How to win over the teaching challenges
Teaching challenges
New faculty members will face a number of challenges as they begin their role as an academic. Each institution, college, department and classroom may face a unique combination of challenges, but they fall into some general categories. Accomplished faculty are not daunted by these challenges, and if new faculty members anticipate them and navigate around, over or through them, their level of success will increase, along with their level of satisfaction. A few of the common categories are explored, with some suggestions for overcoming them. Talk with colleagues, check on campus policies, brainstorm with students, and be creative. Addressing challenges with a sense of humor helps place the challenges in perspective.
Resource availability
The availability of resources in institutions varies widely. When interviewing, it is helpful to ask about teaching resources that are of importance to your style of teaching. These may include technology, space, laboratory supplies, models, simulations, specimens, library materials, support for writing/math/technology skills, and many others. Know the budget available to support your teaching, and how to order needed materials. Look for teaching support in the form of grants, equipment, mentoring, and professional development activities. If your campus does not provide them, there may be community, professional or governmental organizations or associations that may help. Being an accomplished instructor can be a bit like being a scavenger, collecting materials over a lifetime of teaching to develop a comprehensive set of teaching support materials. New faculty members should begin developing a wish list of materials and thinking about ways to go about procuring them.
Student skills
All faculty face students with a wide range of skills, abilities, and experiences. Being aware of the range and how to support students to help them each learn is a characteristic of an accomplished instructor. There are external supports on each campus in the form of centers for writing, math, and computer skills. There are counseling centers to help students address emotional issues that may interfere with learning. Some skills are discipline specific and need to be explicitly taught. These can be incorporated into course content, or required as modules to be completed outside of class, as appropriate. Accomplished faculty address the diverse needs of their students by becoming aware of the needs, locating resources to support students and making referrals, and teaching those skills that are critical to student learning success.
Student behavior
In spite of college students being adults, their expectations for what is appropriate in a college classroom varies widely. New faculty members need to address behavior directly. Most often appropriate behavior is addressed in the form of policies outlined in the course syllabus and discussed when going over the syllabus. If issues still arise, it is most effective to address them quickly and directly. Issues may include: plagiarism, ethical dilemmas, rudeness, disrespect, attendance, lack of preparation for class, interruptions or inattentiveness, among others. New faculty members are most successful when they have anticipated the possible issues, and determined a response in advance. Many issues are appropriately addressed in the syllabus, and discussed at the beginning of class. This practice helps avoid many problems by clarifying expectations and consequences before an incident occurs.
Classroom environment
College classrooms are shared by many people and this multi-use situation can cause challenges. Classrooms may be occupied when class is scheduled to begin, tables and desks may be dirty, trash left behind by previous students, trash cans overflowing, whiteboards may be filled with writing from other classes, equipment broken or malfunctioning, or furniture may have been rearranged. Some classes have more enrolled students than chairs, others are awkwardly arranged for the style of teaching planned. Many campuses are overcrowded leaving few options, but new faculty members can be prepared by looking at the space assigned and finding out if there are alternative spaces available, alternative ways to arrange the room, replacement equipment or repair personnel available, or alternative equipment types to support their teaching. You will never know unless you ask, and do a bit of investigation. Sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease.
Issues of difference
University faculty members have long noted particular challenges faced by individuals who differ from their colleagues and community in any of a number of ways. This may include gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, urban / rural, or political commitments, among others. While typically a university community better addresses these issues of difference than other settings, there remain some particular challenges for instructors, and these may be particularly acute for new faculty members. These situations are best addressed directly, openly and early on to minimize the impact on an individual’s career.