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Sourpuss
Having not long ago closed down a university teaching career of thirty years, I would like to go on record as saying that I wouldn't have done it for a penny less. Teaching is arduous work, entailing much grinding detail and boring repetition, interrupted only occasionally by moments of always surprising exultation. And I should like to add that I don't think I learned a thing from my students. God love 'em.
That is from Joseph Epstein's new In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage. I might add he taught at Northwestern, not an inner city high school. By the way, Epstein has even less kind things to say about George Steiner and Harold Bloom, both of whom have evolved into essay writers much like Epstein.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on October 16, 2007 at 01:28 AM in Education | Permalink
Comments
The link is broken.
Posted by: Ponder Stibbons at Oct 16, 2007 2:22:29 AM
Link is bad corrected link
Posted by: BlogReader at Oct 16, 2007 2:25:11 AM
Actually that link doesn't go to the correct paper either, but rather one on "THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL VIEWS OF AMERICAN PROFESSORS"
Posted by: BlogReader at Oct 16, 2007 2:26:45 AM
I tracked down a preview of Epstein's book on the weekly standard's site. I suppose having a link to another paper is better than the infamous "pickle incident"
Posted by: BlogReader at Oct 16, 2007 2:31:17 AM
Click on the link, then delete /marginalrevol-20 (the last part of the address) in the URL bar. Reload.
Posted by: Brian at Oct 16, 2007 5:54:31 AM
I am always amazed when I hear of people who stay in
college teaching when they find it "arduous...entailing
much grinding detail and boring repetition, interrupted only
occasionally by moments of...surprising exultation."
They're smart people--why not find other work? The unspoken
answer often is that other work would provide them much
less freedom, and so teaching becomes a gilded cage.
Posted by: Pam at Oct 16, 2007 7:06:45 AM
Is the point of being a prof to learn from your students? Or is teaching the entry ticket to a job with good pay, nearly unparalleled freedom when working on someone else's nickel and smart, engaging colleagues? Much as I admire profs and value our world-leading university system, calling teaching arduous underscores the oft-heard criticism that the professoriate is pampered, plump and out of touch. Mining and farming are arduous. Sitting on a soft chair in an air-conditioned office, or standing for an hour in an air-conditioned hall, looks more like luck, than labor, to me.
Posted by: Tim Gray at Oct 16, 2007 8:19:07 AM
"Arduous"?
First definition I find: "characterized by toilsome effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort; "worked their arduous way up the mining valley" "
Was this translated from Urdu or something? It would be hard to find a job less physically demanding than being a tenured prof at Northwestern.
"Arduous" might be a good adjective to refer to my daughter's teaching at an all-minority middle school in a big city. When you kick out kids because they've been arrested for assaulting -- you -- that's arduous.
Posted by: ZBicyclist at Oct 16, 2007 9:45:52 AM
"And I should like to add that I don't think I learned a thing from my students. God love 'em."
Would the other academics on this site agree or disagree?
I am surprised by this remark.
Posted by: Peter Schaeffer at Oct 16, 2007 9:51:09 AM
I don't think Epstein was doing it right!
My mentor, Paul Heyne, who bears a non-trivial amount of responsibility both for my politics and my choice to become an economics professor, once got in trouble with his colleagues at Washington for refusing to sign a petition asking for higher professorial pay. He was a very moral fellow, and his argument was that it would be wrong to sign such a petition when he would have happily continued to do his job at half the pay he was already receiving.
I am with him. I would do it for a quarter of what I make. At the same time, I heap gratitude on that marginal economist who has to be compensated to be one. He or she is the great benefactor of all of us who are well inside the margin.
And I do learn from my students - even the undergraduates. Plus they are a continuous nostalgia machine for my own very happy undergraduate days.
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff Smith at Oct 16, 2007 9:52:49 AM
reminds me of a poker quote, "hours of boredom, followed by moments of sheer terror."
My father was a professor, and he seemed to love teaching, it was the grading that he was happy to retire from.
Posted by: Joel W at Oct 16, 2007 10:32:04 AM
Regardless to whether or not you learn anything from your students, teaching is a rewarding job. Both of my parents are teachers, who put in countless hours in and out of the classroom. Either staying after school to give a student additional help or spending an hour of free time writing a recommendation for a student, teacher's work very hard for the small salary they receive. The extra hours and minimal salary are rewarded by seeing students improve and grow.
Teachers are a very important part of our society. These individuals provide the future rulers of our nation with knowledge, guidance, and assistance, forming these young people into model people. Although they might not realize it, teachers have tremendous impact on their students and will somehow impact a student's life.
Posted by: Shannon2026 at Oct 16, 2007 11:30:50 AM
Mr. Epstein was one of my teachers twenty years ago at Northwestern University, in a small creative writing workshop.
He did not seem to have the temperament for teaching, and I am surprised that he stayed on for so long. He was most animated while reading his own previously-published work to the group.
Mr. Epstein is a wonderfully talented writer, but I think it is sad that he spent so much time in a profession that offered him so few intellectual rewards. I know nothing of his circumstances, but one must assume that he was driven by the financial rewards or status of being a Northwestern professor.
I learned a lot about writing from Mr. Epstein. The lesson that has lasted the longest is how difficult it is to be funny in print. My own attempts at jokes were rewarded with a terse "NFE" in the paper margins, his abbreviation for "Not Funny Enough." I haven't read the entire essay, so I will reserve my judgment on whether the joke in Mr. Epstein's excerpted paragraph above is "funny enough".
