In 1979, fresh out of undergrad, I was plunked down in front of a class full
of University of Michigan students barely younger than I--in some cases
older--and told to teach them intro philosophy. I had no training or
preparation. I think they now have some seminars on that for new TAs. Ohio
State, where I was a professor, also had no training for its new TA's in
1989-94, my years there.
>
>Michael Yates wrote:
>
>>Two comments: Most teachers are not
>>very good at it and do not take the time to learn how to teach
>>effectively.
>
>Do any graduate programs actually teach people how to teach? In my
>brief career as a graduate TA - one semester of composition, one
>semester of 20th century American literature - we were just thrown
>into class with virtually no preparation. Since everyone had been a
>student, it was simply assumed that everyone knew how to teach. Is it
>any different elsewhere?
>
>Doug
>
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