It is amazing how quickly you forget things that once were self-evident. In American universities, classes are taught either on Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday. Everybody knows this. If I hadn't known, or rather hadn't retrieved it from the deepest corners of my memory, I would have problems decoding the casual referenses here. I used to prefer Tuesday-Thursday because the Monday-Wednesday-Thursday sessions are too short for a reasonable discussion. But in fact it is no more and no less strange that in Cambridge, we always teach part-time students on Wednesday afternoons. Everybody know this!
I keep saying "in Cambridge, we..." about things that two years ago felt weird. Team-teaching is the most natural thing to do now. How can it be otherwise? How can students take several classes at a time? How can possibly an instructor mark her own students' work?
I recalled yesterday, in a conversation with a colleague, the expression "freedom of the classroom".
And no, I am not saying that one is better than another. It's just that you get used to something and then you forget. Just as you forget Fahreheit if you don't practice.
No comments:
Post a Comment