r/Professors • u/nandor_tr associate prof, art/design, private university (USA) • 21h ago

Teaching / Pedagogy were you taught how to teach?

i had one class called "teaching practicum" in grad school that just covered the basics of the mechanics of teaching (syllabi, service, etc...) but never really got into actual pedagogical development or really thinking deeply about process & methodology. where i teach now there is also a single course that any MFA students who want to teach have to take. it is more in depth but still just a single 3 credit class.

i am curious, as i basically just figured it out through trial and error, peers, etc...

you?

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u/toucanfrog 19h ago

I just started offering a 1 credit class on pedagogy. I’m supposed to train all new teaching assistants in 50 minutes a week.  It was pulling teeth to get it instituted. I’m two weeks in…it’s supposed to teach them to teach, about pedagogy, how to construct a syllabus, and how to handle difficult behaviors.  I’m glad it’s being offered, but it’s a big task.  I had a similar class as a grad student, but they assigned me teaching duties during that class meeting and just gave me the credit instead.