The Craft of University Teaching

by Peter Lindsay

What does university teaching – as a craft – look like? What changes does a craft perspective suggest for higher education? The Craft of University Teaching addresses these questions in both a general sense – What does the act of teaching become when treated as a craft? What changes to a professor’s educational philosophy does it require? – and with respect to the practical, everyday tasks of university professors, such as the use and misuse of technology, the handling of academic dishonesty, the assignment of course reading, and the instilling of enthusiasm for learning. Intended for professors of all academic disciplines who either enjoy teaching or wish to enjoy it more, The Craft of University Teaching is a provocative and accessible book containing practical advice gleaned from the academic literature on pedagogy. In an era of increased bureaucratic oversight, rapidly diminishing budgets, and waves of technological distraction, The Craft of University Teaching provokes reflection on matters of pedagogy that are too often taken as settled. In so doing, it seeks to reclaim teaching as the intellectually vibrant and intrinsically rewarding endeavor that it is.

Genres: Teaching

200 pages, Hardcover

Published September 18, 2018

Reviews

[Bookish Trina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! I wish I’d found Peter Lindsay’s The Craft of University Teaching when I became a college instructor years ago. From its teachable moments to its mirth--this book is a game changer!

As a college instructor with 5 years of instruction in general education and law courses, my 25 years of professional and practical experience only brought me so far. This book meets you where you are and has the transformative power to assist with honing the craft of instruction, all while laying the scaffolding for its reader to become a sound professional in the field of college/university teaching.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[C. A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very thoughtful insights on teaching adults, based on the author's personal experience.

[Marks54 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book by a Professor of Political Theory at Georgia State University on his thinking about classroom teaching at the university level as a craft based activity. By “craft”, Professor Lindsay is concerned with getting the instructor to fully engage with the design and conduct of a given classs. The instructor as craftsman engages with the class and its students and works to foster a strong motivation on the part of students to learn about the course subject matter and then to follow through with the students so motivated by creating an environment in which learning can effectively occur. The alternative to this approach is not well spelled out in the book but appears to be some sort of standardized approach to a class - a “one size fits all”. Another alternative is an ill thought out approach in which neither students nor teachers are engaged. Lindsay presents a number of chapters providing LSU port for this craft view of teaching, especially concerning technology in the classroom, the selection of course readings, and even how to handle cheating. It is sometimes difficult to follow what Professor Lindsay is arguing against and few of the academics I know would take serious issue with his analysis, as far as it goes. In many areas of academia, teaching is not given its due, especially by tenure track faculty and especially in academic programs for undergraduate students. Lindsay’s claim that undergraduate teaching needs to be taken very seriously is a defensible one and certainly worthy of support.

Why only three stars? I was disappointed by the book and have a number of issues with it that are difficult to resolve. Some of these follow below.

1) Who would seriously disagree with this? Maybe some, but for the most part the points raised by Professor Lindsay are fairly common and not matters of great dispute among teachers.

2) The exposition structure of the book was annoying. The book takes the form of an “intellectual journey”, in which Lindsay introduces a few key intuition and buzzwords and then begins (slowly) to develop his argument about teaching as a craft. Maybe Lindsay has had some success in classes or in academic papers with this approach. I am not a fan of this, however, and wondered how many readers would be around at the end, where Lindsay finally ties the strands of his argument together. Why not just present the argument? The intended audience for this book appears to be faculty and advanced graduate students so I would argue that the Socratic wandering at the start of the case does not need to be led by the nose or to have its objections and presumptions questioned.

3) The craft idea could have been developed more intensively. “Craft” is a production mode that is distinguished from standardization. It implies the potential for a radical customization of teaching activity to get the most out of the situation where specific teachers, students, facilities, and conditions come together. Craft production, as Sennett and other have developed, involves the active engagement of teachers in the design and delivery of a course. There is an inherent endogeneity in which the instructor designs and plans the course, delivers the course to students, evaluates his/her efforts on the basis of grades, feedback, and other factors, and then revises the course to improve it for the next offering. This situation is filled with implications for individual students, class groups, and larger groupings around programs and departments. Unfortunately, the book focused almost exclusively on the teacher and individual students. This was a wasted opportunity.

Lindsay is clearly an experienced teacher and a keen observer. Unfortunately, his teaching examples *moments” did not come across as very interesting. Most experienced professors have lots of different examples to choose from that have strongly shaped their approach to teaching. I did not find Lindsay’s particularly distinctive.

There is enough in the book, however, to make it of some value for faculty development and the book is worth reading.

[Biljana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might be of interest to some professors who are mid- to late career and who want to think about their teaching in a slightly different way. Or it would be an interesting read for a teaching circle focused on discussing ideas about teaching. For a new instructor, though, I would recommend other books that are more focused on developing your craft as a professor instead.

The author constructs this book around teachable moments and considers various topics, including technology, assigned readings and whether we teach to them or assume that students have read them, and also cheating.

