Teacher’s Bookshelf: The Skillful Teacher

Stephen D. Brookfield. The Skillful Teacher. On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom. 2nd. Ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.

If I were asked to recommend one book that I think every faculty member of the college should read, it would be Brookfield’s classic in its second edition, an engagingly written introduction to teaching, which combines a gentle introduction to pedagogical theory with numerous practical suggestions for every teacher—from the newly minted Ph.D. to the seasoned veteran—that will improve performance in the classroom.

From “core assumptions of skillful teaching” and a chapter on how to survive emotionally the onslaughts of our chosen profession, to sections on how to lecture creatively, increase students’ participation in discussion, or respond to resistance, it’s all here.

To my mind, though, the best chapter is the fourth, where Brookfield addresses “what students value in teachers,” asserting that they learn best when credibility and authenticity are held in a state of ”congenial tension” (57).

The attributes that establish credibility include expertise, experience (in one’s field as well as in the classroom), conviction (our sense of the importance that students “get” what we are teaching), and rationale, which Brookfield defines as the ability to “talk out loud the reasons for . . . classroom decisions, course design, and evaluative criteria” (63).

Sections of Brookfield’s  discussion of authenticity may raise some eyebrows.  He claims we must manifest congruence between what we say we will do and what we do; full disclosure (“regularly making public the criteria, expectations, agendas and assumptions that guide [one’s] practice”); responsiveness (convincing students that what you are teaching actually will help them); and personhood (the more controversial part): one’s ability to allow students to know that we are indeed human beings with personal lives outside the classroom (67-71).

Brookfield’s reflections on this final attribute and the problem of balancing self-disclosure and professional boundaries is typical of the book as a whole—nuanced, clear, and brief.

John Lanci
Professor, Religious Studies

Faculty Reflection: Using Arts-Based Research to Facilitate Active Learning

For this “Faculty Reflection,” Patricia Leavy (Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology) writes about using arts-based projects in her classes as a way to engage students more actively in their learning.

“Beyond Films in the Classroom: Using Arts-Based Research to Facilitate Active Learning”

Professors often turn to films as a teaching tool. We typically use film to illustrate, punctuate and engage. I myself integrate films into most of my courses. However, as a result of my recent explorations into teaching and learning strategies coupled with my research in the area of innovative approaches to scholarship, I have come to realize that although films can be useful, they are primarily a passive method of engagement and there are alternatives.

I realize that sounds like an oxymoron but consider the following example. One could spend their free time watching a television program and be “engaged” in so far as the program captures their attention. Contrast this scenario with spending one’s free time taking a walk, doing yoga, playing tennis, or knitting. In the second scenario the person is actively engaged. I suggest the same is true in our teaching. I have recently replaced some film viewing with arts-based research in three of my courses. The results astounded me and I have come to realize that, in essence, I swapped passive learning for active learning.

Faculty Reflections: Putting Cortes on Trial

This week I’m debuting what I hope will become a regular feature on “Class Notes”: guest posts by Stonehill faculty reflecting on what’s working in their classrooms. Anyone who would like to be a future guest to the blog, please contact me.

Our inaugural post comes from Brooke Barbier, a Stonehill Fellow in the History department. For her GH100 “Critical Encounters in History” course, she had her students put Cortes on trial for genocide as part of a unit on the Conquest of Mexico.

Read on for Professor Barbier’s description of the assignment and her reflection on how well it worked.