The Art and Science of Teaching with a Little Help from my Friends
by Donna Qualters

"There are moments in the classroom when I can hardly hold the joy. When my students and I discover uncharted territory to exploreÉthen teaching is the finest work I know. But at other moments, the classroom is so lifeless or painful or confused and I am so powerless to do anything about it-that my claim to be a teacher seems a transparent sham." Parker Palmer, 1998

I first read this quote from The Courage to Teach on one of the "other moments" days. I had just come back from a very difficult class and a very unsettling experience with a student, Mindy. I first got to know Mindy when as part of the first day exercise I asked students to tell me something about themselves, something that maybe even their classmates didn't know. I started by confessing that I was a bad violinist. As we went around the class I learned about students who maintained movie review web sites, were single parents raising young children, or had written unperformed plays. When I got to Mindy, she talked about being on her own since she was 16, about how she had to fight and scrape for every bit of education she acquired, and how she was going to become a college professor. Then in the next breath she cut right to the chase and asked me why should she come to class!

     As the weeks progressed, Mindy would roll her eyes, sigh audibly, and whisper softly with classmates during class. On the other side, she was extremely bright and insightful and passionate about learning. If a class topic excited her passion, she had the intelligence and personality to draw the entire class into the discussion. On this fateful day she came to class late, sat with a bored expression and then loudly exited early. As she caught me off guard, I ignored her behavior but felt upset.

     Reading Palmer that day was very consoling and validating. It does take courage to teach. Courage to be who we are, courage to face our limitations, courage to make our passions and feelings transparent, and courage to affect human lives. This led me to thinking more about the profession I had chosen. I began to wonder, was teaching a science or an art? Unfortunately as my medical educator colleagues use to comment, there is no protocol for good teaching that insures success as there is for strep throat. There is science: knowledge about how learning occurs and research literature on good teaching practices. There is art: previous experiences to draw on, "gut" instinct or what Schon has legitimized as reflective practice, and maybe a pinch of luck. We often think of artistic endeavors as being subjective - I don't like Picasso's cubist period, but my friend does. But are they really? In reality there are basic tenets of good practice and fundamentals that must be mastered for any art whether it's painting, film, architecture, or teaching. One must explore the science of the field before one can practice the art.

     What have I learned through 15 years and a Ph.D. about faculty development in the art and science of teaching? I have worked with liberal and professional arts faculty, medical faculty, and engineering faculty in institutions ranging from community colleges to the top nationally ranked research institutions. I have consulted nationally and internationally and I have found that each of these faculties needed to explore the science of teaching together, before they could become "artists" in their discipline. In other words, to grow and develop as a teacher we need to learn, reflect, share and talk with colleagues about the science and art of teaching.

     Lee Shulman from the Carnegie Institute reminds us that teaching is the only profession in which colleagues do not talk to each other about the difficulties of their work on a regular basis. Can you imagine a physician not discussing a case with a fellow physician or a lawyer not problem solving a defense with a colleague? Of course not, so doesn't it make sense that we, as teachers, should talk to each other about teaching?

     In this spirit I discovered a model called Dialogue. Dialogue is a carefully constructed and monitored process whereby individuals are brought together to talk in a non-threatening, non-judgmental structured format designed to help establish a common language, probe practice assumptions, examine the practice assumptions of colleagues, and increase knowledge about teaching practice. I have spent the last 7 years Dialoguing with colleagues in various institutions about teaching. It has been a wonderful experience. With fellow teachers I discovered much about myself as a teacher and learned much more about the science of teaching. But most importantly, they gave me the courage to continue practicing the art of teaching.

     What happened to Mindy? I'd like to tell you that through conversations with my fellow teachers I helped her become the most passionate, dedicated accomplished student I ever had. I wishÉ..but, through conversations with my colleagues, I was able to consider at a deeper level why Mindy affected me the way she did, what made working with her so difficult. By communal sharing of ideas, techniques, and innovative methods this group helped me to connect what I knew about the science of teaching with how I was practicing the art of teaching.

     I've come to Northeastern to continue my dialoguing, to continue to grow a community of excellence in teaching and learning. I hope to encourage a fully engaged, sharing, learning community of teacher-scholars who are supported with resources, and innovative CEUT programming designed to enhance our student learning. Lastly, I hope to meet and talk with colleagues about both the art and science of one of the most joyful, frustrating, exhilarating, and maddening professions in the world - teaching.