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PhD programs that do a good job training students for teaching jobs (e.g., in community colleges)?

Brian Leiter

Peter Nennig, an MA student at Georgia State University, writes:

Since the graduate school application season is coming up, I am wondering if you could write a Leiter Reports post asking which philosophy graduate programs would be valuable for those most interested in teaching, especially at community colleges. I know from first-hand experience that Georgia State University has done an excellent job with teaching preparation. I think it would be great if there was a post that can lead to a discussion about other schools that (i) offer teacher training, (ii) offer courses on teaching philosophy, or (iii) have the goal of training teachers.

Readers?  Links and information welcome.

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4 responses to “PhD programs that do a good job training students for teaching jobs (e.g., in community colleges)?”

  1. Aaron Garrett

    This is tangential to the topic, but we have a few graduates of the Georgia State MA in our doctoral program, and I know a number of others. The professors and staff at Georgia State do an amazing job mentoring their students both in teaching and in research. It's a model for how to run an MA program IMHO.

    Reply
  2. Eddy Nahmias

    Thanks Aaron! The student posting, Peter Nennig, had asked me this question, and I turned around and asked him to do some research on it. I have a vague recollection of some programs that are not PGR-ranked being good at training students to teach and placing them in solid tenure-track jobs in a range of places, including regional colleges and community colleges. Is this the case?

    Reply
  3. Anon UW-System Philosopher

    Is the lack of response to this post telling us something? Something bad? Damning, even?

    I went to a top PGR program. Pedagogy was an afterthought. Sad!

    Reply
  4. George the Cantor

    Part of the reason for the lack of response may be doubts about how much one can know about the pedagogical quality of a program (assuming most people only have direct experience with a few programs at best), combined with a desire to not engage in promotion of one's self or one's program. Here's an answer anyway.

    Fordham University.

    Here's why.

    1 Coursework
    1.1 Distributions: all students in Fordham's program are required to take: 1) two courses each in ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy, along with coursework on contemporary philosophical traditions and topics. This gives Fordham graduates a greater pedagogical breadth than graduates from many other programs.
    1.2 Every student is required to take a seminar on teaching pedagogy.

    2 Teaching: Every student spends at least three years (usually four) teaching Fordham's undergraduate core classes: Philosophy of Human Nature and Ethics (typically one section per semester). The departmental curriculum requires roughly half of each semester course to be devoted to teaching Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, and Augustine or Aquinas, reinforcing the same focus on a broad historical base. Faculty supervise student teaching one to three times per semester, and provide helpful written feedback on each classroom visit.

    3 Outside opportunities: Students in our program can and often do take coursework at a number of other PhD Institutions in the NYC area, including Columbia, CUNY, and NYU. Students are also granted the opportunity to do coursework from other Fordham departments outside their own in areas including history, manuscript studies, classics, etc.

    Because of various opportunites I've had, I've been involved in graduate level work at seven different institutions, including NYU and several other highly ranked PGR programs. I've also done graduate coursework in three other departments at Fordham besides philosophy (not including foreign language coursework). From my direct experience as well as discussions concerning teaching and distribution requirements with students elsewhere, there's often not even a question that my home program has done a better job preparing students to teach.

    In full disclosure, I'm currently on the job market, and Fordham is my home institution. I post pseudonymously because I'm not remotely interested in promoting myself as a candidate here. Rather, I'm genuinely thankful for the educational opportunities and skills that have been afforded me through their program, and think the program really does a great job preparing its students to teach.

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