I still vividly remember the first day of the grad school this semester. It was my linguistics class, Principles of Language by Dr. Min-joo Kim. I was tired before I entered the classroom, and I was excited when I got out of the classroom. I was full of energy, joy, excitement, and delightment.
This very first class relieved all the concerns and worries about my academic choice, and since that Monday, Dr. Kim has been my role model, wanna-be, and great teacher.
The reason why I found her lecture so impressing and touching was not what she taught us that day. We did not learn much of the contents that we were supposed to cover since most of us didn't have textbook with us. Also, as the course name might imply, what she talked about was just basic ideas of what Linguistics is and its subclasses. What made me so big fan of her class was her sincerity. She told us
"I don't think all of you are my students. I think of you as my collegues because everytime I teach, I learn something new while working with every one of you. It's not because you are graduate students. It's the same as I meet undergraduate courses. It's so amazing that I discover something new from our class. So, that's my pleasure, and I am grateful that I can have you in my class."
It was just surprising to see her attitude to her students, with attachment, respect, and reponsibility. And I wondered whether I could have that kind of mindset when I get to teach my students next year, or even if it is really true that you can learn from your students. Spending over a decade of academic career, who would really be able to think they learn from students? Some people might not get that. After all, the fact is that they know more than us.
But I figure what Dr. Kim meant by that she could learn from her students was "sincerity.": Pure, passsionate, and sincere pursuit of academy. There's nowhere that we can learn this sincerity but from students. It's not on the textbook, or it's not on the tons of articles that we read every single day. No one teaches what kind of mindset we should have in teaching. The answer is right there with us, with your students.
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3 comments:
You are quite right, we can learn so much from our students (if only we will listen!)
Jeong, I have also heard Dr. Kim teaching, although only in passing from outside the classroom. Even from there I could tell she is exceptional in presentation and sincerity, so she is a good role model indeed.
Wow, this makes me want to take Dr. Kim's classes! That is just the kind of professor I want to be... sincere, and on the same plane as my grad students, instead of high above them.
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