If there鈥檚 a teaching crisis in undergraduate education, Nick Mount doesn鈥檛 believe that it鈥檚 necessarily in the classroom.
鈥淚鈥檓 not convinced that teaching itself is in a state of crisis in the academy,鈥� says Dr. Mount, who is associate chair of the Department of English at the University of Toronto and a 3M National Teaching Fellow (Canada鈥檚 highest teaching award). 鈥淭he crisis is a numbers crisis.鈥�
And it鈥檚 a collision of those numbers, he says 鈥� rising enrolments matched with fewer teachers and declining teaching loads among existing faculty 鈥� that鈥檚 sparking the discussion about teaching in the 21st century taking place in newspaper columns, government chambers and the hallways of universities themselves.
Dr. Mount is bringing those discussions to campus on Tuesday, Nov. 13 as one of the keynote speakers at the . With lectures, panel discussions and World Caf茅, it鈥檚 an opportunity for Dal鈥檚 academic community 鈥� faculty, staff and students 鈥� to take charge of a conversation that, according to Dr. Mount, is dominated by outside voices.
鈥淲e need more teachers participating in the conversation. Right now, it鈥檚 miniscule. And that鈥檚 not surprising when we know that it鈥檚 research, by and large, that establishes pecking order among academics. I鈥檓 not saying there鈥檚 anything wrong with that, just that you can鈥檛 tell academics you鈥檙e going to reward this behaviour more than that behaviour, then be surprised when they care more about the first behaviour.鈥�
Sparking a dialogue
Dr. Mount, a two-time Dal grad (MA鈥�94, PhD鈥�01), is an accomplished author and scholar with teaching accolades to spare. In addition to his 3M Fellowship, he鈥檚 a two-time finalist in TVO鈥檚 Best Lecturer Competition, has won both the Faculty of Arts & Science鈥檚 Outstanding Teaching Award and the President鈥檚 Teaching Award at the University of Toronto, and has a National Magazine Silver Award to his name as well.
He鈥檚 worried that too much of the dialogue around undergraduate teaching is being left to those on the periphery of the classroom, hence his keynote鈥檚 title: 鈥淭he Talk About Teachers Today: Why scholarship thinks we're ignorant, Margaret Wente hates us, and the world still needs us.鈥�
He says that in the current economic climate, and with more challenging job prospects for grads with an undergraduate degree, the world outside the academy is taking an interest in university teaching in a way it never has before.
鈥淭he attention itself is absolutely deserved. I think the conversation is a great thing to have happening, and when it comes to the criticisms I think we often deserve many of them. I just get very worried when people who know nothing about the academy start coming up with solutions, and I don鈥檛 think that a lot of the solutions being kicked around are necessarily the right way to go.鈥�
Want to hear more from Dr. Mount about the sources of the rising interest in university teaching? on Tuesday, November 13 鈥� with sessions in both Halifax and Truro 鈥� or .