Do UCU professors know how to teach? by Anonymous

Sometimes I miss my high school teachers. Of course, I had a few that I disliked, but none of them frustrated me like some of my UCU professors. I’ve met professors here who seem very passionate about the things they teach yet fail to convey their knowledge to students. In my time at UCU I’ve met three types of bad teachers: incapable professors, mean professors and confusing professors. They have made me think about why these types of teachers specifically appear at universities, and how they could improve to reach the level of their colleagues.

The first category of bad teachers is the incapable professors. They don’t know how to explain things, ramble instead of giving concrete information, and rapidly switch between overly complex terms and middle school level teaching. Some may spend half the class time on ‘class discussion’ where students repeat the same points over and over. I don’t mind class discussion, but this cannot happen unless the teacher has first effectively communicated the important information, so students can understand and discuss it.

Second is the category of mean professors. These may ignore students’ questions, subtly mock them when they make a mistake,  and can never admit that they’re wrong. These professors slowly make students lose confidence in their abilities and are 0% flexible when things aren’t done exactly as they want. It can be frustrating and sometimes humiliating to sit in their classes.

The third and last category is the confusing professors, who make everything too confusing for students to understand. They may tell students about an essay deadline only a week in advance, don’t explain what students will be tested on, and don’t post the syllabus online until well into the semester. Yet when students call out this behaviour the professor will claim that this is the normal way of doing things and that students should simply know what the professor is expecting of them. They don’t acknowledge that every class is different and that they need to explain their ways of doing things.

Illustration by L.S.

I have a few theories on why so many professors fall into one or more of these categories. I believe that the main reason is that many professors have not had enough time to learn how to teach. Unlike elementary, middle and high school teachers, university professors haven’t spent years studying the teaching profession. Instead, they may have had only a short period of lessons in pedagogy, and have spent most of their time within their area of expertise. This means that many professors will be very well educated, but they may not know how to convey their knowledge to others. I believe that if prospective university teachers would get more lessons in pedagogy and opportunities to practise before they officially start teaching, they would have a much easier time explaining information.

Another reason why some professors struggle is that teaching may not be their main job. Professors often split their time between teaching, researching and writing, meaning that for many teaching is a side job. Their other work keeps them stuck in an academic bubble, making it more difficult for them to communicate ideas to students who haven’t spent years studying their area of expertise. Furthermore, their busy schedules can make it so that the work of preparing lessons, grading exams and writing syllabi may not take priority.

Lastly, I believe that social hierarchy also impacts how professors teach. Professorship in higher education is often more highly regarded than a teaching job at lower levels. Professors who are at the top of their field may have trouble taking criticism from students. However, as it relates to their teaching style, I wish some professors took feedback more seriously. After all, flexibility and openness are characteristics of a good teacher. At UCU, course feedback is optional, so not every professor requests it; however, often the teachers who need the course feedback the most are the ones to refuse it.

Considering all I’ve said, I think it’s clear that I am dissatisfied with the teaching styles of some professors on this campus. Nonetheless, I have also been taught by many great and inspiring teachers who are knowledgeable, but also incredibly skilled at teaching. What I want in a teacher is someone knowledgeable but understanding, inspiring but efficient, skilled but open to feedback. Some steps to achieve that may be to make feedback obligatory and to provide more training for teaching itself. I believe most problems can be fixed when professors get told what mistakes they are making and how to improve. After all, what a professor wants is passionate students, and what students want are professors who can bring that passion out of them.