A new voice on Leadership Turn: CandidProf
June 12, 2008 by Miki Saxon
One of the great leadership discussions today centers around teaching, but most of the talk seems to come from politicians who are prolific with visions-sans-funding, senior academics from big name institutions who do research, and parents whose kids are caught in the maelstrom.
I told a friend of mine that I thought it would be interesting to hear from someone who teaches at a “no-name” public college and he said he knew just the guy—and he did.
When we first talked this prof told me that he had students who weren’t sure whether the Earth revolved around the Sun or the Sun around the Earth. (That knowledge did not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about the future.)
So starting today and most Thursday’s I’ll be sharing posts with you from a very cool guy who has been teaching college for 20 years.
Some background: He did his undergraduate work in physics at Duke University and his graduate studies at Texas A&M University, where he switched emphasis to astrophysics. His primary research interests are in the fields of variable stars and the history of astronomy and space exploration; he’s authored almost 40 publications; these days he’s a Professor of Physics and Astronomy.
I’m calling him CandidProf, because the only way he can write really candid posts is to remain anonymous.
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Handling Unprepared College Students (part 1)
Long ago, I decided that I wanted to be a scientist. So, I went to college and studied physics. Then, I went to graduate school, where I began my studies in ultra low temperature physics before shifting my emphasis to astronomy. Eventually, I became a professor of physics and astronomy. When I was in graduate school, I thought that being a professor would be doing research and then teaching. The teaching looked easy. After all, all you need to do is to explain things that you know about, right? But, it is not that simple.
Graduate school teaches you how to study your field and do research. It does not prepare you to teach. That is something that you have to learn on your own. Most colleges and universities have some teaching resources for faculty. But, striving for teaching excellence is still largely something left to individual faculty to figure out on their own.
Teaching is a big responsibility. You are expected to impart not just knowledge, but wisdom and skills. But, teaching is also an exercise in leadership, particularly in college. You do not simply download knowledge into student brains.
In pre-college education, a great deal of schooling is to teach basic knowledge. In college, you teach what to do with that knowledge and how to acquire more. In other words, you lead them to learning. So, a good college professor needs to have at least some leadership skills.
But leadership also requires followers. You can motivate some people to follow you. But unless someone is willing to be a follower, it is hard to lead them. Many new-to-college students do not realize that they need to follow. They expect you to do all of the work for them.
One of the tasks of a professor is to teach students to follow you and to learn. You can’t make them learn. You can’t put knowledge into their heads. You show them how to do it for themselves. You guide them and direct them. Then, they have to study. Unless they do some of the work, you can’t teach them.
Getting the students to that point is being a good college professor.
Unfortunately, some students have not the background to even be led.
Add your thoughts and be sure to join CandidProf next Thursday.
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Image credit: DAEllis
Wow. As a college student I tried (clumbsily and very naively…not that I’m much better at it now) to explain this concept to people around me.
CandidProf thanks for the insight. Now if only I had learned to follow my profs better in school I might be a little ahead of the curve now.
Let’s back up a minute. Is it possible to become a leader in a university classroom to students who have never seen leadership in either their home or school? As an employer, I am stunned at the level of arrogant independence and blind entitlement that exudes from most persons graduating from school.
I speak in high schools regularly to encourage students in career choices, and it was quite clear there that they have never seen leadership at work. They see themselves more as prisoners marking time until they can finally prove how smart they already are. The opinions of friends outweigh any fact or truth.
I hope you will be bringing insights on how we might overcome that, since we can’t seen to change the home or teaching environment.
Wes, that is the challenge. Students often come to college not knowing that they need to be led. So, that is the leadership challenge: leading a group that doesn’t understand leadership. Unfortunately, this is where many faculty fail. It is very tough to lead these people. You can’t just stand up in front of the class and profess your impressive and abundant knowledge. I’ll try over this series to shed some light on how I’ve attempted to do just that.
The most recent issue of The Atlantic has an article written by an unnamed instructor who teaches freshman composition. He (I think) shares many of the same concerns. What I took from the article is: College isn’t for everyone.
Great post. As a high school student going into university it is up to me to learn on my own with the guidance of a mentor (in this case a teacher).
I guess I learned how to do this even before getting into university. Simply by starting my own company and learning the basics of “self-leadership” on my own with the guidance of a mentor.
To me it is surprising how just getting out there and applying your knowledge really helps you, in turn, receive more knowledge through experience.
I am sincerely looking forward to a good discussion with you on this subject over the next several weeks. This issue applies from the bottom to the top of business organizations. No one is being taught that having a leader is desirable or that being submissive to another person’s expertise and authority is anything but a punishment.
Looking forward to it!
I’ve taught at high school, college & graduate school levels and I never saw myself in a leadership role. This is a great insight & will help me be a more productive teacher when I take on another teaching assignment. Thanks.
Great topic! We rarely think of teachers as leaders (unless they are “leaders in their field of research” — in which case it’s more of score-keeping). I agree that more leadership training is needed in the area of teaching, but I also think that we need to be taught how to be led. Sometimes someone else just knows more or does it better. We need to learn to accede with good grace and learn from others.
Jean, thanks for your comment. I know a lot of faculty at institutions all over the country, in all sorts of disciplines, who have similar concerns. But, they are not able to get their concerns out to a non-academic audience. Unless that happens, things will never change. Miki suggested that this may be a forum for getting some of the word out to a larger audience. And, yes, college is not for everyone. Our high schools are fooling people into thinking that they are ready for college when they are not.
Ram, you are the sort of student that we want in college!
Ren and Miranda, I’m combining my replies to both of you since your points are similar, and very important. Yes, I believe that teachers are leaders. However, that is often not how they are seen by the public, the students, or the college or school administration. But, if you think about it, of course they are leaders. They are leading what is happening in the classroom. And, therefore, they have a very important influence on the lives of their students that extends beyond the classroom itself, or even the period of schooling for the students. And, students are not taught to be led. I think that in decades past, things were different. We might need to think about how to learn from what was done better in the past (without forgetting what we are doing better today).