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Author Topic: End of semester celebrations...  (Read 12787 times)

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wombat

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End of semester celebrations...
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2003, 07:33:46 pm »
Quote from: "slink"
Well, if you don't teach well, you get fired.


Um, where does THIS happen?  Things must be really different across the pond there.
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slink

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« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2003, 07:39:05 pm »
Quote from: "wombat"

Um, where does THIS happen?  Things must be really different across the pond there.


It's been known to happen. I mean really bad teaching obviously. You know, not bothering to learn anything to teach, not turning up. Being a really bad teacher.
And it's more in the circle of academia - lecturers and whatnot. There have been lecturers at Edinburgh University who have been either, 'let go' or persuaded to leave on amicable terms because they were considered sub standard. Remembering Edinburgh is often listed third after Oxford and Cambridge.
And yet they'll employ me!
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V-Adore

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End of semester celebrations...
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2003, 08:08:55 pm »
Quote from: "wombat"
RESIST, V-ADORE.  THERE IS LIFE WITHOUT SEMESTERS!

Seriously, are you sure about this? The thought of an entirely different paradigm confuses and frightens me.

(For the record: my mother is an elementary-school teacher, and my is just resuming teaching after a long hiatus involving working in college Residence Life offices and getting a Ph.D. I honestly suspect I'm the equivalent of Bubble Boy when it comes to this stuff.)
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andalucia

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End of semester celebrations...
« Reply #18 on: November 25, 2003, 09:52:34 pm »
Gar.  My semester ends at in mid-January.  I am perplexed.
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wombat

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« Reply #19 on: November 25, 2003, 11:51:07 pm »
Quote from: "slink"
Quote from: "wombat"

Um, where does THIS happen?  Things must be really different across the pond there.


It's been known to happen. I mean really bad teaching obviously. You know, not bothering to learn anything to teach, not turning up. Being a really bad teacher.
And it's more in the circle of academia - lecturers and whatnot.


In ten years in academia in this country (not even counting the five in grad school) I never saw bad teaching affect anyone's career.  Whereas I did see good teachers with bad research records fail to get and/or keep jobs.  If you literally never showed up physically for class you could lose your job, but as long as you're there it doesn't matter what you do.
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wombat

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« Reply #20 on: November 25, 2003, 11:59:46 pm »
Quote from: "V-Adore"
Quote from: "wombat"
RESIST, V-ADORE.  THERE IS LIFE WITHOUT SEMESTERS!

Seriously, are you sure about this? The thought of an entirely different paradigm confuses and frightens me.


Please don't go into teaching just because you can't think of anything else to do.  Especially the whole getting a PhD and an academic job thing.  It's not the nice life it used to be - which your professors, at least those who got their jobs a long time ago, may not realize when they advise you.  Try to think of at least one other thing that you could seriously imagine doing with your life, and make sure you are really making a choice, not following the path of least resistance.

Whoa, sorry.  Guess the undergraduate advisor in me isn't quite dead yet.  Down, girl!
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If you're going to change your life then you have to change it every day, not just the days the world isn't taking a shit on you. -Doc

sjlimmer

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« Reply #21 on: November 26, 2003, 12:22:48 am »
Quote from: "wombat"


Please don't go into teaching just because you can't think of anything else to do.  Especially the whole getting a PhD and an academic job thing.  It's not the nice life it used to be - which your professors, at least those who got their jobs a long time ago, may not realize when they advise you.  Try to think of at least one other thing that you could seriously imagine doing with your life, and make sure you are really making a choice, not following the path of least resistance.

Whoa, sorry.  Guess the undergraduate advisor in me isn't quite dead yet.  Down, girl!


For the first few years of grad school, I swore that there was no way I'd ever become a professor.  But, slowly, my advisor may be talking me into it.  I still think a national lab sounds better, but since I'm only interested in pure research (applications?  Pshaw!)  there is no place for me in industry. This leaves remaining in academia as one of the very few options.  Maybe it's different (better?) in science/engineering, but if I do become a professor it's certainly not because I want to teach.

Damn, why did I ever stop selling CDs for a living?