Although I did find a few interesting ideas in this book, there was a lot that didn't work for me. He argues that writing a script for teaching and then reading from it is a good idea, but he abhors Powerpoint. He suggests that cheating is caused by the professor and the environment shaped by the professor, but ignores that some of that environment is not under our control. I understand that many of his statements are meant to provoke, but it felt as though those statements would be a better starting point for a discussion amongst a group of academics instead of in the form of a book.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the University of Toronto Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

[Liz Norell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've spent a good portion of the last year really struggling with a verb we use all too often in academia: "cover." As in: "Today in class, we covered Congress." or "This class covers 15 chapters in the textbook." What does 'cover' actually mean, though?

I turned to this book mostly on its positive reviews on Amazon, and I was not disappointed. Peter Lindsay writes in an engaging and passionate fashion about teaching as a craft -- an avocation, not just a vocation. My favorite part of the book came on page 37, where he turns to this concept of covering material:

"It is highly probable that the more cover the material in class, the less inclined students will be to cover it on their own outside of class. ... The more knowledge we seek to impart, the less able we are able to do so in a pedagogically interesting manner, and, as a result, the less likely students are to impart it by themselves later."

I wholeheartedly recommend this relatively quick read for all those who teach college, as it will have you thinking carefully about how you conduct your classes... and, more importantly, what you hope students will get out of the experience of your class. I've got some careful thinking to do now.... :)

[Dev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puts ground under my feet.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a well written and often funny presentation about University teaching. The use of examples called “teachable moments” in the introduction sets the stage for the rest of the chapters. Everyone who has ever taught at the University level would be familiar with the situations and feelings presented, especially if they cared about their students actually learning! The following six chapters are each building on the idea of the difference in the objective versus subjective aspects of teaching. Or as some would describe it the science and the art of teaching. Chapter one is a sort of introspective about the craft (art) and the goals that professors set for themselves. One salient argument is about the idea of “covering material” or the “motivation to learn” material. The question can be stated "is there antithesis between covering and motivating?"

Chapter 2 takes a slightly different tack and one that again any professor is aware of or even any student at probably any level is aware of although may not be able to articulate –success is determined by who we are rather than what we do. The author looks at rubrics as being to routined for real learning to take place. Looking at “best teaching practices” may be only a short/temporary fix and could be seen relating to the objective/science of teaching. Lindsay might even suggest if you are not interested in the material or even the student to “fake it.”

In the very next chapter (3), the author seems to shift focus and seems to argue that teaching is not about personality. But learning and success may be heavily dependent on what we assign. This gives focus to what a professor thinks is important. We need to create that which excites.

Chapter 4 looks at the use of technology and the author admits to being both a technophobe as well as a luddite when technology is mentioned. Several interesting points of view concerning online classes and the ubiquitous PowerPoint slide decks are presented. He makes the point that technology consumes more time than it deserves.

Plagiarism and its reason is among the focal areas in Chapter 5. It is not enough to see what plagiarism is (through the examples provided) but to analyze why and to dig deeper in the various types. An appendix is provided on what plagiarism is and methods to help avoid it.

The last chapter is sort of a rehash of the many factors involved in the craft/art of teaching. The author seems to suggest that how we might approach changes in what we do colors anything and everything we do as professors. This discussion is only a beginning as we craft people need practice to become more perfect in our craft/art.

For any faculty member or administrator this would be a great professional development piece and could easily form the basis in community of practice seminars. I’d give it a big thumbs up for both the depth and sensitivity that is used as well as being well written and entertaining at the same time it is thought-provoking.

[Rt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought-provoking discussion of various teaching dilemmas, including cheating, and suggestions for how to think about solving them for your own, individualized teaching persona. Teaching as craft, Lindsay suggests, means teaching as an end in itself, teaching people to want to learn. Advice I liked: “When teaching abstract concepts, start with concrete examples; in fact, it is best to reverse the common order used to explain a concept. … every step [in the conventional order] is an effort to remedy the confusion created by the previous one: the definition seeks to capture the word, the explanation seeks to clarify the definition, and the examples seek to concretize the explanation. Instead of each step preparing students for the next one, each is reduced to doing damage control for the preceding one.” Likewise, Lindsay is no fan of rubrics: “if an assignment can be reduced to a set of boxes for my checking, it hardly seems worth my trouble to read it.” Nor is he a fan of technology in the classroom, unless it works for a particular teacher as a tool to generate excitement about learning.

Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost: History of the massive white violence in the Belgian Congo (and surrounds) that claimed ten million lives at the turn of the twentieth century in search of profit and control. It’s a chilling story, including cautionary elements about Leopold’s excellent press manipulation, as well as some significant heroes, including an African-American preacher/activist and a shipping accountant-turned-activist who noticed that cargoes weren’t going out with enough trade goods to account for the riches they brought back.

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I found most interesting were the insights shared here, from the student essays to the approach to various situations that came up in Academia that challenged the author's way of thinking. Thanks NetGalley for the eARC, this would be a great read for those who teach, who aspire to teach and in one way or another ask themselves questions about the craft of teaching at the university level.