Education Teaching

The Solitude of Teaching

The teacher’s solitude is a burden as much as it is a necessity. This necessary burden is the product of a boundary we ought to protect. The teacher must absorb his or her disappointments, rather than react to them immediately and impulsively. Although the classroom is a “home,” for both the teacher and the students, the teacher doesn’t always have to feel at home. The feeling of being home is something he or she achieves…

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cognitive psychology Teaching

Cognitive Psychology, Final Lecture (Fall 2019)

Out of the 90 students, these 17 students came to the last lecture (which was an optional make-up session). I admire their choice to attend the lecture despite the absence of any extrinsic incentive, and feel happy to know that at least ~17 students enjoyed my lectures enough to come to this last session. What was unique about the course this semester: We read and discussed the Knowledge Illusion (Sloman & Ferbnach, 2017) together, which…

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Academia book review Culture Education Teaching

Glenn Wallis: How to Fix Education

I found this book when I needed it the most, toward the end of a very tiring academic semester. After months of trying new methods of teaching and mostly failing. I found in the book another person for whom education is an issue. A problem. A question. A quest. That, in and of itself, was remedy for my heart and soul. It was refreshing to read Wallis’s words after innumerable interactions I had with colleagues…

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critical psychology General Psychology Teaching Theoretical Psychology

Systems & Theories Class (Fall 2019)

What was unique about this semester: We discussed Brian Haig’s (2014) Investigating the Psychological World. A few students got involved with the book, but I think most students focused only on the chapter they were responsible for. I kept returning to the question, Why did Haig write this book? (especially given that psychological researchers don’t need to read such a book to perform their research activities). And I wanted the students to at least be…

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Academia Teaching

On Arguments (Part 4)

An interesting exchange with a student during office hours. The student brought a draft of a to-be-submitted essay for me to read. After reading the essay, I turned to her and asked, “what do you think about it? Has it succeeded in what it sets out to do?” The student said, “No, I don’t think it is successful. But I enjoyed writing it.” Recall the A-not-B task, something at which children below a certain age…

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