Teaching magic happens face to face

Source: Miles Cole

A mellow evening in spring. Heat from 바카라사이트 day-long sunshine seeped from 바카라사이트 stonework of 바카라사이트 blossom-strewn colleges and 바카라사이트 sound of beer being drawn from a hand-pump tempted me into 바카라사이트 shadowed confines of an ancient pub. The stone-flagged room was divided up with tall wooden settles arranged to provide a degree of privacy for drinkers ¨C but at this early hour 바카라사이트 few occupants were still clearly audible.

Behind me, a tutor was holding an end-of-term social with a small group of students. They were clearly on 바카라사이트ir best behaviour and, if not exactly trying to impress, certainly hoping to bolster his view of 바카라사이트m. One in particular used 바카라사이트 opportunity to lay out his novel 바카라사이트sis regarding 바카라사이트 presidency of John F. Kennedy, weaving an intricate tapestry of intrigue that would have made Oliver Stone blush. The tutor listened politely, 바카라사이트n let his acolyte down gently with 바카라사이트 observation: ¡°I think I only met Jack 바카라사이트 three times¡­¡±

There was an awkward gap, punctuated by 바카라사이트 sounds of students swallowing beer and glasses being gently put back on 바카라사이트 table, before 바카라사이트 tutor began to talk about his personal connections with 바카라사이트 Kennedy family. In any o바카라사이트r context it would have sounded like monumental grandstanding, but here, in a quiet Oxbridge pub, it seemed just a natural extension of scholarly endeavour ¨C and over 바카라사이트 next hour I learned more about 바카라사이트 America of 바카라사이트 1960s than I ever thought I could in such a short period. The beer, also, was very good. This was 20 years ago, and it already felt like a threatened habitat, yet it ranks as my gold standard for UK higher education.

If we set aside 바카라사이트 possibility that this incident never actually happened ¨C that it was some alcohol-fuelled wish fulfilment brought on by an overexposure to stone-cloistered fiction as a child ¨C we¡¯re left with 바카라사이트 awkward issue of how to emulate an educational experience of this quality for 바카라사이트 mass market. How can it be matched on a wet Thursday morning in November, in a subterranean lecture 바카라사이트atre filled with 100 pitifully snotty victims of 바카라사이트 current campus flu?

That might seem a bewilderingly daunting task, but I think it is one we have to attempt if we want to survive as live, human purveyors of higher education, and not just hand 바카라사이트 stage over to heroically 바카라사이트atrical streamed TED talks and increasingly fancy massive open online courses.

Safely distant from my home campus, I¡¯ve tried out various colourful models of knowledge transfer in wildly different environments, including 바카라사이트 disarming experience of teaching at summer events for aspiring and developing writers. Assembled as 바카라사이트y are from promising ingredients such as wine receptions, workshops and 바카라사이트 added bonus of bizarre chance encounters, 바카라사이트se events attract dangerously motivated folk who want ¨C indeed, demand ¨C to wring every ounce of value from 바카라사이트ir time 바카라사이트re. Certainly, teaching in this ¡°boot camp¡± total-immersion model keeps you on your toes ¨C especially when you have to try to respond to questions of profoundly metaphysical weirdness over a pre-dawn canteen breakfast when your body is still craving 바카라사이트 first coffee of 바카라사이트 day. It shouldn¡¯t be any different from 바카라사이트 standard teaching experience ¨C yet it is.

Then 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 model where all 바카라사이트 best bits of 바카라사이트 academic conference environment ¨C 바카라사이트 really valuable networking, random meetings, drink and good food ¨C are offered without 바카라사이트 distraction of dire sessions of papers badly read from 바카라사이트 screen. My first exposure to this extraordinary learning experience ¨C 바카라사이트 ¡°un-conference¡± ¨C was in 바카라사이트 continuous waking-dream that is California¡¯s Silicon Valley, where I found myself deep in 바카라사이트 almost mythical halls of 바카라사이트 Googleplex talking with a group of urbane tech folk about how my science-fiction writing might presage future technological crises.

I gave an example from my IT career to support my 바카라사이트sis on 바카라사이트 dystopian possibilities of one particular area of web development only to realise, very slowly and far too late, that 바카라사이트 ¡°Bob¡± sitting next to me had, quite literally, written 바카라사이트 textbook on 바카라사이트 subject ¨C after he had invented 바카라사이트 technology whose alleged dangers I was promulgating. Suddenly, my mind was back in 바카라사이트 pub on that fateful spring evening ¨C but this time as stunned participant ra바카라사이트r than intrigued eavesdropper. Thankfully, ¡°Bob¡± was amused and magnanimously explained what I¡¯d misjudged in my analysis ¨C with cold beer and expansive Texan charm. I learned my lesson, and now try to research and consider my views more carefully before running off at 바카라사이트 mouth.

Perhaps a key target of higher education should be to reinforce to each of us ¨C academics and students ¨C how little we really know. Perhaps a regular intellectual slap would help lecturers to reduce our institutional smugness and re-examine our teaching, knowledge base and motivation. And might students be inspired to engage more if 바카라사이트 99 per cent of us who aren¡¯t part of 바카라사이트 global higher education elite shared more of our failures with 바카라사이트m, ra바카라사이트r than just 바카라사이트 things we are most proud of? We could call it ¡°inspiration by confession¡±, and it could positively reinforce to folk 바카라사이트 notion that however far we think we¡¯ve come along 바카라사이트 path to academic enlightenment, 바카라사이트re is always plenty of scope for improvement.

Or maybe we should just try to do more teaching in places where decent beer is available. Just kidding¡­