I am challenged by what I find is the hardest part about teaching. Well, it’s one of the hardest things about life in general, but especially when teaching or mentoring students you often find yourself in the position of authority or ‘judgment’ on the quality of students’ work and, in some cases, character. This challenge is the duty of rendering this judgment from a position of honest self reflection. In other words, judgment should based on truth, not on technicalities dictated by policies or syllabi.
In short, judging based on truth means that we can judge our students’ performances and conduct but we do so humbly realizing that out own failures may be implicated in any appraisal of their performance. It is easy to read too much into this, I know, but it is important to remember at least that I was a student previously and can empathize with almost everything I’ve seen in my classroom and in my office. My judgments should not be rendered independently of this empathy; and, as far as possible, acknowledging that I can’t meet the needs of every one of my students. (once again, I am well aware it is easy to read too much into this)
Technicalities would dictate that we render judgment without empathizing with the students, while holding them accountable to the letter of the law. Judging according to technical accountability is useful and sometimes safer than the potential arbitrariness of empathy, but I can’t help but think that this is the less favorable way to go. I know that structure is needed for legal and practical reasons, but there has to be a good way to navigate the middle ground.
For me, the most practical application of any relevant lesson here would probably be applied to my evaluation practices. I have attended many sessions on teaching techniques or other content delivery practices, but for me I want to know more about how to evaluate students in a way that measures student activities leading to sustainable engagement with the course material. By sustainable, I mean two things. First, students should be able to identify a handful of salient topics that they can retain and apply over the long term. Second, students should remember the conceptual details of what they learn, even if they don’t remember the mathematical details.
My goal is not to turn every student into a lover of my subject. At the same time, I don’t want all of them memorizing for my exams, either. The challenge is figuring put how to evaluate, while honestly reflecting on whether what I have done and taught could realistically lead to what I want from my students. Any suggestions would be quite appreciated.