We are generally told as faculty members that we should try our best to teach tomorrow's leaders and give forth our knowledge to our students. We take courses and enrich our teaching skills when possible. Most of us teach because we love our field and want to give back to society. Not many of us truly just teach because they pay us so much. Of course these statements are just my opinions.
Interestingly, I was speaking with some University students the other day about this subject and about their perceptions of faculty and the relationship that they have with faculty. I was frankly stunned by what I heard. It seems that these students perceived faculty as customer service "clerks" who only wanted to do the very least in teaching. Students felt that when faculty tried to motivate them to do better (i.e. get better grades, learn the materials, do their assignments) that there was an ulterior motive. The ulterior motive was that faculty try to get students grades up "so that they can look better and make more money". Once I picked up my jaw from the floor, I asked them "seriously do you really think that is why we want you to do well in college? So we could get raises from the good evaluations?" They replied, "yes, why would you be in a profession if you weren't trying to get a raise?"
This (Millennial) generation, as someone wrote recently, "values money and what it can buy." When we teach, we "render customer service, a somewhat menial calling, to a society that doesn't value abstraction, intellectual discourse, or knowledge for knowledge's sake."
As I ponder how to make my class on Friday more meaningful for my students, I would love to hear others' thoughts.
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