Teaching Seminar

by Tom Westerman

For the first time since the presidency of Peter Diamandopoulos, a forum on teaching was conducted by the Faculty Senate. The October 27th meeting at the University Center, coordinated by Professor Sally Ridgeway of the Sociology Department, Professor Patrick Kelly of the History Department and administered by Professor Lawrence Hobbie, allowed about 32 faculty and staff members to hear from six Adelphi students on what good teaching is and to engage in open debate.

According to Professor Kelly, who is also the Chairman of the Faculty Senate, before Dr. Diamandopoulos there was a standing committee "devoted mainly to dialog among faculty about teaching," but during the Diamandopoulos years the dialog was stopped. Since the ousting of Dr. Diamandopoulos, Professor Kelly and the Senate are bringing back many of these seminars. "We are back in business," said Professor Kelly, "and are planning a forum on diversity, run by Professor Julian Rivera of Social Work on December 1st." All faculty, staff and students are invited to attend. According to Professor Kelly, since the faculty is no longer in "survival mode" and he has "wanted to do this for a long time," more and more of these interactive forums, including brownbag lunches for the professors, will occur.

All the attendees listened as Denise Wind advised them to "engage the class in discussion, while Malique Payne advocated spontaneity and "hands on" teaching. Both Elizabeth Daitz and Igor Yatsenko advised the professors to "know the students" and both said knowing their names is a big plus. All the panelists agreed, especially Aisha Hutchinson, that "teachers must seem excited" about what they are teaching and Ms. Daitz said they should have "passion" and should "be interested in the material."

When the panelists had finished with their comments, the floor was opened to questions from the professors. Professor Lester Baltimore of the History Department and Director of Acedemic Services and Retention, commented that students often do not want to take part in class discussions. In reply, Ms. Payne said to "ask why they are not responding" and that students "may not understand" the material that is to be discussed. The attending professors seemed pleased by the response but some felt uneasy about the pressure it would put on them as the instructors. In response, Associate Dean Peter Katopes of the University College stated that there must be a "built in enthusiasm" and that it "must come from the student" as well as from the professor and a student should be thinking how to "to help myself and help the professor know why this is important." All the student panelists agreed.

Many of the students, including Ms. Hutchinson, went on to say that at times they do not ask questions because they do not want to challenge the professor's opinion. Professor Kelly responded that "students do not necessarily feel that they have the same freedom to express their own opinions, "as professors can. According to Ms. Daitz, "Professors should take a stand, but be open to debate in class."

And in response to Ms. Hutchinson's statement that some professors are "intimidating" Dean Katopes stated that the student should "hunt down the professor and demand [their] education." The general theme that many of the professors were trying to get across was that despite the professors' heavy burden, the students are equally responsible for their education. Towards the end of the seminar Dean Katopes said, "part of education is that it is your life, not ours, and you have to go out and get it."