The Philosophers' Cocoon

Sam Duncan (Tidewater CC) recently wrote a guest-post for us on how people in our profession often seem to perceive teaching jobs in a negative light. Because we do our PhDs at research universities, we are socialized to want research jobs–for prestige, ample time and resources for research, low teaching loads, and so on. Indeed, Sam is far from alone among my philosophy friends for encountering negative reactions to his job. As Sam recounted, when he told one of his grad school professors about his community college job, the response was "Well you deserve a better job but it’s a step up." I've heard many similar stories. One of my other friends (a well-accomplished researcher at a SLAC job) mentioned recently than when people learn where she works, they act like she's from Jaaku.

However, what are teaching jobs actually like? As Sam put it, his job is "actually a really good job by almost any objective measure." I've had a similar experience, and recently got to thinking about some of the benefits of working at a teaching school. Having worked at one for nine years now (after working for one year at a research school), here is a short list of some of the unexpected upsides I've experienced:

1. Less concern for prestige and rankings

Recently, one of my philosopher friends who works at an R1 fielded a discussion of things that make people unhappy in academic jobs. One of the first things listed was prestige. While I'm sure some people who work at teaching schools may care about prestige and rankings, my experience is that these things are far less a part of the culture at teaching schools…and to me at least, it is a real breath of fresh air. Are people happy at a teaching school if you publish in a good journal? Sure–but nobody makes a big deal over these sorts of things (I've heard journal rankings mentioned maybe once in all of my nine years). Although my experience could be unique, my sense (from talking to friends at other schools) is that many other teaching schools are similar in this regard.

2. Teaching lots of different undergrad classes can actually be fun and research-inspiring

One thing that was also mentioned in my friend's thread is that it can be a drag to always teach the same kinds of classes. When I worked in a research VAP, I only taught courses in my AOS (ethics & political)–and my sense is that this is pretty standard at R1s. Sure, you may teach grad seminars on cutting edge topics…but if you work at an R1 and you specialize in ethics, chances are you're not going to be teaching metaphysics (a specialist in metaphysics will do that). My teaching job isn't at all like this. I often teach ancient philosophy – class I probably wouldn’t get to teach at an R1…and adore teaching it. This semester I'm teaching Minds, Brains, & Metaphysics – another class I would probably never get to teach at an R1…and it has been a total blast. Teaching a lot of different classes might sound like a drag…but actually, far more often than not, it reminds me of everything I love about philosophy. First, it's cool to return afresh to arguments or figures I studied as an undergraduate or grad student but then forgot about, exploring them all over again with undergraduates. Second, teaching a new course can be a source of unexpected research ideas–which makes class not only fun (exploring new ideas you're interested in), but also useful (in terms of inspiring new papers). Finally, teaching in a lot of different areas can keep one's philosophical vision broad rather than too focused in one's AOS–another unexpected benefit. 

3. Undergraduate engagement

Another thing I’ve heard some people complain about is "disengaged undergraduate students." Here again, my experience couldn’t be more different. Maybe it’s the smaller class sizes, but by and large my experience working a teaching school has been that a good number of students are really interested in philosophy and engaged with the material. It’s also rewarding to work with and get to see students grow outside of classes, such as in working to with clubs, debate teams, etc.—and to see recent majors graduate and go onto do great things. Believe it or not, feeling you’re making some difference in students’ lives is pretty cool!

4. Less tenure stress

We’ve recently discussed how stressful the tenure process can be—and how common tenure denials can be at high-ranking R1’s. I can only imagine how stressful those jobs must be–feeling as though you must publish constantly in places like Mind, Nous, PPR, etc., to even have a chance at tenure. The tenure process at teaching schools is different. No, tenure is by no means assured: one has to publish, document effective teaching and service, etc. But I've known far fewer people denied tenure at teaching schools, and the tenure requirements tend to be very different, especially when it comes to journal rankings. Indeed, my own personal experience is that it can be a real joy not to have to worry about publishing in Mind or whatever. One can just write on things one cares about, and so long as you publish in places your institution values, things are all good.

5. Appreciation & community

Finally, teaching schools can have a real sense of community—one where people generally support each other, care about the institution, and recognize and appreciate people’s work (as teachers, researchers, etc.). Sure, of course, not all schools or departments may be this way—but still, it is something that exists, and which can I think be a surprisingly important and positive part of a job.

My remarks here have focused on the unexpected upsides of teaching jobs. Are there downsides, too? Sure. If one values research, one is likely to have far less time than one might like (most of my research happens during the summer). And yes, there is a lot of teaching prep. And grading. It can be a ton of work, and work-life balance can be tough. But these are things that everyone probably knows. It’s the upsides of teaching jobs I think people may be less aware of, which is why I thought it might be helpful to share some of them.

But these are just some of my thoughts and experiences. If you work at a teaching school, are there any unexpected upsides/downsides you think people (particularly present or future job-candidates) should know? If so, what are they?