Teaching?

[maineproblems]

I am very interested in hearing information about teaching, generally and more specifically: 1. how to make this a large/the largest part of my student and eventually professional career starting with my first year of PhD school (hopefully fall of 2014); 2. how to get heavily involved with this starting in my first year; 3. are there specific programs I should be looking at that are more heavily invested in education around professorship?

I'll be entering my 2nd, and final, year of my MSW program this fall, and I'll also be TAing a research methods class at another university. I figured this would be a good way to get my foot in the door of academia at a university level, but what other things could I do either before or after entering a PhD program in clinical/counseling psych that would prepare me to invest heavily in a primarily academic career? I will be applying to programs this fall/winter (2013).

Thanks for any input you have!

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[AcronymAllergy]

An academic career is likely (although not necessarily always) going to require a strong research/publication history that tells a coherent "story" about your interests and also ideally demonstrates an ability to secure funding. There's another currently active thread discussing what's useful/necessary in finding academic work (entitled "Publications to be professor"); many of your questions are answered therein.

As for getting involved from year 1, odds are the opportunities you'll have at that point will mostly be TA-related, so finding a program that offers its students funded TA spots would be good. Programs usually require that individuals have a masters degree in the area of study prior to allowing them to teach a class of their own (so your MSW may or may not apply in that sense). You may also need to take a "teaching methods" (or something similar) course before you're eligible. Emailing department staff to see if they allow graduate students to teach, and if so, at what point in the grad school career does this typically happen could be a good idea.

 

[Pragma]

Yep - what AA said. You aren't really qualified to teach right away in graduate school, but you can TA to get a sense for what teaching is like.

My program had pretty comprehensive teaching course we could take post-master's and then we were eligible to teach for the department.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

When selecting a grad program, you might want to ask about how they handle teaching. do they do any sort of training to prep you? Any sort or mentorship or evaluation? My program didn't do any of these things until I was about to graduate.

You'll also want to ask how hard it is to get a teaching slot. Programs where there are fewer profs with big grants are likely to have fewer RA positions, resulting in more competition for teaching slots. This was an issue among different divisions in our psych dept. There were almost no I/O students needing/wanting to teach, but many social psych, and to some extent clinical, students looking for placements.

Honestly, you might be best at a big school that doesn't care as much about undergrad education. It sounds silly, but I'm serious. Where I did my undergrad, I only had maybe 2-4 non-PhD instructors over 4 yrs (only one in psych and they have a clinical PhD program). In my grad school, I was allowed to teach a class on my own (own book, own syllabus, no one checking in on me at all) the summer before I got my masters. It was good for me, but if I were a student or parent paying for that UG education, I would have been annoyed. (Although I must say, I was a pretty awesome instructor )

Best,
Dr. E

 

[EmotRegulation]

I am very interested in hearing information about teaching, generally and more specifically: 1. how to make this a large/the largest part of my student and eventually professional career starting with my first year of PhD school (hopefully fall of 2014); 2. how to get heavily involved with this starting in my first year; 3. are there specific programs I should be looking at that are more heavily invested in education around professorship?

You probably know this already, but for many schools (R1/R2), teaching is but a fraction of professorship. Sounds like you are interested in the teaching aspect, but as others have said, the best way to secure a teaching-focused academic job post-PhD is to (a) have a quality research record and (b) get some teaching experience in grad school. For the more research-focused academic jobs, (b) actually doesn't even matter all that much, though it will matter a lot for SLACs (small liberal arts colleges).

TAing a lot will help. Teaching your own course as an instructor of record is even better. Trying to teach a "service" course (research methods, stats) is the best because many people hate teaching these courses and when a potential candidate can teach these right off the bat, that can help you secure a job (I'm pretty sure it was a major reason why I was hired at my current institution). Get as much teaching instruction as you can, and begin developing your teaching portfolio right away. Keep all random emails students send you telling you how much they like you. If you develop a new activity, see if you can collect some data finding out if that new activity improves learning. Apply for teaching awards, considering publishing and/or presenting at teaching conferences. Go to teaching conferences.

Also, be patient! You may not be able to teach your first few years, and that's OK! TAing is valuable experience to draw from. Ask if you can maybe do a guest lecture and get some feedback on your teaching. These are easy ways to get teaching on your CV early without detracting from your research program.

