Our Nature: Sciences or Letters, Teacher or Scholar, Does it Really Matter?

In this entry, Associate Professor, Jorge Del Pozzo Gonzalez, in the Department of Language, Culture, and Communications, reflects on the Teacher/Scholar model:

In Spanish, as well as in English, the four P´s (in commonly used business jargon) refer to: Place, Product, Promotion and Price. In his recent piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education (see link below), Professor Rob Jenkins of Georgia Perimeter College identifies an alternate set of four P´s that he sees as the main characteristics of great teachers: Personality, Presence, Preparation and Passion. I know firsthand that many of my faculty peers in CASL exemplify these characteristics. Teaching/learning is a relationship: like a plant it requires both internal and external inputs to grow and bloom—nurturing, water, sunlight, care. Both the faculty members and the students in this relationship are constantly aware of how that relationship is evolving.

Too many people tend to dissociate teaching from research, yet the University of Michigan-Dearborn emphasizes the importance of the teacher-scholar model. How are these two activities linked and how does one inform the other? How do faculty balance these two pursuits? Students sometimes find themselves at the same crossroads: Studying or working? Additional classes or an internship? Any college of arts and sciences, particularly our very own CASL, is an ideal spot for developing and disseminating the concept of balance and connection. The link between teaching and doing research is just another relationship that needs some love in order to bloom.
Recently, in another article about careers that appeared in blogs.sciencemag.org (see link below), Dan Albert offered ten reasons why including humanities in preparation for a scientific career is crucial, and this applies to students and faculty alike.. Albert’s 1st and 4th points, “Humanities prepare you to fulfill your civic and cultural responsibilities,” and “Humanities study strengthens the ability to communicate and work with others,” respectively, address the role humanities can play in striking a balance between home and the workplace.

I’ll conclude with Albert´s 10th point: “The study of humanities teaches that the supposedly sharp dichotomies that separate sciences from humanities do not really exist.” Said another way, culture influences science and science influences culture. Whatever your career, your major, your passion, find your equilibrium, juggle all worlds possible and live them to the fullest. As a faculty member, balancing the teacher-scholar model presents its own challenges. I may not be very good at it, but I don´t think it matters: I believe demonstrating a balance is and should be our nature, our way of living. Furthermore, it should be the main way to keep up our relationship with our students in order to show them how teaching and scholarship are intricately connected, as are personal and professional success.




http://chronicle.com/article/The-4-Properties-of-Powerful/228483/