The Socratic Dilemma

Are our teaching practices sanctioned by society because they are best practice, or do we define them as best practice because they are sanctioned by society?

I began to teach in UK higher education six years ago. As I began my PhD in history I knew that it was important, in a vague sort of way, that I obtain some teaching experience if I were to continue in academia. I approached the convener of the department's core first-year module, a survey of European History since 1500. After a few basic questions regarding my research background and my desire to obtain some teaching experience, I was offered two 12-student seminars. I was told that the students should do the required reading and I should facilitate a discussion of a pre-selected set of primary sources on that week's topic. I was told that I would be fine.

I have come a long way since that cold November afternoon. Years of seminar experience had honed my senses to be able to differentiate between lazy and struggling students and to understand the ratio of directed and open discussion needed to meet the module's learning outcomes. Yet, despite solid feedback from my students, these seemed necessary but insufficient indicators of excellent teaching. There remained a je ne sais quoi that surrounded excellent history lecturers; an intangible quality that I strove to obtain.

Over the past two years I have been employed by the History Subject Centre, working with new and experienced lecturers and tutors from across the country (indeed, the world) to better support and share best practice in history teaching. As I attended conferences and workshops, or settled down with the latest issue of Teaching in Higher Education, I came across an almost chaotic divergence in opinion on what constituted best practice. More importantly, I found that, like my Scottish emigrants, who strove to find an ideal new home, history lecturers were torn between their ideals--sharing their passion for history with students and helping to develop well-rounded individuals--and their obligations to a shifting set of standards. These came not only from regulatory bodies, who in truth often apply a light touch and are very accepting of input from practitioners on the ground, but from society at large through the speeches of politicians and the headlines of the national media.

Thus, I was left with the question: Are our teaching practices sanctioned by society because they are best practice, or do we define them as best practice because they are sanctioned by society?

In the end, as I sifted through the tangential and the exceptional, I found that our aims and ideals were not so divergent after all. Most of us, students, lecturers and regulators alike, continue to pursue excellent teaching because we see a genuine value in arts education that should be retained, even in times of economic and political uncertainty. I therefore dedicate this blog to the pursuit of teaching excellence and to the man who inspires my own teaching philosophy. Here’s to your Socrates. May we never stop questioning in our pursuit of knowledge.