Oh yeah, it sucked.
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wombat

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« Reply #22 on: November 26, 2003, 01:26:48 am »
Quote from: "sjlimmer"


....but if I do become a professor it's certainly not because I want to teach.



You're not the only one, this is the normal situation.  And isn't this tragic for everyone involved?

The job market may be better in your field, but make sure of this before you decide.  How old is your prof - did s/he get a first job fifteen or twenty years ago?  If so, you may be getting an unrealistically rosy picture. What happened in the academic job market to his or her grad students recently?  What's the salary differential between industry and the academic jobs you are likely to get?
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If you're going to change your life then you have to change it every day, not just the days the world isn't taking a shit on you. -Doc

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« Reply #23 on: November 26, 2003, 01:56:37 am »
Quote from: "wombat"
Quote from: "sjlimmer"


....but if I do become a professor it's certainly not because I want to teach.



You're not the only one, this is the normal situation.  And isn't this tragic for everyone involved?


Not necessarily.  I've had a number of professors in grad school who are here to do research, and being an instructor is secondary to them.  That doesn't stop many of them from being quite fine instructors, who have taught me a lot.  I've also met a minority of people who seem happy to teach, but are absolutely horrible at it.  Motivation to teach is not the sole indication of teaching ability.
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V-Adore

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« Reply #24 on: November 26, 2003, 02:19:13 am »
Quote from: "wombat"
Quote from: "V-Adore"
Quote from: "wombat"
RESIST, V-ADORE.  THERE IS LIFE WITHOUT SEMESTERS!

Seriously, are you sure about this? The thought of an entirely different paradigm confuses and frightens me.


Please don't go into teaching just because you can't think of anything else to do.  Especially the whole getting a PhD and an academic job thing.

That's entirely fair advice. Honestly, I figure I'll go for the Ph.D., but that's because I'm going into biology and apparently getting work is heinous without the full doctorate in a specialty. Aside from that... I dunno. Maybe teaching, maybe not.

So... uh... yeah.
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wombat

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« Reply #25 on: November 26, 2003, 02:25:32 am »
Quote from: "sjlimmer"
 Motivation to teach is not the sole indication of teaching ability.


Sure, and lots of people are motivated and have no talent.  But it's a pure accident that any college professors are good teachers, because they're not selected for that ability. (And in most cases not rewarded for it either - not in real terms like tenure or raises.) There seems to be something wrong with that.
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What is this, the fuckin' Algonquin Round Table or some shit?  - Nabu

If you're going to change your life then you have to change it every day, not just the days the world isn't taking a shit on you. -Doc

jay-ell

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« Reply #26 on: November 26, 2003, 02:40:11 am »
Quote from: "wombat"
Sure, and lots of people are motivated and have no talent.  But it's a pure accident that any college professors are good teachers, because they're not selected for that ability. (And in most cases not rewarded for it either - not in real terms like tenure or raises.) There seems to be something wrong with that.


That's why offices like the one in which I work exist.  It's a changing field, albeit at glacial speed.  

For the record, I'm going for my PhD in History specifically because I do want to teach.  And write books, as well, but mostly the teaching thing.  I considered teaching high school, until I realized that that isn't actually teaching so much as it is babysitting.  Plus, I don't like teenagers.  If for some reason I'm not able to get my PhD, I still plan to get my MA and teach adult ed at a community college or something.  Anything to stay out of the high schools...(shudder)
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AugustWest

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« Reply #27 on: November 26, 2003, 02:45:20 am »
I'm gonna be a cowboy when I grow up.
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andalucia

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« Reply #28 on: November 26, 2003, 02:49:41 am »
Quote from: "jldunston"
Plus, I don't like teenagers.  


Hi.
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jay-ell

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« Reply #29 on: November 26, 2003, 02:53:51 am »
Oh, andalucia, you're not a real teenager.  You know that.  Around here, you're just another one of the guys...erm...gals.  I'm talking about that 13 - 16 age range that's just impossible to deal with.  I didn't even like me when I was fourteen.  


Also, I am a jerk who doesn't think before posting.  Apologies.  
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