Five traits of a successful professor . . . the student’s perspective

Every semester, in my Public Speaking class, I ask my students to write down their favorite teacher/professor and what they did that made them a favorite. Originally I envisioned that the students would talk about elements of speaking that would feed later lessons on being a quality speakers. Instead I found a list of stories that did have a commonality but it had nothing to do with public speaking skills. What I found equally intriguing was the fact that five elements emerged over and over again, semester after semester as traits that set some of their teachers apart from all of the others. This is that list.

1. Be challenging. Many of the students talked joyously about teachers and professors that expected great things from their students. Who set lofty goals. Higher than the student thought was possible for them to reach, and then gave them the tools to reach it. Never, not even in one of these descriptions did a student like a professor best because they were easy. As one student so succinctly put “I would rather have a teacher have high expectations than not care and just pass you.”

2. Relate your material to the student’s world. This is sometimes easier said than done, particularly if you have abandoned the world of the younger people. It’s understandable, but being completely unaware of the culture that makes up the framework of their daily lives creates a barrier, a distance between you and them. And the greater the distance the harder it is for them to hear you. And if your response to their culture is to shake your head and express your distaste, you might as well tell them that you value them at the same level. Our culture is no more than a reflection of who we are and no culture has more value than another’s.

3. Be available. If you are arriving 10 minutes before classes start and leaving 5 minutes after your obligatory office hour is up, you’ve got a big problem. When a student comes to your door unannounced, what is your response? What does your body look like? Are you still keeping one eye on email? Are there papers on your lap? Are you quick to hustle them through the conversation or do you stop and give them a chance to think and speak. Do you have rules with “no exceptions?” Professors want to fight for the right to be more than content experts. To do this we must act more like mentors and guides than lecture and grading machines.

4. See the individual and care about them. Your students have names. Learn them. They have majors. Ask. Find out who the people you are sharing this time with are and incorporate that into what you talk about. Students have been trained to behave a certain way. They might not care that you have no idea who they are. But then don’t expect them to care about you either. You are modeling a lot of different behaviors that you might never intend to. Your students learn more from you than the information in your content area. You are a classroom leader. They will model their own leadership styles after the ones that are demonstrated to them. Whether they work or not. “Be the change you want to see in the world.” A beautiful idea. Tough to execute. But then, all the best things in life have a little bit of effort to get to the payoff.

5. Show your passion. How many times have you taught the class? Does it excite you? Did it once? What about it made you so passionate? What was that idealistic vision you had walking into the first class you ever taught? If you’ve lost that feeling of excitement and passion think perhaps that it is not the repetition that watered it down, but that you made a misstep somewhere. We too, model our teaching off of those that went before and believe it or not, the ones that came before us didn’t know much more about teaching than we do now. Pick one class and find the things about it that you love. Things that speak to you. Let them see your excitement. Show them the crazy grad student whose mind reeled with new ideas. Help them to unlock the passion that is inside them.

And YOU, reading this thinking that not every student has a passion. You’re dead wrong. Start over or quit teaching. I so often hear colleagues venting their frustrations with students who are just not performing well. I have them too. It’s going to happen. But the dissatisfaction never leads to change. What I have difficulty accepting is the quick insistence that the way that has always been done is good enough. Good enough sounds like a C to me. Average. As professors we should be getting a 4.0 every semester. We are the Masters right?

So, a challenge, teachers and professors. Pick one class for spring and throw out all the notes and plans and systems that you have always used. Do something risky. Try something new. What on earth do you have to lose? And what might you gain?

Try it and see. I dare you.

Tags: classroom, curriculum, lecture, professor, Teaching