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Fall 2006
Volume 06, Number 1

Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy

Letter to the Editor

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In response to a question from one of the editors concerning his thoughts on teaching, Manfred S. Frings, emeritus professor at DePaul University, sent us the following reflections on his long career as a teacher and teacher-trainer in philosophy.

To the Editors:

Your request reminded me of some rules from way back, coming from the boot-camp of my teachers’ training college in Germany. 1) I was strongly admonished to speak very slowly during the first class while introducing my subject to them, 2) told to ask students repeatedly whether they understand what I was saying (I encouraged them also not to be bashful—to ask questions whenever they think they need to), 3) asked to tell students to summarize what I had said after half of the class time was over and to check their notes, 4) told to dictate at the end of each class a summary of what had been covered that day so that they would have material about it at home to review, and 5) told to start each class with a review given by a student (selecting one when none of them volunteers). My practice was to tell them in the first class that a review by them counts heavily toward making a good final grade, but if the review had not been good enough, it would not count against their final grade.

Here are a few additional hints. 1) Always wear respectable attire. 2) During the first class, if possible, tell an interesting story, one not necessarily related to subject of class. It may be drawn from sports, for instance. This will raise the level of attention. 3) Encourage students to participate in class and always ask questions for them to answer. Give each once in a while a good grade, and keep a record of the good answers a student has given on the class sheet. 4) By keeping such a record, good students will be encouraged to set an example for the others, but always keep close contact with the not-so-fortunate students: give them advice after class, tell them where they stand, and sometimes let them do some extra work if needed to improve their grade levels. 5) Never treat students as though they were qualitatively all alike or the same. It kills the incentive to form their own educational goals and to pay attention in class.

It always took me some time to realize that undergraduate students appreciated such methods. But they are always slow and nervous at the beginning, as I am sure you know, when they have a new teacher.

Cordially,
Manfred S. Frings
manfred@frings.us

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