Long time no blog, and Cruel Pedagogies
You know, our grad school (shudder) may have been cruel in many ways, but oddly enough, I think we can all agree that no matter the subject you were asked to teach to undergrads, kind pedagogies were the order of the day. It's ironic, but true.
Yes, the grad students may have been subjected to the occasional cruel pedagogy, but that's to be expected. But the undergrads? No, tenured and slave-labor alike used kind pedagogies on them.
I've been stewing about this for a month or so now. It falls into the category of "Unpleasant Things I Avoid On My Blog", but it's time for me to write in vague terms about these thoughts and get my friends' (that you guys) opinons.
A few of the professors here have very cruel pedagogies, in my opinion. You see, this semester I spent ten hours a week working in the Writing Center--that's 20 students a week, because our WC is always booked solid. And through these, what, 300 appointments I've done this semester I have identified trends among some of the profs' pedagogies that make me so sad. Such cruel, sink or swim approaches.
It's only a few profs--youngish, in their first tenure-line jobs or teaching their first solo classes after finishing their MAs here--but it's very puzzling to me.
It's like they think we're Harvard. We're not. We're a small, regional university in an area of the state where most everyone is poor (really poor) and practically one out of two kids here is the first in their family to attend college. Plus they work full-time and squeaked through High School with Cs.
In other words, many of them are delicate in some way and only juuuust educated enough to make it into the University. They need nurturing and extra time in conferences with you to learn two lessons: 1) I am not stupid even though I always made Cs in HS and 2) This professor thinks I'm smart enough to try to teach me how to make Bs.
And yes, of course there are many of those who think they're all that, and they're not. But they are the bathwater full of babies. A cruel pedagogy throws all those babies out with the bathwater!
It's so obvious to me that a kind pedagogy (kind, not powder-puff) is the only appropriate way to teach this student body. Audience, meet analysis.
So why is it so UNobvious to some of these supposedly really smart professors? Funnily enough, the young professor that we have who DID attend Harvard as an undergrad easily recognizes that this is not Harvard and has a kind and nurturing pedagogy. Ha!
What is going on? Do you guys see some of this in your schools?
Yes, the grad students may have been subjected to the occasional cruel pedagogy, but that's to be expected. But the undergrads? No, tenured and slave-labor alike used kind pedagogies on them.
I've been stewing about this for a month or so now. It falls into the category of "Unpleasant Things I Avoid On My Blog", but it's time for me to write in vague terms about these thoughts and get my friends' (that you guys) opinons.
A few of the professors here have very cruel pedagogies, in my opinion. You see, this semester I spent ten hours a week working in the Writing Center--that's 20 students a week, because our WC is always booked solid. And through these, what, 300 appointments I've done this semester I have identified trends among some of the profs' pedagogies that make me so sad. Such cruel, sink or swim approaches.
It's only a few profs--youngish, in their first tenure-line jobs or teaching their first solo classes after finishing their MAs here--but it's very puzzling to me.
It's like they think we're Harvard. We're not. We're a small, regional university in an area of the state where most everyone is poor (really poor) and practically one out of two kids here is the first in their family to attend college. Plus they work full-time and squeaked through High School with Cs.
In other words, many of them are delicate in some way and only juuuust educated enough to make it into the University. They need nurturing and extra time in conferences with you to learn two lessons: 1) I am not stupid even though I always made Cs in HS and 2) This professor thinks I'm smart enough to try to teach me how to make Bs.
And yes, of course there are many of those who think they're all that, and they're not. But they are the bathwater full of babies. A cruel pedagogy throws all those babies out with the bathwater!
It's so obvious to me that a kind pedagogy (kind, not powder-puff) is the only appropriate way to teach this student body. Audience, meet analysis.
So why is it so UNobvious to some of these supposedly really smart professors? Funnily enough, the young professor that we have who DID attend Harvard as an undergrad easily recognizes that this is not Harvard and has a kind and nurturing pedagogy. Ha!
What is going on? Do you guys see some of this in your schools?
7 Comments:
At 4:30 PM ,
Anonymous said...
OT: My blog is fixed--go back to read my about my ailments!
Back to Topic: I completely agree with you. In fact, this is something I've been mulling all semester. We have a great divide in my school: the kind pedagogues versus the cruel pedagogues. The Kinds (of which I am one) believe that encouragement (genuine encouragement, not false)is part of our role as teachers; the Cruels think that being Kind means giving out easy grades. The problem is, I think, that tenure reviews often punish the Kinds for being grade-inflaters (because if you spend enough one-on-one time with students, they WILL get better, if they really want to get better). At my school, new and new-ish faculty are afraid to openly come out as Kinds. I'm co-opting your comments. I'll go back to my blog. Thanks for the inspiring post.
At 10:53 AM ,
Tiffany PinkDog said...
Although that makes sense one one level, it seems completely counter to what should make a good professor and thus a good department. I wonder if it results from not only a failure of Cruels to evaluate their audience of students, but perhaps a misanalysis of their colleagues on the tenure boards? True, I have very limited experience with different Universities (as we all do, really, having been at fewer than 10 as students and profs) but in my experience Kind Pedagogies are practiced by the tenured profs. Wouldn't they be looking, at review, for profs with like approaches?
At 11:00 AM ,
Anonymous said...
That depends on the criteria they use for tenure review. While profs are expected to uphold standards--which can sometimes mean a more cruel pedagogy--we are also sometimes punished for not having glowing evals. No wonder we're all crazy :)
At 5:59 PM ,
Tiffany PinkDog said...
Yeah, I guess so. Tell me, at your school (if you feel comfortable telling me here, in public) can you discern where the tenured faculty fall along the Kind-Cruel line? If so, does that influence you to behave differently than if you could not tell at all?
At 6:37 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Actually, at my current school, I really don't see much of a problem with Cruel pedagogy. I think that's because I don't teach anymore in the same department as you do. I think it's a department-based thing: the cruelest of the Cruels tend to be in that department. I have been at a school where I could see the Kind-Cruel line, but it didn't impact me much. I think that's because I knew I'd get tenure, regardless. Here, tenure doesn't come as easily, but I also feel a certain level of departmental support for my pedagogy because I was so honest about it at the interview. They wouldn't have hired me if they wanted a Cruel. What about you? You are in a more precarious position because of the contract, yes?
At 10:18 AM ,
Tiffany PinkDog said...
Oh yes, precarious. I feel a certain amount of security because of my good relationship with the Chair, but still...
Here, in this department, the tenureds are Kinds, and most of the year-to-years (like me) are Kinds. It's this weird, middle part of the strata who are crazy-Cruel that baffle me. It seems to be a trend of some sort, the causes of which I'm starting to see.
The department thing is interesting; I hadn't thought about it, but yes, I can see how a Cruel pedagogy could be far more acceptable in a different department. It makes total sense.
Hey! Why am I spending time thinking about this stuff, anyway? I'm retiring in a few days!
At 10:43 AM ,
Anonymous said...
For real? You are retiring? That sounds heavenly. What are going to do with your newfound freedom?
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