectual ecology and worldview.  When we contend with various viewpoints, our inclination is to side with the greater expert, which is lazy epistemology. 

Don’t have your students quote you, don’t have them remember your opinions.  Let your role be such that they only remember their own intellectual walk.  Your vanity shouldn’t be satiated by young minds but rather confidence in the excellence of your teaching. Now, I just have to get over my own vanity and condescension…