Teaching
I spent yesterday at a “Teaching and Learning Showcase”. Basically a collection of talks and discussions
about teaching and learning in our University.
An excellent day. The two keynote speakers were National Teaching Award winners and were, of course,
wonderful to listen to. My own little presentation went fairly well, and I had some good discussions with
people afterwards.
I’ve attended a few of these things, and I’ve been reading a lot; the more I’m exposed to really great teachers, the more I realise that they’re all different. There appears to be no magic “type of person” that is a great teacher. Every one has been quite different, especially in style and personality. The only thing in common I’ve noticed so far is that they all come across as enthusiastic. They love what they do. And it carries over to the audience. I notice myself momentarily excited by anatomy, by physics, by whatever subject they were talking about. (not quite true - I’ve always been excited by physics).
This is good.
- Colin