Today, while reading an article in Running Times Magazine called “Base training basics,” I was reminded that long distance running is a sport in which dividends are paid after years and years and miles and miles of training runs. While in soccer and basketball (my other two favorite sports), athletes are generally winding down in their early 30’s, I keep reading about world-class runners who are winning major races in their late 30’s. It’s as if running is one of the few sports that rewards delayed gratification above all else.
The reason I bring this up, though, is Herbert Simon’s admonition that it takes 10 years to become world-class in anything. Recently, there has been some discussion over the nature of the 10 yrs/10,000 hours number, but the point is that experts generally operate from a base that has been laid over an extended period of time, similar to that of long distance runners.
I’m wondering now what base training looks like for teaching in the college classroom. I have written in earlier posts about the challenges for teaching that I’ve encountered, and the discomfort I felt with the adversarial environment in my classroom last semester, probably due in large part to the way I approached my students. Unfortunately, it’s like the teaching development part of a faculty member’s portfolio takes place almost exclusively during competition (e.g., high stakes performance/instruction). At least in research, you have time to develop your ideas and fine tune papers and proposals before they are peer reviewed (i.e., before you race). The ratio of development:performance in teaching, however, seems hopelessly small in comparison.
I think that most of the reason I feel this way is because you are being evaluated from day 1 when you enter the classroom, even though you’ve never met this particular group of students and can’t be certain what their needs and personalities will dictate. So the performance (classroom teaching) is intertwined with the training because no matter how much effort you devote to learning about teaching, the only time you can actually teach is in the classroom hours.
I guess this thought will end unresolved at the moment, but I’m curious to learn how others “train” for teaching while “performing” as an instructor at the same time…