 

[WJPSYCH]

There are some programs that will let you, or even require that you teach a course as the instructor of record the fall of your first year. I had this experience. You may also look to take a few extra courses (if offered by your university) to obtain a certificate or specialization in teaching at the university level. This is something to look for in programs when you do apply. Ask whether programs let you teach early (as the instructor of record, not just a TA who grades and runs review sessions). These programs exist, but your challenge is to find one that overlaps with your research and clinical interests as well. Good luck.

 

[cara susanna]

If you can't teach in your dept, you can also seek outside opportunities like teaching a community college after you get your Master's.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

You also might find opportunities for teaching and teaching-like activities other than teaching a class: guest lectures, community educational presentations, etc. I also always liked to present my work at conferences in paper sessions rather than as posters because it gave me practice conveying ideas to an audience and I continued to develop my confidence in my public speaking skills.

Dr. E

 

[Pragma]

There are some programs that will let you, or even require that you teach a course as the instructor of record the fall of your first year. I had this experience. You may also look to take a few extra courses (if offered by your university) to obtain a certificate or specialization in teaching at the university level. This is something to look for in programs when you do apply. Ask whether programs let you teach early (as the instructor of record, not just a TA who grades and runs review sessions). These programs exist, but your challenge is to find one that overlaps with your research and clinical interests as well. Good luck.

Most institutions in my area require someone to have at least a master's degree before they are allowed to teach undergraduate courses. I believe HLC says that you have to have a degree that is one level above what you are going to teach.

So unless a student comes in with a master's, I'd argue that having them teach their first year is very questionable. I can't really imagine my 22-year old first-year student self teaching undergraduate classes in the past. It was hard enough at 25, but at least I had more education and experience that made me capable of teaching.

 

[PsychPhDone]

We teach when our funding calls for it; most of us don't teach first year but start teaching second year (pre-masters). However, we have substantial training/coursework in teaching before we are instructor of record. It's something to ask about at interviews, but I'm glad I didn't teach my first year and could instead focus on getting research going and adjusting to grad school.

 

[Pragma]

We teach when our funding calls for it; most of us don't teach first year but start teaching second year (pre-masters). However, we have substantial training/coursework in teaching before we are instructor of record. It's something to ask about at interviews, but I'm glad I didn't teach my first year and could instead focus on getting research going and adjusting to grad school.

I just wonder how they sell that to the accrediting body. I am a faculty member and at my institution, graduate students can't teach until they have a master's because otherwise we would be violating Higher Learning Commission standards.

 

[maineproblems]

I just wonder how they sell that to the accrediting body. I am a faculty member and at my institution, graduate students can't teach until they have a master's because otherwise we would be violating Higher Learning Commission standards.

I just want to thank everyone who have posted in this forum. Many of these ideas have really helped me!

I'm totally okay with continuing to discuss the teaching in terms of who can teach who just so others who read this forum will know, but for me personally, I will have already attained my first master's (MSW) before entering a PhD program. Of course, this master's is in clinical social work, not psychology. I wonder if the school I get into for my PhD coursework has a social work program as well as a psychology program, I would be able to teach in the social work department until I receive my master's in psychology (when I would shift to teaching psychology classes)? This would give me an opportunity to gain teaching experience, even if it's not direct psychology classes it would be similar.

Any thoughts on this idea?

 

[PsychPhDone]

I just wonder how they sell that to the accrediting body. I am a faculty member and at my institution, graduate students can't teach until they have a master's because otherwise we would be violating Higher Learning Commission standards.

I'll ask about this next time I'm chatting with our department chair -- I do know that nobody is teaching an un-coordinated course pre-masters, at least.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

I'll ask about this next time I'm chatting with our department chair -- I do know that nobody is teaching an un-coordinated course pre-masters, at least.

My program allowed it too (big state school). The summer before my MA was completed, I taught solo with pretty much no guidance (other than previously TA'ing for someone else's version of the class). I had complete freedom in what i taught or didn't teach. Sounds like psychPHDstudent's university is more responsible than mine was, actually.

Of course, this was 10 yrs ago now, so perhaps things have changed.

Dr. E

 

[Doctor Eliza]

I just want to thank everyone who have posted in this forum. Many of these ideas have really helped me!