Posted by: Todd at Oct 16, 2007 12:16:32 PM
Epstein was a half-load teacher for most of those 30 years. Editing American Scholar and writing probably occupied more than two-thirds of his time. I conclude from this that he was in the teaching game mostly for the money, to give himself enough reliable income to underwite his other activities. So he was never really a career teacher, and for that reason should not be compared to those who are.
If a true career teacher said what Epstein did, he would indeed be a sourpuss.
Posted by: Kent Guida at Oct 16, 2007 1:04:23 PM
If you enjoy a good hatchet job, read what Epstein wrote about Mortimer Adler, for whom he had the misfortune of working. It's in The Weekly Standard, July 2001.
Posted by: Kent Guida at Oct 16, 2007 1:11:31 PM
And I should like to add that I don't think I learned a thing from my students. God love 'em.Reminds me of a great line from my pastor (who's from the south) a few weeks back, went something like this: "In the south, we have a way to make insulting someone ok, which is to say, 'bless his heart' after whatever you say. For example, 'That man has the sense of a mule with its head cut off, bless his heart.'"
Posted by: Bob Montgomery at Oct 16, 2007 2:02:42 PM
My father is a proffesor .He has benn teaching since 1964,He is on pension but still teach.I guess he enjoys his work.
Im also a University professor , Law,in Southamerica and I would say:
"And I should like to add that I don't think I learned a thing from my fellows. God hate 'em."
Some of them only went to the University for their check.Today the money goes to their bank account , so they dont even bother to come for their payment.
And their papers deserve what Kant said : the good part is not theirs .The original one is not good.
Posted by: juancarlos at Oct 16, 2007 2:03:46 PM
To those who say teaching isn't arduous in a physical way; try teaching! It is indeed physically taxing and draining to be a good teacher. 4 hours of teaching in a day is my limit, that's equivalent in physical stress to a long hard workout at the gym. Being a professor is a cushy job except for the teaching, which is why professors fight to not have to teach.
Posted by: Nathan Whitehead at Oct 16, 2007 3:01:45 PM
To those who say teaching isn't arduous in a physical way; try teaching! It is indeed physically taxing and draining to be a good teacher. 4 hours of teaching in a day is my limit, that's equivalent in physical stress to a long hard workout at the gym.You have to balance that against the fact that most teachers teach only 9 months a year, though.
Posted by: Bob Montgomery at Oct 16, 2007 4:52:48 PM
After having recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and having spent four years as an instructor and teacher's assistant at a University, I think I've found an appropriate analogy.
Teaching is like climbing a mountain. It is painful at times, and the reward of being on top is very minute compared to the amount of work put in to get there. When you get down, you say to yourself, I'm never climbing another mountain again. Now some months removed, I long to climb another mountain, for another scant reward. Maybe all teachers are in some way masochists like mountain climbers. And the reward - whether a paycheck or interaction with students or 15 minutes staring out from above the world - is worth every second/day/week/month/year of torture.
Posted by: John at Oct 16, 2007 4:54:52 PM
I have always been, I thought, a huge fan of Joseph Epstein's. His latest collection includes not only the passage quoted, but an essay entitled, "Why I Am Not a Lawyer," which was a bit disheartening as I waited for the results of the Illinois bar exam to be released. Epstein's tone was a bit sour, I thought, this time around. His right, certainly, but disappointing to his readers.
Posted by: Brit at Oct 16, 2007 9:02:48 PM
As someone who has taught college economics for 17 years, I am amazed by Epstein's comments. I think it is a privilege to introduce students to a new vision of their world and possibly make a difference in their lives. Have they taught me things? Of course - mst of all patience! I am one of the few people I know (other faculty NOT included) who truly looks forward to going to work. I miss the students during summer - not too much - but enought to be eager for the fall semester. Anyone who doesn't appreciate the opportunity to do this amazing job is a fool - especially for continuing to do it for so many years. I feel sorry for his students.
Posted by: Linda at Oct 17, 2007 12:29:53 AM
@Bob Montgomery:
Just cause you can elect to spread a 9-month salary over 12 months of year doesn't mean you are getting a 12-month salary. And you can't always elect to spread it out either.
Posted by: agm at Oct 17, 2007 3:35:39 AM
Anyone who has taught knows there is more than a little truth. Should not be amazed at Epsteins comments---if you teach economics you have certainly heard of dimminishing marginal utility? It is work, I like it a lot but again it is work and outside of top schools many of the students are poorly prepared and seeking certification not eduction. There is also the fact that if you are in a competititve setting and seeking tenure and promotion--teaching is in many cases a drag and a detractor to productivity. Frankly, we all know that many of the luminaries in our field a.) are crappy teachers and b.) don;t like teaching. Me? I am lazy and closer to the end than my start as an economics professor and can finally afford to spend some time teaching--course my collegues now think I am "deadwood". Seems to me that Epstein was responding to the incentives found at a place like Northwestern--not surprising. Want good motivated teachers go to Williams and Vassar.
Posted by: Robert at Oct 17, 2007 4:08:10 AM
I'm surprised he emphasizes teaching. Economics in research universities involves only about 20% time spent on teaching (10% admin, 70% research) if you want to get tenure. Whether you enjoy teaching or not, it's hardly the focus of being a prof in a research university like NWU.
My experience is that you don't learn from students but they provide impetus for useful new ideas and leads, so I'm glad to listen to them.
As for the pay, well duh, (almost) everyone thinks they deserve what they are paid and more. Get over it.
Posted by: Jack at Oct 17, 2007 2:40:31 PM
