Let's Teach Graduate Students Differently

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OK, Let's Teach Graduate Students Differently. But How? - Do Your Job Better - The Chronicle of Higher Education


Summary:
  1. Stop preaching that grad students will find professorial jobs -- most won't
  2. Stop structuring grad school to make more professors
  3. Start teaching that a grad degree can open doors to many other professions
  4. Start restructuring the departments curriculum and pedagogy, using new media and new sources
  5. Start building a culture where getting a non-professorial job isn't a mark of shame
  6. Redefine the discipline; let grad students work with students in other fields (just like they'll really do in the real world)
  7. Open the degrees to include courses other than just in-department (just like the real world)
In the words of Auslander, "If we continue to behave like ostriches, we're dead." Forget the idea that "it will be better tomorrow," she says. If there is to be change for the better, professors must be "willing to be influenced."
Definitely, in our program, there is no real discussion (IDS included) about preparing for a non-professorial career. No career-preparation at all, in fact. 

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