My mom was a teacher. My aunts were teachers. My uncles were teachers. Of all the professions I have ever interacted with, teachers have had the most impact on me. The point is that I value teaching a great deal. This past year I finally qualified for a faculty position at the University of Science and Technology (UST). So I was extremely honored last week when I was named the new vice-chair of the UST-KIST Biomedical Graduate Program. I am not sure why I was named vice-chair. I'm not sure what the vice-chair officially does, but it doesn't matter. To break the cultural and language barriers means a great deal to me. Korea has offered me some wonderful opportunities, and I am happy to play my part in further developing the scientific foundation of Korean Science, educating graduate students.
Teaching is much more than just providing information. Teaching is the art of learning: how to ask questions, make observations, dealing with unknowns.... On this, the sixth anniversary of my blog, I would like to share some teaching experiences that are very dear to me.
When I first graduated college, I didn't really know what I was going to do. I ended up working in a restaurant at night and was occasionally a substitute teacher at my former high school. I liked being a substitute teacher. I got to teach classes ranging from art to biology to history and math. I did not like teaching honor classes. The students would look down on me wondering what a substitute teacher could possibly teach them. I much preferred the remedial classes, the students people had given up on, the hoods. Those students responded very well to simple respect and expecting them to learn.
One remedial class I will never forget. I arrive at 8 a.m. and look at the lesson plan. First class was Earth Science. Second class was Math. And the last class of the day was sex education. SEX EDUCATION? I'm 23-24 and I'm about to teach sex ed to 18 year-olds with no warning. Talk about dreading the end of the day. There were eight students in that class. Five were girls, one of whom was in a wheel chair which for reasons I still do not understand added to my uneasiness. The topic was contraception. The book listed several methods and we were to discuss them. Great. The first method was abstinence. So I wrote on the board abstinence and said the first thing I could think of.
"Abstinence. Unfortunately, this is the method I use. Not on purpose, but such is life."
Instantly, the tension was broken. We discussed condoms, IUDs, the pill... There was an actual discussion with high-schoolers about contraception. I learned a lot. A recurring theme throughout my life has been that just knowing you are not the only one suffering from whatever it is your are suffering from helps. Only two of the students had had sex. I guess the other students felt better about themselves knowing their teacher was struggling with life as well.
About a month later I was teaching a math class. The topic was algebra and most of the students were hoods. It was late April and many of them had just given up. Given my recent experience with these students I knew forcing them wasn't going to work, so I asked what the problem was.
"I don't get these letters. It makes no sense. It's like a foreign language," one girl tells me.
"Okay," I reply, "what is 2 plus 2?"
"4", she says
"What is 5 plus 5?"
She says, "10".
"What is x plus x?"
She has no idea. I repeat the questions. When I ask what is x plus x this time, the smile on her face was priceless. "2x", she says. I ask, "what is y plus y?" She answers, "2y."
A week later in the faculty dining lounge, an extremely attractive teacher (the kind high school boys dream of as well as 24 year-old substitute teachers) comes up to me and asks if I taught her math class last week. I stammer a weak yes. She tells me that one of the girls in her class handed in a homework assignment and got a 95%. I was like great. She says,"No. You don't understand. This was the first homework assignment she has handed in all year. What did you do?" I told her I wasn't sure. The next day the attractive teacher was having lunch talking about how she had broken up with her boyfriend. He was a hunter and that was one of the things she didn't like. She was sitting next to a teacher I had when I was a student there. As I took my tray back, I stopped in front of them and told my old teacher, "I really don't like to hunt." That line fell so flat. Complete fail. Lead balloons are more successful. Indeed, from that moment on, I just do a walk-by. I practice abstinence way too much and not on purpose.
Several years later at KIST, these moments are still occurring (yes, the abstinence too, but let's focus on the teaching). A group of undergraduates are visiting my department. They are interested in careers in research and possibly intern over the summer. I walk into my lab, and one of my students is giving them a tour. He says maybe Doctor Baker would be better at explaining what we do. I ask how much time do I have. When he tells me only 5 minutes, I decide to take a different approach.
"Instead of trying to cram our research into 5 minutes, let's talk a little about what research is." This question was initially an attempt to gauge their English ability, but it leads to one of those moments of inspiration. Some of the students say it is doing experiments which is a good start.
"Yes, that's part of it, but what does research mean? Research. Two parts, re and search, right? So, search - to look, to seek, to find, to explore. Re? to do again and again. Why do we have to keep searching? Because we are going to fail, and fail, and fail. Indeed, we will fail far more than we will succeed, right? Science is hard which is good. If it was easy, it would already have be done. Besides, being right all the time is boring. I know you all are doing well in class, but research is more than just knowing. It is finding out why you're wrong. And when you do, those are the moments when you have a chance to see what no one has ever seen before. This! This is why we do science."
The expressions on their faces melted me. I knew I had hit home. Career decisions are hard and often wrong. I think letting them know that failure is okay, is normal, and can even be amazing encouraged their decisions, strengthened their sense of purpose.
The final example happened just last week. I am teaching a field research course on voltage imaging. Field research courses are basically lab courses. I have four students, two of which work in my lab. We meet once a week and go over concepts and theories. Last week, we started imaging. One of my students demonstrated the procedure using a voltage-sensitive dye. When she was done, I turned to another student and said, "Your turn." The look of fear on her face was immense. She refused. She said she couldn't do it. "Your time is precious and you shouldn't waste it on me."
"You are right. Time is precious, and do you know one of the most precious ways to spend time?"
After a few seconds of silence, I answered my own question. "By teaching students. Teaching students is one of the best ways of spending time."
She sat down at the scope, found some cells, and with the assistance of my students was able to image voltage. "I'm so happy. I can't believe it. I feel so strong. I want to do more."
Teaching is much more than just providing information. Teaching is also giving people the confidence to try new things. We will fail. Failure is normal. But if we are willing to learn, failure will lead to success. Teaching, therefore, gives you the opportunity to succeed. I come from a family of teachers, and I am very grateful.
