Preparing Professors to Teach

By Allie Grasgreen

Graduate education’s supporters and critics alike have long called for doctoral students who are better trained to teach, as tenure-track positions become increasingly scarce and the competition for those jobs intensifies. Efforts by universities to focus on the teaching skills of the would-be professors they turn out have developed in fits and starts over the last 15 years.

But in recent years a flurry of new programs at leading universities — in some cases overflowing with grad students — suggests that institutions and doctoral candidates are recognizing a need for future faculty who can not only conduct research at top-tier universities, but also be effective in the classroom at a liberal arts or community college.

Teaching certificate programs are filling that need at dozens of public and private institutions across the country, and the programs continue to expand. Administrators say the certificates not only give students an edge in the job market, but also teach the skills Ph.D. candidates need to be effective teachers and faculty need to be lifelong learners.

Continued at:   http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/postings.php

Related Articles

• Courting controversy (academicproductivity.com)
• Universities vs. Education (outsidethebeltway.com)