As I look back on teaching this past fall, I've come to understand the experience as a formative one. I had the opportunity to develop "tools of the trade" that are now permanently a part of my teaching toolkit. Along with my students and co-teacher, I deepened and complicated my knowledges of society and technology. Most crucial, perhaps, is what I learned about myself as a teacher, namely, that it is something I can do.
I believe that a person should only endeavor to be a teacher if they enjoy trying out new approaches, tools, and pedagogical methods. It's possible that some instructors worry that they won't be taken seriously if they try new techniques that don't work as expected. Perhaps others are afraid that they need to "get into a rhythm" so students know what to expect each week. From my experience, it's best to let the rhythm come after you've co-constructed the flow of the classtime over the first few weeks. For instance, my co-teacher and I identified that we needed to ensure congruity between their lecture and my recitation. I tried out the weekly minute papers, which were well-received. Then, I took that a next step, and designed a weekly reciting of "10 themes" from the minute papers, where I would reference by name whose minute paper connected to which of the ten themes. This also was well-received, and of course: not only did this strategy drive home the "course deliverables" outlined in the syllabus, it reinforced that the classroom space was a provisional and co-created one for theoretical experimentation. This was made possible because I, as facilitator, showed students that I had taken the time to read, process, and then repackage for them their own theoretical musings. This drove the course forward.
I believe that anyone who delivers a course has the responsibility to interact and refresh the syllabus before each semester. A stale syllabus leads to a poor class. Instructors must revisit the course themes and take an accounting of what they believe each syllabus week's theme means—what is the current state of theory as they see it (I'm not saying they need to go review the lit per se), and what does the state of theory offer for addressing contemporary politics and society. As someone with an appreciation of the techniques of critical theory, I bring in media and other cultural found objects as both access points for knowledge-building and topics to exercise and apply theoretical frameworks, lenses, approaches.
I am lucky to have had in Professor Orr a co-teacher, someone who made space for me to develop my own professorial posture alongside her. When I first served as a solo teacher at Brandeis University, the beginning of the course was frightening. I was scared. I had stage fright, and bad. As I went along, things got better, and I became more comfortable and adept as a facilitator. That progression started over again when I became co-teacher this past fall. While the progression's motions were the same, and the stage fright never completely faded, I found that the fear faded quicker and my capabilities came into focus more often. This is a gift of experience that I am thankful for. As I continue as a teacher, I only hope that the stage fright never completely fades, as I rely on it: it holds me accountable as constant theoretical companion and co-constructor as opposed to one who simply delivers a lecture.
Nicholas Croce
March 11, 2021