3 ms·

In fairness a lot of professors are terrible teachers and don't really care about teaching at all. My own course was full of them. I'm sure they didn't like to

In fairness a lot of professors are terrible teachers and don't really care about teaching at all. My own course was full of them. I'm sure they didn't like to hear it though.

incone123 4y ago
My friend is a professor and admits she has no interest in teaching. She is a scientist and counts herself fortunate to have enough research funding that she is rarely expected to lecture.
Shorel 4y ago
And it could be because the good ones quit. For all the reasons mentioned in the article.
effingwewt 4y ago
Or could it possibly be they aren't paid enough to care? Here above you was a professor stating how shit it is to be one, and the very next comment is a student shitting on professors in general. This very thread exemplifies why no one wants to teach.
- gms7777 4y ago
  It's not that they're not paid to care, it's that they're not paid to teach. At least at research universities, tenured/tenure-track faculty's job is to do produce research and get grants. Teaching is a thing that's piled on top of it that doesn't help your career and takes a whole lot of time away from your primary job function. A lot of professors do actually care about teaching and genuinely want to help students, but the system as designed strongly disincentivizes (or actively punishes) doing more than the bare minimum. I know a professor who was recently denied tenure at a research university that likes to describe itself as very "undergraduate teaching focused" -- he had decent but not outstanding research output, but had gotten several university-wide teaching awards and was broadly considered by students one of the best lecturers in the department. Some of the comments he had received suggest that this actively hurt him for tenure, because they felt he was too focused on teaching over research.
  - effingwewt 4y ago
    I got you, I hadn't even thought of that end, more of the professors teaching. Even then I have seen myself they lean too much on TA's who are barely a semester ahead sometimes. Thanks for clarifying about the research side, really appreciate it. All of this is just so sad.
readingnews 4y ago
I will admit, there are those, just like the SW dev that hates coding, the Dr. that hates patients, etc. Most in the teaching profession that do not "like to teach" are people who like to do research, but are forced to teach. I would probably argue, as another poster noted, that the really good ones quit, or their classes are perpetually full as they are the good ones. In the CS department where I teach, we generally do not have the luxury of multiple sections after the intro courses, but in say Mathematics, you really see this point driven home. The "good" Calculus I profs class fills instantly, then everyone else is left with "that researcher person" who does not like to teach. Of course, the obvious solution: have research professors and teaching professors. Right? Nope, colleges are run by business people. "Have people just do research??" Only the well off colleges can really do that.
fastaguy88 4y ago
Could it be that some of those “terrible teachers” are actually excellent teachers for a different kind of student?
BeFlatXIII 4y ago
They may be brilliant at mentoring grad students but worthless at teaching undergrads. It all depends on the focus of the school. Small universities are more likely to focus on undergrad teaching over research or PhD numbers.

In fairness a lot of professors are terrible teachers and don't really care about teaching at all. My own course was full of them. I'm sure they didn't like to hear it though.

incone123 4y ago

My friend is a professor and admits she has no interest in teaching. She is a scientist and counts herself fortunate to have enough research funding that she is rarely expected to lecture.

Shorel 4y ago

And it could be because the good ones quit. For all the reasons mentioned in the article.

effingwewt 4y ago

Or could it possibly be they aren't paid enough to care? Here above you was a professor stating how shit it is to be one, and the very next comment is a student shitting on professors in general. This very thread exemplifies why no one wants to teach.

gms7777 4y ago
It's not that they're not paid to care, it's that they're not paid to teach. At least at research universities, tenured/tenure-track faculty's job is to do produce research and get grants. Teaching is a thing that's piled on top of it that doesn't help your career and takes a whole lot of time away from your primary job function. A lot of professors do actually care about teaching and genuinely want to help students, but the system as designed strongly disincentivizes (or actively punishes) doing more than the bare minimum. I know a professor who was recently denied tenure at a research university that likes to describe itself as very "undergraduate teaching focused" -- he had decent but not outstanding research output, but had gotten several university-wide teaching awards and was broadly considered by students one of the best lecturers in the department. Some of the comments he had received suggest that this actively hurt him for tenure, because they felt he was too focused on teaching over research.
- effingwewt 4y ago
  I got you, I hadn't even thought of that end, more of the professors teaching. Even then I have seen myself they lean too much on TA's who are barely a semester ahead sometimes. Thanks for clarifying about the research side, really appreciate it. All of this is just so sad.

readingnews 4y ago

I will admit, there are those, just like the SW dev that hates coding, the Dr. that hates patients, etc. Most in the teaching profession that do not "like to teach" are people who like to do research, but are forced to teach. I would probably argue, as another poster noted, that the really good ones quit, or their classes are perpetually full as they are the good ones. In the CS department where I teach, we generally do not have the luxury of multiple sections after the intro courses, but in say Mathematics, you really see this point driven home. The "good" Calculus I profs class fills instantly, then everyone else is left with "that researcher person" who does not like to teach. Of course, the obvious solution: have research professors and teaching professors. Right? Nope, colleges are run by business people. "Have people just do research??" Only the well off colleges can really do that.

fastaguy88 4y ago

Could it be that some of those “terrible teachers” are actually excellent teachers for a different kind of student?

BeFlatXIII 4y ago

They may be brilliant at mentoring grad students but worthless at teaching undergrads. It all depends on the focus of the school. Small universities are more likely to focus on undergrad teaching over research or PhD numbers.