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My big break came in December. With less than a month to prepare, I found out I would be teaching my advisor's undergraduate child development course in the spring. After five semesters as a TA, I was ready for the challenge. With a job hunt looming and little interest in much of the research being conducted in the department, I thought this would be a great way to make my CV stand out.
I've always wanted to be a teacher. Although I recognize the value of research, after ten years as a consumer of American higher education, I was demoralized and dismayed by its lack of concern for what I considered the most important of a professor's responsibilities: instruction. Taking classes on American higher education, I came to understand some of the reasons behind the great variation in pedagogical quality: Professors rarely have much, if any, formal training as teachers and very little extrinsic motivation to get better once hired. But I was determined to make my first semester of teaching a showcase of informed practice.
Matt Procino is a Ph.D. student in Educational Psychology at the University of Virginia.
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