A Portion of a Communication to One of My Students, Currently Matriculating at the University Level

As director and teacher in the New Salem Educational Initiative, the relationships that I establish with my students are forever.  I follow them through their university years (after having been their teacher as early as Grade K) and beyond.


Here is a portion of a communication that I sent to one of my students currently matriculating at the university level. 


The matter that I am addressing is the range of qualities evident in certain professor types---  what mix of heavyweight research, ongoing reading in the field of specialty, and pure pedagogical ability the professor manifests in the classroom particularly and in the university setting more broadly:




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Some professors possess more knowledge than others.


In that regard, they tend to fall into three categories:


1) There are some professors who are powerhouse researchers who have done a lot of original research and written many books based on that research.


2) There are others who studied through to the Ph.D., by definition, then, having absorbed an enormous amount of knowledge; but then they tend to coast on that knowledge base without keeping up in their fields.


3) Then there are others who do not do much if any original research (like those in #2), but they do read a lot and keep up with the latest developments in their fields. Their knowledge base can be just as good as the heavyweight researchers; they just do not make as many original contributions to their fields of specialization.


The question then becomes what kinds of teachers these professors are.


Sometimes a university professor is heavy into her or his research and does not care all that much about teaching; but I have known many who both made major contributions to their fields and still were dynamite teachers.


A professor in category #2 or #3 had better be a dynamite teacher, or that professor's value to the institution is slight. If one does not emphasize research that brings the university recognition, then she or he has the very major obligation to do a super job teaching.


I know a bit about the research and publication histories of your professors, but I've never taken their classes, so you'd have to tell me how effectively they communicate what they've designated for you to learn.


So--- how are your teachers? Which one of them is the best communicator? Are they all fairly good? Is there one who is clearly not as good a pure teacher as the others?


I know that when the professor is clear that you will understand. So please ask good questions, make them be as good as they can be, and ask for additional clarification in office hours as necessary:


Sometimes one clarification can open up the breakthrough into understanding necessary to grasp an important concept, which then builds on other concepts toward a unified grasp of the topic of current emphasis.