Across the great divide

[ichseke]

I've mentioned that over the course of my career I've both attended and taught professional courses.  I'm struck by just how different the process is in those classes versus the classroom I'm sitting in twice weekly at the U.

Looking around this morning, I noticed that

• there's no milling or chat at the start of the session.  Neither are there coffee & pastries; coincidence?
• the students don't relate to each other much, whether before, during or after class.  Well, they don't have "professional" relationships; they may not have comparable academic relationships, either.  I don't know their majors, years, or reasons for taking this class -- whereas most professional courses I've attended begin with a round of introductions which include job function and expectations.  And on further thought, I observe that this is a large University; both my college and my grad school were on the small side, 150-200 students in each year, so we all knew each other.  The odds are that few of these kids know each other; since it's a 200-level course, even the Religious Studies majors may have had few or no shared classes previously.
• it's a more one-way (I originally said "passive," but that's wrong) experience -- lecture-heavy, very little give & take -- than a "stop me if you have questions" or "everyone share your experiences" professional course, where I've often had to cut off group discussion so we could get through the material.  Though (a) they're forthcoming when questions are asked, and appear intelligent and well-read, and (b) there's a weekly discussion session run by the TA, specifically for talking.
• there's an unbridgeable gap between us & the professor.  We are not peers, by any stretch of the imagination.  The authority relationship is very clear.
• professional courses often have a bit of a holiday air -- it's time away from the job to recharge some synapses.  For these kids, the courses are the job, and their synapses are engaged.
• the bulk of the learning is expected to happen outside of class.  When I assign "homework" to professionals, they're outraged.

I did find out this morning that the professor is in fact within a year or two of my age.  I'm still enjoying the hell out of the course -- the lived experience of medieval Christianity is what I was looking for, and he's hitting a good mix of what underpins that and how it appears to have played out day-to-day.  I'm disappointed that I couldn't work out attending the discussion group, but the TA is keeping me on the email list for additional materials.