Highlights from Boot Camp for Profs

The name, “Boot Camp for Profs,” sounds grueling at worst and hokey at best. The content and value of the experience, however, makes this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is a week chock-full of great learning experiences. Not only are practical, tested pedagogical methods introduced, but are often demonstrated on the spot—all to great effect. Here, great innovators converge to help the participants personally grow in their ability to teach.

Much of this was new to me. I graduated with a Ph.D. in engineering and a month later was in the classroom teaching. I had no training in any educational methods. The camp provided a “safe” place to try out some new ideas, and to discard some old ones about teaching. The environment is very supportive and affirming, and also very challenging. New friends can be made there, and the location was a welcome refreshment in the heat of summer. If you can get to next year’s camp, I strongly recommend you do so.

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The camp was a wonderfull rejuvenating experience for a veteran colleg teacher of over 20 years. It presented an update on teaching strategies and philosophy and I also found some new tricks to put in my teaching tool box.

The scenery was gorgeous at the college and the town was historical and friendly. The other faculty attending the camp provided new friends and a wealth of information in sharing. An optional yoga class each morning provided a spa facet to the camp. We had three good meals per day plus snacks. So, we were provided with plenty of new books, reading material, great surroundings, company, yoga, and food. The value of reflection was discussed and we actually had some time for reflection. What a treat! What more could a professor want?

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Boot Camp for Profs helps educators replace what Lee Shulman calls a “Drive By Pedagogy,” with a more considered pedagogy. I left with forty hours of ideas from teaching workshops as well as ten books on teaching, a small library. I also got a lot of first-hand experience in what it is like to be a student again. Although I arrived at Boot Camp an experienced teacher of twenty years, I am much wiser than before. The top highlight for me was working to make my teaching philosophy “come together.” The biggest payoff of Boot Camp for me was: I couldn’t wait to teach again!

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Boot camp n. A training camp for marine or navy recruits. (American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1982)

Boot camp for Professors n. An intense, week-long, working retreat for committed teachers. An incredibly worthwhile professional event. (Naomi Schmidt, personal experience)

The term “boot camp” brings to mind images of physical exercise, little rest, and driven leaders. Boot Camp for Professors was similar except that the exercise was mostly cerebral, the rest was almost adequate, and the leaders were intensely driven and very supportive.

The goal of Boot Camp is to help professors become more effective teachers. To become better teachers, we develop our personal teaching system: our teaching philosophy and how we can best apply it. A teaching system is a teaching philosophy consistently applied through every action of our teaching. Boot Camp leads us step by step.

I constructed my teaching philosophy. The first two days of Boot Camp were devoted to structured introspection so we could develop this core document. I looked at my values, goals, and desired outcomes for one course. Sometimes I worked alone, sometimes in pairs, and sometimes with a presenter one-on-one.

I considered how to apply my philosophy to my course. Given my specific values and goals, what teaching approach should I use? What stage of intellectual development should I be working toward? How should I assess? What rubrics should I use? The remaining five days were dedicated to learning and practicing these applications. For example, we learned cooperative learning techniques that are much more effective than traditional lecturing. We learned models of intellectual development and how to help students progress through them. We learned new ideas for rubrics, assessments, and evaluations.

I had fun! Boot Camp is in a retreat setting with very few distractions (like TV!) except the beautiful Colorado mountains. I would not have made such progress on my teaching system in my regular work environment. However, in this setting, I completed a great deal. All of us “campers” shared stories, successes, and challenges.

Is Boot Camp worthwhile? Absolutely. I have a clearer sense of what I want to accomplish as a teacher and the concrete tools to get there. The real beneficiaries, though, are my students, which is what teaching is all about.