Teaching and Learning about Teaching and Learning

Review by Robert A. Denemark

Department of Political Science, University of Delaware

The Art of Teaching and Learning: Best Practices from a Master Educator. By Patrick Allitt.Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company, 2010. 12 hours of DVD material plus paperbackcourse guidebook.

This is not a traditional ‘‘book’’ review, but a consideration of a series of 24 half-hour lectures designed to consider a significant range of teaching issues, primar-ily in higher education. Its publisher, The Teaching Company offers nearly 400high-quality non-credit courses in a variety of media on everything from musicappreciation to particle physics. History Professor Patrick Allitt, who directedEmory’s Center for Teaching and Curriculum, is the primary lecturer. Allittdraws additional material from interviews with six colleagues at very differentinstitutions. Among them are faculty in dedicated business programs, medicalschools, and specialists in offering various introductory courses to large lecturehalls full of students. Also included are clips of classroom activities and studentinterviews.

Allitt is a somewhat gawky Brit with a tendency toward monotonic presenta-tion, not some siren-voiced svengali capable of teaching managerial ethics,forensic entomology, or quantum computing to heads of cabbage by dint ofpure charisma. If he can teach teachers about teaching, it will be the result ofskill and insight, and not intangibles or non-transferables. This set of lectureshas real value, though some areas are covered more effectively than others, andsome suggestions should generate real controversy.

The course promises something for everyone in the realm of education. Allitttries, albeit mostly unsuccessfully, to make connections between instruction inhigher education and teaching challenges in other venues, like job-related train-ing. The value of these lectures is not their reach across educational contexts,but in the breadth of topics that will be of interest to college and university edu-cators, and rather elite ones at that. Allitt recognizes that overworked adjunctsmay not have time or latitude to adopt many of these practices, but there is stillmuch that can be gained. He is also quick to suggest that the idea that the finestand priciest schools offer the finest teachers is a myth. Nonetheless, this set oflectures will find its specific audience among those on, or heading towardtenure, lines with reasonable teaching loads.

University faculty are not trained in pedagogy, and rookie errors can persist.Individuals still early in their teaching careers will be especially advantaged byexcellent lectures in a number of important areas. The lecture titled ‘‘Planningthe Work’’ includes some interesting suggestions about syllabus design and lec-ture planning. Good use is made of student interviews. The lecture titled‘‘Teaching with PowerPoint’’ notes several non-obvious costs and benefits to theadoption of this over-used tool. The lecture titled ‘‘Cogent Thinking andWriting’’ is particularly important. As class sizes increase and writing skillsdecline, the response of a rational professorate is to drop written assignments infavor of those that are less frustrating for all concerned. This lecture provides

doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2486.2011.01061.x� 2011 International Studies Association

International Studies Review (2011) 13, 543–545

tools, tips, and examples of relatively simple exercises that allow us to help stu-dents improve their writing skills without sacrificing untold hours with red penin hand. The lecture titled ‘‘Exams, Evaluation and Feedback’’ offers excellentcomparisons among different grading mechanisms. Although the entire series isdesigned to help faculty improve their teaching, the lecture titled ‘‘Managing theChallenges of Teaching’’ might be viewed as a useful ‘‘quick-start’’ guide to newand harried faculty.

I was especially impressed with four lectures. ‘‘Dynamic Lecturing’’ provides avariety of traditional insights together with some really novel tips. The lecturetitled ‘‘Coaching Students on Presentation Skills’’ suggests efficient ways to avoidhours of painful classroom offerings. The double-lecture titled ‘‘Engaging andDiscussion’’ provides an array of tools for use in an area that I probably hear themost complaining about from my own colleagues.

Other lectures include both valuable messages and elements that beg contro-versy. That controversy is presaged by the title of Allitt’s own monograph on ped-agogy, I’m the Teacher; You’re the Student (2005), the weakness of the secondlecture titled ‘‘The Broad Range of Learners,’’ and the inappropriately placedlecture titled ‘‘The Learner’s Perspective,’’ which appears seventeenth in the ser-ies. All this suggests less respect for students than is promised or that mightotherwise be hoped for. Lectures titled ‘‘The Teacher’s Persona’’ and ‘‘TheTeacher-Student Relationship’’ pay more attention to topics like discipline andsocial distance than seems necessary. The lecture on ‘‘Teaching Critical Skills’’includes several quite useful insights, but is paired with some odd suggestionslike having students read their texts aloud during class. Any number of interest-ing questions are raised in this and other lectures, like the challenges posed byforeign students, gender expectations, and cheating, but are never explored.There is value in raising questions, and one cannot fault Allitt for failing toaddress every possible issue, but these gaps militate strongly in favor of collectiveuse of this set of DVDs and focused discussion of these materials so thatimportant discussions can be had. This is all the more relevant given the misun-derstandings that can arise from the spoken word. An off-handed suggestion inthe sixth lecture about how to turn occasional instances of hero-worship intoenhanced academic performance suggests a degree of manipulation that borderson the creepy. Inexperienced teachers need to weigh the implications of suchsuggestions.

More seasoned teachers may be in better shape to appreciate the lecturestitled ‘‘Maintaining your Enthusiasm’’ and ‘‘Creativity and Innovation.’’ The lec-ture titled ‘‘Myths, Lies and Half-Truths’’ demystifies teaching on several levels.The lecture titled ‘‘The Anatomy of a Great Teacher’’ is an excellent review ofthe project. Unfortunately, the final lecture titled ‘‘Teaching and Civilization’’seems unnecessarily fluffy and repetitious in an otherwise tight 12-hour perfor-mance. The overall conclusions of the project are solid, if not unexpected. Greatteachers are enthusiastic, they care about their students without becomingpersonally consumed, they inspire students to become life-long learners, they seeteaching and learning as closely linked, and they never forget what it is like tobe a struggling student. In a bit of a self-serving flourish, Allitt offers teaching asthe key to continued human civilization. As the project ends, Allitt also remindsus that teaching is good honest work, though not necessarily for everyone. It iscertainly not for those who shrink from continuing to learn themselves, or shyaway from self-criticism.

There is something valuable about watching a course of lectures, as opposedto reading a text about teaching methods. Hints about how to teach moreeffectively might be perceived as easy and unproblematic when presented on theprinted page, but are not so simple on a screen where a real professor is tryingto communicate in an effective manner with real learners. For example, the

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producers have Allitt turn to face a second camera throughout the project in anattempt to make him appear a bit more dynamic. This is not particularly effec-tive. What is effective is the fact that Allitt obviously cares about his topic, isknowledgeable, well prepared, honest, and open. He works hard to reach hisaudience, and in so doing, he teaches both by word and by deed.

The DVDs come with a useful course guidebook of nearly 100 pages includinghelpful summaries and a very brief bibliography. I suggest that academic depart-ments purchase this collection so that we might all make optimal use of it. Grad-uate students could select several lectures as a foundation for discussions ofpedagogical issues, which are sorely lacking in most graduate training. Youngerfaculty will find this a beneficial resource, while senior colleagues can appreciatemany of its useful nuggets.

References

Allitt, Patrick. (2005) I’m the Teacher; You’re the Student: A Semester in the University Classroom.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

The Teaching Company. http://www.thegreatcourses.com. (Accessed August 1, 2011.)

545Robert A. Denemark