This is a summary of the major conclusions stated in Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004), that was read and discussed by twenty-six UNCA colleagues during the Spring 2005 semester.The questions, as well as the indented material, were taken directly from the book, i.e., they are direct quotations (with page numbers in parentheses).The three additional points are just that, some ideas that stood out but were not necessarily stressed by Bain.
What do the best teachers know and understand?
Without exception, outstanding teachers know their subjects extremely well.They are all active and accomplished scholars, artists, or scientists (15).
How do they prepare to teach?
Exceptional teachers treat their lectures, discussion sections, problem-based sessions, and other elements of teaching as serious intellectual endeavors as intellectually demanding and important as their research and scholarship (17).
What do they expect of their students?
Simply put, the best teachers expect “more.” . . . they avoid objectives that are arbitrarily tied to the course and favor those that embody the kind of thinking and acting expected for life (17-18).
How do they treat students?
Highly effective teachers tend to reflect a strong trust in students.They usually believe that students want to learn, and they assume, until proven otherwise, that they can (18).
How do they check their progress and evaluate their efforts?
All the teachers we studied have some systematic program . . . to assess their own efforts and make appropriate changes.Furthermore, because they are checking their own efforts when they evaluate their students, they avoid judging them on arbitrary standards (19).
Three additional points:
“Even the best teachers have bad days, as they scramble to reach students” (19).
The best teachers “didn’t blame their students for any of the difficulties they faced” (19).
The best teachers “generally had a strong sense of commitment to the academic community and not just to personal success in the classroom” (20).