Finding Wisdom, and Joy, in Teaching

By: Jeffrey L. Bernstein

I have used this space previously to talk about mentors who have been important to me in my teaching life and academic career, most recently to remember Professor John D Sprague, who deserves much of the credit (or bears much of the blame) for my decision to go to graduate school and become a political science professor. Many of you responded quite warmly to my piece about Professor Sprague, which I think taps into the feelings of gratitude that so many of us share for the people who helped get us to where we are today. Your comments on that piece meant a lot to me.

I've been moved to do some writing in the last few weeks since finding out that a dear friend, mentor, and perhaps even an academic hero, passed away. When Lee Schulman died on December 30, 2024, the higher education teaching community lost a giant. Lee was President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching when I had a fellowship there for the 2005-2006 academic year; he spent much of his career on the faculty at Michigan State and then Stanford. He was an inspirational role model, as well as a prolific scholar whose work on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), pedagogical content knowledge, signature pedagogies, and so many other things will long be remembered.  

I cannot fathom what my teaching would be like today if I had not met Lee, worked with him, and learned from his example. Every seminar with Lee Schulman was a treasured opportunity to learn from a master (I’m glad we all realized it at the time); I am forever grateful for the opportunities I had to learn from Lee years ago at Carnegie and in many subsequent conversations.  

To celebrate Lee's legacy, the Faculty Development Center will be holding a program on Wednesday, February 5, at 2 PM.  I will be part of a panel alongside Sarah Ginsberg (Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the FDC’s Faculty Associate Director), as well as Deborah Ball, Professor of Education and former dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan. The three of us have learned a great deal from him; we'll share some of these insights and ways that his legacy can help all of us to be even more effective in what we do.

One of the most important things Lee taught me (I’ll talk more about this at the program) is that teaching, all too often, is done in solitude. We teach alone. When class ends, we generally walk back to our offices alone. We rarely have the opportunity to share what we did or talk with others about how things went. Contrast this with research, where we often spend a great deal of time discussing ideas with colleagues and presenting our ideas to others in written drafts and at conferences.  We don't do this nearly as much in teaching, a point Lee Shulman, Randy Bass, and others have made quite compellingly.  Lee talked about ending pedagogical solitude because, in his view, teaching benefits when it is a communal exercise,  or in his words, when teaching becomes community property. 

Don’t get me wrong.  Teaching, especially good teaching, is hard. Professoring is hard, perhaps more so today than it was 20 years ago. But everything is harder if we must do it alone. The wisdom we get from others - the fortification we get from engaging in meaningful work with others - has made all the difference in my career, and in my approach to directing the FDC.  Lee’s stamp is abundantly evident in what we do here.  

Of course, we do not need to do teaching, or professoring, all alone.  As many of you know, one of the things we have been working on this year at the FDC, together with the Office of Campus & Community Writing, has been a series of programs meant to bring joy into what we do. Whether it has been celebrating National Punctuation Day, Pardoning an Emu for Thanksgiving, or in upcoming celebrations including for Opening Day of baseball season (March 27), Ann Blakeslee and I have spent a lot of time this year hoping to build community and help us all find joy and strength from each other.

One of these community-building events is coming up later this week. It will be a cooking class, done with Darlene Bellers and Eagle Nutrition Services, in which we will be making chicken and chickpea curry with naan bread.  As societies all around the world know, cooking together is a great way to build community.  Unfortunately, at this point, we have all the community that can fit into the kitchen; this event is full.  Let us know at faculty_development@emich.edu if you would like to be on the waiting list, and keep your eyes out for a future cooking class in late March. 

Thinking about joy brings me back to Lee Shulman.  As I remember Lee, I think of the ubiquitous smile on his face.  As hard as he worked, he knew he was doing work that was meaningful to him, that made a difference in the lives of students and colleagues, and that he was doing that work with others. That’s a nice way to spend a career, and a life.

I hope you will join the Faculty Development Center on February 5 to learn more about Lee Shulman and his legacy, and that you will join us (and the Office of Campus & Community Writing) for other fun events this semester.  I look forward to seeing you soon.