I'm totally okay with continuing to discuss the teaching in terms of who can teach who just so others who read this forum will know, but for me personally, I will have already attained my first master's (MSW) before entering a PhD program. Of course, this master's is in clinical social work, not psychology. I wonder if the school I get into for my PhD coursework has a social work program as well as a psychology program, I would be able to teach in the social work department until I receive my master's in psychology (when I would shift to teaching psychology classes)? This would give me an opportunity to gain teaching experience, even if it's not direct psychology classes it would be similar.

Any thoughts on this idea?

I wonder if you are going to run into some politics with this plan. I wonder what other people's experiences are with this. Perhaps they will chime in. I don't know that most programs want you to be devoting huge chunks of time teaching, particularly early on, particularly in another department (I.e., not letting any psych faculty off the hook for teaching a course).

I know that in my program, they would worry about your teaching demands taking away from your research and your time assisting with your professor's research. If your mentor had funding available, you would be expected (essentially required) to take the RA instead of TAing/teaching for your stipend.

You are in a tricky position, because you want to be able to ask about this stuff in interviews, but you also want to present yourself in a way that will get you in. You don't want them to question your undying devotion to being a researcher.

Good luck,
Dr. E

 

[maineproblems]

I'll ask about this next time I'm chatting with our department chair -- I do know that nobody is teaching an un-coordinated course pre-masters, at least.

What do you mean by "uncoordinated course pre-masters"? Does this mean teaching psychology courses without your master's in psychology, but rather having a master's in a different field (in my case, clinical social work)?

Thanks!

 

[maineproblems]

I wonder if you are going to run into some politics with this plan. I wonder what other people's experiences are with this. Perhaps they will chime in. I don't know that most programs want you to be devoting huge chunks of time teaching, particularly early on, particularly in another department (I.e., not letting any psych faculty off the hook for teaching a course).

I know that in my program, they would worry about your teaching demands taking away from your research and your time assisting with your professor's research. If your mentor had funding available, you would be expected (essentially required) to take the RA instead of TAing/teaching for your stipend.

You are in a tricky position, because you want to be able to ask about this stuff in interviews, but you also want to present yourself in a way that will get you in. You don't want them to question your undying devotion to being a researcher.

Good luck,
Dr. E

Thanks for the reply. I agree that it may be difficult to teach in a different department at the same school. I *hope* to stay in Boston for this degree, and as such there are more than 50 schools in the city so I wonder if it would be possible to have an adjunct position/other teaching position at a local school. One of my friends currently attends a Boston school for her clinical psych PhD and teaches as an adjunct at another school--I will have to ask her how she managed to accomplish this.

I do want to do some research, but it is not my main passion--why I was thinking counseling over clinical. I think you're right in the interview portion about how to manage the conversation to not sound needy, but rather like you have something great to offer.

Any other thoughts about this?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

What do you mean by "uncoordinated course pre-masters"? Does this mean teaching psychology courses without your master's in psychology, but rather having a master's in a different field (in my case, clinical social work)?

Thanks!

My guess for "uncoordinated" would basically mean that you're the instructor of record rather than assisting another professor's course (by delivering occasional lectures, teaching a "break-out" or lab section, etc.).

I'd be shocked if a university weren't more willing to let someone teach in another department versus teaching at another university entirely. My program, for example, was very supportive of teaching and tried to allow everyone with interest to be an instructor for at least one year (assuming they had a masters and completed the teaching course). No one that I know taught outside the department, but I think I remember at least hearing about a few extra-departmental opportunities. Conversely, I'd be very surprised if they ever did more than summarily dismiss a request to teach outside the university.

That being said, it's obviously not impossible. I would think most programs would view a desire to teach while in grad school as a positive (mine likely would have), but as Dr. E points out, that's not universal. And even in the teaching-friendly programs, it's about balance; your teaching should never interfere with your ability to meet your clinical and research responsibilities, whatever those might be. The good news, at least for me, was that teaching at least paid a bit more than being a TA; it also opened the opportunity to do extra teaching (for extra $$) during the winter and summer holiday months.

 

[PsychPhDone]

What do you mean by "uncoordinated course pre-masters"? Does this mean teaching psychology courses without your master's in psychology, but rather having a master's in a different field (in my case, clinical social work)?

Thanks!

At my University, coordinated courses have common exams/finals/syllabi, but grad students still serve as Instructors of record. Many of these instructors are pre-Masters, but we are not designing the course ourselves. Most if not all students who teach uncoordinated courses (i.e., designing syllabus, picking the textbooks, writing exams) are post-Masters and probably post-candidacy as well.