Instructional quality always has been important to UI

Words matter. As an English Professor I know this. Indeed, this is hardly specialized knowledge. Most of us know this. As a University President, Bruce Harreld should particularly be expected to know this, but apparently doesn't, having advanced shooting as his pedagogical response to the instance of an 'unprepared” instructor.

Words matter. What exactly does President Harreld mean when he talks about 'walking into a classroom without a teaching plan?” Would that be a systematic and rigorous pedagogy concerned with the difference between 'deep” and 'shallow” learning? Would that be a carefully planned syllabus for the semester? Would that be a knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of classroom practices such as lecture, discussion, and group activities? Would it be an understanding of the importance of assignment strategies and grading rubrics? Would that be a clear set of goals for that particular class session? And, perhaps most important, does President Harreld believe that this is a common problem at the University of Iowa?

Words matter. So do facts. Was President Harreld's comment about walking into a classroom without 'a teaching plan” responding to any documented problem with graduate instructor teaching at the University of Iowa? President Harreld has made improving preparation of instructors one of his few specifically articulated goals for the University. Now this is a goal everyone, everywhere should and almost certainly does share: improving teaching has always been one of the most important goals of every department, program, and faculty member I have known over my 37 years at Iowa. As the saying goes, 'Good enough isn't,” and even exemplary teaching can always be improved.

But, is the state of teaching training - particularly graduate instructor training - at Iowa so shoddy that a firing squad needs to be referenced as incentive for improvement? How much factual information does President Harreld have about the current state of teacher training programs across the university? Have departmental and program reviews identified teacher training as a 'problem” across the university? No doubt, there are anecdotal reports about poorly prepared or unprepared instructors at Iowa. No doubt, every teacher training program at Iowa could and should be made more rigorous and more effective. But, is the best way to effect improvement in these programs to first and foremost draconian (if flippantly non-literal) punishment for whatever President Harreld means when he refers to 'walking into a classroom without a teaching plan”?

For the six years I served as chair of the English Department and for the seven years I served as director of the General Education Literature Program, I was ultimately responsible for insuring the quality of our teaching, whether by faculty or teaching assistants. As Gen Ed Lit Director, I was directly responsible for teacher training of new teaching assistants and for the continued effectiveness of veteran TAs. Over and over I was stunned by the quality and dedication of the teaching assistants in the Gen Ed Lit Program. I could point to the number of teaching awards won by faculty and teaching assistants over those years as a sign of our commitment to outstanding teaching. I could point to the hundreds of classes I and other faculty visited and were impressed by over those years. I could point toward thousands of highly positive student evaluations I and other faculty read over those years. And I could point to the countless hours we spent helping our faculty and teaching assistants identify areas in their teaching that could be improved.

What I could not point to is a single complaint that an instructor at any level 'walked into the classroom without a teaching plan.” Sure, there were the inevitable complaints that grading was too hard, that the books chosen for study were not what a student liked, that the schedule for the class was not being followed closely enough, that some class discussions seemed to go astray, that some papers were not graded soon enough, and that some lectures seemed to digress in ways that seemed to have nothing to do with the focus of the class, but there was never a complaint that a class did not have a syllabus or was apparently taught 'without a teaching plan.” Can't speak for other departments and programs and don't want to claim that all of us at the University of Iowa are outstanding teachers, but I do want to challenge President Harreld to be more specific in his references to poorly prepared or unprepared teaching instructors and to be positive rather than vaguely threatening in his approach to improving teaching at Iowa.

Words matter. And it deeply concerns me that we now have a University of Iowa President who needs to be reminded of this.

' Brooks Landon is Herman J. and Eileen S. Schmidt Professor in the Iowa English Department.