Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The Trouble with Teaching: Is Teaching a Meaningful Job?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

John Danaher knows how to capture interest with controversy and this teaser of an article is no exception. Is teaching really a meaningful job? You might not think so after reading the arguments he offers to say that it is not. You might still not think so after you reads the counter arguments, which to me can be effectively summed up as "teaching is meaningful because it allows me to do other things, like research". It does point to a basic conundrum in academia: we wouldn't pay professors' salaries if they weren't teaching, but many professors have no real interest in teaching and see it at best as a means to an end, while many students see the intervention of teachers as an imposition they need to endure while trying to qualify for an education and a satisfying life.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 08:41 a.m.

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