I Love Teaching: It Is Fun!

Abstract

This article traces the author’s shift from the Socratic method with its primary focus on the professor as the discusser-in-chief to an approach to teaching that is more student-centered and performative. It explains why this shift was neither seamless nor quickly achieved, but rather required iterative and self-reflective practice and the willingness to experiment and change. The author is honest about the challenges and trepidations one might face in relinquishing what might appear to be control and yet how rewarding such an approach can be for your students when you actually let them into the class. The article discusses how the author’s own development as a postmodern theorist informed her teaching and opened critical pathways for her to rethink how she taught and why she was so comfortable with the Socratic method. The author also discusses the importance of integrating critical thinking, doing and writing and how to scaffold these aspects throughout your course. The article concludes with some reflections on the author’s own belief that teaching is fun and how one might keep the passion and excitement flowing across the semester.