Interesting letter in the NYT

I liked this letter that was responding to an article entitled 'A Solution for bad teaching, Op. Ed. Feb. 6th.

What do you think?

To the Editor:

The reason so many college professors are inadequate teachers is that they are not required to take a single course on the art of teaching. A would-be public-school teacher, on the other hand, typically has to take extensive classes on the theory of teaching, plus a semester observing a master teacher for one day a week, followed by a rigorous semester of daily student teaching in which he or she is constantly monitored and evaluated.

University professors, on the other hand, are required to take nary a class and, while they may be masters of their field, may also be woefully inadequate in conveying their knowledge to students. The reason adjuncts are perceived as more effective teachers than full-time faculty members is that many of them have actually been trained as teachers, something largely not true of college professors.

It’s time for a major shake-up in university education.

GILLIAN R. HETTINGER
Pompton Plains, N.J., Feb. 6, 2014

The writer is a retired high school English teacher and an adjunct instructor in the English department of William Paterson University.