March 12, 2005
Cynicism in the Pedablogosphere
Most of the edublogs I’ve come across are engaging, insightful, and… down-right horrifying. While the blogs maintained by professors and teachers who disclose their identity can deliver a harsh dose of teaching reality, the write-ups by anonymous professors are far more honest. And scathing. And entirely intimidating. --Kate Cielinski
I'm Kate's English advisor and she's getting ready to graduate from Seton Hill. She's one of those great students who is so far ahead of the game she finished up all her requirements early and has been taking independent studies with me on film criticism and cultural studies as she prepares to head off to a Master's program in theory (already accepted by Carnegie-Mellon; still waiting to hear from others). Kate's been tutoring in our writing center for several years and, naturally, she's eager to get settled into a college-level teaching job.
As part of her independent studies, she maintains a reading blog with some pretty sophisticated work in literary criticism -- but her most recent post makes a fascinating observation about the level of skepticism and negativity about the teaching profession in the pedablogosphere. I'm posting this because I think it's a great point, and I want to encourage you to read her full post and drop her a warm comment, share a personal experience, or give her some hardnosed advice. Hearing from other teachers might show her (and other students in her shoes) one of the more positive elements of the blogosphere and the profession.
"Academics are notoriously cynical," I told her in reply. It's certainly true that not everything about our profession is roses, and future teachers need to be aware of that. There is a pragmatic side to the teacher's life that some primary and secondary education students (not Kate) haven't seen yet through their rosy optimism and big dreams about being a teacher. Bubbles will always be burst by the Truth. But we have to be careful, I think, in the way we frame the profession to the incoming professoriate. I think the pros, ultimately, outweigh the cons -- but sometimes in the daily grind we get pessimistic. But one thing to remember is that we are always teaching -- even when we're not in the classroom -- and our influence on the future is sometimes greatest when we're talking "off stage". Cynicism is contagious. And when the pessmism leaks out in public, it educates other new educators in the process, often when we're unaware of it.
I'm certain that once Kate engages in the scholarship of teaching as a practicing teacher, she'll encounter the optimism that rages when a bunch of teachers are in a seminar talking about a new teaching strategy or collaborating for a team-taught course. The excitement sparks among graduate students in teacher training sessions and the joys of teaching have to be experienced to be understood. But as an outsider perched on the edge of a diving board way up high from the professional pool, ready to jump into the fray, it must look pretty dark down here sometimes to the future educators.
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Comments
"she'll encounter the optimism that rages when a bunch of teachers are in a seminar talking about a new teaching strategy or collaborating for a team-taught course"
Or not. I was head TA for a pair of team-taught courses, and of course all the physics ed research says it works better, but then scientists don't usually report negative results, they toss them in the trash and do someting else to avoid taking a hit to the funding. Later on I found out that the current chairman viewed it basically as an attempt by the previous chair to CMA while he ran off to this committee meeting or that conference or ...
Oh, and what happens when the good prof is always gone and the other prof is the worst on the planet?
I'm impressed by the response to my call to post on Kate's blog. Thanks everyone...I know she's taking it all to heart.
Thanks, too, for the feedback here. Clearly, some pessimism is justified. We're only human.
I was thinking about agm's post about team-teaching and how that gets abused. Another obstacle to team-teaching is the use of the credit hour to measure courseload... I know a number of faculty who team-teach voluntarily, who do it as an overload at half-pay. That's committment! It's too bad institutions can solve the dilemma of measuring how you renumerate team teaching.
Michael,
Your blog just saved my disillusionment from becoming utter disappointment. After reading Cheeky Prof and Et Al, I thought the undisguised hate just couldn't get any worse. But your blog makes it clear that the world of academia can get much, much BETTER. I have linked to you on my blog and posted a quote from this article. Pessimissm is not realism, it is pure poison. What I would like to say to you is: Don't stop what you're doing. It's like water in a dry desert.
Bio: I'm a senior at Oklahoma University double majoring in German and English. I am going to Germany and Switzerland this summer to study and then returning for the fall to start my TA position with the German department, while completing my last semester as an undergraduate. My graduate studies start Spring 2006. I look forward to teaching with all enthusiasm
I will say that reading the poison is "toughening", though I really wonder if it's worth it. After all, if someone swallows something from a bottle marked "poison", it's almost sure to disagree with one, sooner or later...
Wow, that comment is well said.
Actually, this is also very evident in the teacher credential program, especially those that integrate primary and secondary teachers. The primary teachers are very optimistic and "gamey". The secondary teachers look like they have gone through a war. We understand reality a little better. At least, that was my experience. Primary teachers were mostly cheerful and always seemed to be annoyed when secondary student teachers seemed a little dark.
Now we now :)