Pedagogical Possibilities: How to Teach Like Yourself

A purple roller beginning to paint an orange wall. Photo by cassidy muir from Pexels.

Since becoming a grad affiliate for the University of Illinois's Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning six months ago, I have become more acutely aware than ever how vulnerable it can be to teach, especially for a beginning teacher. As part of my work there, I meet with new teaching assistants frequently to discuss their teaching demonstrations from orientation or observe their classes. Many of them have the same concerns, and many of these are a.) not dissimilar from my own concerns about teaching and b.) rooted in deeply personal concerns about being liked, respected, or listened to.

Ostensibly, teaching is about the development of skills and the transmission of information; in practice, it can feel like a performance for an audience empowered to weigh in on all of your personal flaws and failings. Though my students have almost to a person been delightful and generous people, I still often have nerves going into the classroom. My desire to have things go well stems both from a strong interest in students' intellectual development and a deep-set fear that I suspect many of us have: that being disliked, or even just having an activity or lecture we've created fall flat, is a damning proclamation of our incompetence.

Many beginning teachers think of models that they've had in their own careers as students and attempt to model themselves on these people (I certainly have!). Yet often people's personalities differ from those of the best teachers they've had. Things that look and feel natural on one person on another feel stiff and uncomfortable, or too informal, or too overdone.

I don’t mean to suggest that the old chestnut "be yourself" will always lead you in the right direction or inoculate you from student criticism or hostility. Both anecdotal and data-driven evidence suggests that racial and gender bias impact student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (check out the related links for a few more takes on this topic). But keeping your own style and personality in mind can help you make decisions that work best for you in the classroom and to feel confident in the decisions that you've made. So, I want to share three things that I tell new teachers frequently:

The way you talk is fine (though maybe a little fast).

Too frequently, I think, we have been trained to think about presenting information as an opportunity to weigh in on people's style of speaking. Many beginning teachers, especially international students, who meet with me are worried about the way they speak, asking me if they were comprehensible during their lesson. Others hate the sound of their voice, or the way they pause and use filler words. Yet I have had almost no instances in which I had trouble understanding the teacher for any reason other than talking speed. Talking quickly is one of my own vices, and there are ways to manage this (which I may take up in a later post). Other than that, though, don't waste your life worrying about the way you talk. Students live in a world full of people speaking in all sorts of ways, and learning to listen well will only benefit them. What you say, and the interest you show when saying it, is so much more important than whether you're a beautiful speechmaker or sound like a native speaker of the language you're teaching in.

It's ok to be human-- in fact, encouraged.

I mentioned that talking quickly is one of my vices. I am very aware of this, and every semester I make my students aware of this too. I also let them know when I don't know the answer to a question they've asked, admit I'm wrong and correct the issue when they point out an error I've made, and give frequent opportunities for students to express ideas about the material that I may have missed. In short, my students are well aware that I'm human and thus fallible. This serves two functions: first, it helps them to know how they can relate to me-- if they have trouble understanding a lecture, they can ask me to slow down, for example. Secondly, just as being at the front of the room doing the instruction is vulnerable, being a learner is also vulnerable. To truly learn, a person can't just passively absorb information; they have to guess and check, get comfortable with being wrong from time to time, and identify areas for improvement. I try to model this willingness to be vulnerable. Not everyone may feel comfortable with this exact level or type of openness, which is fine (and gets to my next point); the important thing is that mistakes in the classroom are not the end of the world, and can even be part of the process.

There is no one perfect teaching style.

Sometimes advice-givers and workshop-leaders have a tendency to be a bit, well, bubbly. Outgoing. Irritatingly lively, even! I'll own up to it! This can give more reserved teachers pause-- they don’t know how to translate what they're hearing and seeing from this ball of energy into something they will actually be willing to do in the classroom. But there is no one way to be, as a teacher-- no singular method for presenting information, relating to students, or handling logistics. Part of your journey as a teacher is figuring out what works best for you, and students will respond to the strategies you use much better if you seem comfortable and confident in them. My classes have minimal lecturing and maximize time spent on group activities and class discussions, and I am fairly casual in chatting with the class. Students respond well to these strategies, expressing both mastery of concepts and enthusiasm for the course structure. I know other teachers who comport themselves more formally, who devote more time overall to lecture and have more limited, more organized class discussions and more individual projects. These teachers get positive responses as well. Both of these styles incorporate active learning strategies, skill development, and content delivery, but look very different. There are lots of good styles for teaching, and good teaching looks a little different for everyone-- so experiment, and find what works for you!

Related Links:

A sociological study of women faculty of color and their experiences of gendered racism from white male students in their courses.
An interesting Washington Post piece on trying to counter gender bias in collecting student evaluations through informing students about bias.
A professor of mechanical engineering reflecting in Huffington Post on his experience with trying to be a better teacher by modeling what other teachers had done, ultimately concluding it was best to "Be An Original: Be Yourself and Become a Better Teacher."