I am not and don't claim to be an outstanding public speaker or instructor, but I do believe I'm competent enough to construct a lesson around a specific topic or topics that progresses in a logical manner from one point to the next and eventually culminates in a desired goal of understanding or acquisition of a new skill which can be done in the span of a class period or multiple class periods. I attribute this to the fact that I do have an undergraduate degree in secondary education. As would seem likely, some of the courses required for the acquisition of this degree deal specifically with how to complete the very task mentioned above, construction of a lesson plan or a unit. This seems like a logical and necessary skill to obtain in the quest to becoming an effective, efficient teacher. This leads me to question why this very same skill isn’t required for instructors in higher education. What exactly is the difference between teaching twelfth-grade seniors and college freshmen? I don't see any.

The reason this topic seems interesting to me now is that I've started taking classes again at the university, and it's blatantly obvious that the instructor I have for this class either isn't comfortable speaking in front of others or so disorganized in his thoughts that it's impossible to ascertain whether he's making it all up as we go along or he's actually knowledgeable on the subject. I prefer to believe the latter; otherwise he wouldn't be teaching at this university, which is renowned for its Philosophy department. Also, it'd just be too painful and scary to contemplate the former. What's painful is that his speech is punctuated by "umms" and "I means" in an attempt to gather his thoughts into a coherent set of ideas and points of relevance. And he seems easily rattled by questions that jump ahead in the progression of the class's forward march. I honestly don't know how you can present yourself in such a way in the hopes of obtaining a new position in such a field. It just doesn't seem like you could and hope to succeed.

One of the general requirements for any undergraduate degree is a course in speech. These courses are usually pretty general in nature and serve little or no purpose other than to make you as a student feel a little more comfortable speaking in front of others. This leads me to suggest that this isn’t enough for anyone who is planning on teaching as a career regardless of level. Professors, old and young, suffer from this type of affliction, and it's likely that some, if not all, of this could be remedied by simply requiring perspective instructors to take a class on how to properly construct a lesson plan, which in turn would require them to perform in front of their peers, thus giving them more experience in front of a crowd.

Overall, the content will make the class valuable, and if the presentation is muddied to some extent by the inadequacies of the instructor, so be it. I'm really powerless to say otherwise. Having been out of class for a few years, it was a shocking reminder of how little patience I have. I'll have to learn to accept the style, but I'll keep on believing that it can be remedied easily.