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1 vote
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‘I don’t think I developed emotionally’: Earl Charles Spencer on the pain of private boarding-school abuse
17 votes -
Higher education teaching career advice
Greetings Tildeans! I am wrapping up my Ph.D. and am pursuing a teaching-focused career in higher education. I am currently in talks for a 4-year institution teaching faculty position that would...
Greetings Tildeans!
I am wrapping up my Ph.D. and am pursuing a teaching-focused career in higher education. I am currently in talks for a 4-year institution teaching faculty position that would revolve around teaching a subject I am passionate about and could provide a lot of intellectual stimulation. Unless something wild happens the offer is there and we are just negotiating the parameters. I also have a position that is in 2nd-phase interviews for a community college tenure track position that would be teaching general biology, anatomy, and physiology. I feel optimistic that they are going to offer me a position, but nothing is concrete yet.
I'm at this impasse because both have really good reasons for doing them and would provide experiences unique from the other. I am trying to balance the pros and cons between these two positions and consider what might be good for my career in the long run, and so I was hoping I could get some advice. Even if you're not in academia I think it would be helpful to get some outside prospective. I'm gonna list my thoughts on it below.
4-year University
Pros:
-Teach upper level and domain specific courses with opportunity to design courses I am passionate about.
-Integrated into scientific community if I want to to do more research/keep abreast of scientific advancements.
-Great community of teaching faculty with lots of support.
-Could be good curriculum vitae experience if I want to stay teaching at a 4-year institution, and could open up teaching psychology courses.
-Option to develop a community outreach project I am passionate about, not sure if there is support for me but there is infrastructure there.
-Partner's family is in the area, and it is a big metropolitan area with lots to do.
-Can get tuition at 25% cost for my partner and I incase we want to get some other degrees.Cons:
-Pay is not great (does have option of picking up extra summer online classes to earn more).
-My partner and I don't want to live here long term, primarily because of climate, and cost of living is increasing. We are already ready to move, but this is a good opportunity.
-Is contract based, so not as much job security. Having said that, many of the teaching faculty have been there a long time and it seems like the student body for this department is generally growing.Community College
Pros:
-Pay is pretty good, and there is a baked in growth of salary as long as you stay there long term. Pay could be as much as $15K more starting out than the 4-year institution.
-Small class sizes, so better teacher:student ratio means more involved education.
-Cost of living in the area is pretty cheap (so far).
-Beautiful area and would put us closer to a part of the country we would like to live in long term.
-I do like biology and physiology, just not as much as neuroscience.
-From my understanding there is lot of support and easy options to get into administration if so desired. All the faculty I briefly met had been there at least 7 years.Cons:
-Only lower levels courses, with little room to develop new ones.
-Not sure how this would impact my ability to switch to a 4-year institution if I end up craving that intellectual stimulation.
-The area is in a part of California that does have issues with forest fires (not the town proper), and the county swings hard in the opposite direction of my politics.
-Small town so there isn't as much to do.Overall, the community college looks best on paper. We're not planning on having kids so family support isn't as big of a deal. My main concern is if I could switch back to a 4-year institution if I feel like I'm missing something. So if anyone has any thoughts please let me know, in particular if there are other things I'm not considering that you think are worth examining.
Edit: Just to add some additional information. As part of making myself a good candidate for higher education, I have worked as a teaching assistant for several courses during grad school and I have taught online physiology as an adjunct professor at a community college, so I have some experience in both environments.
Thanks ahead of time!
20 votes -
One in four school-starters in England and Wales not toilet-trained, say teachers
40 votes -
Liberty University hit with record fines for failing to handle complaints of sexual sssault, other crimes
17 votes -
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51 votes -
A university professor reflects about time management
7 votes -
$1 billion donation will provide free tuition at a Bronx medical school (gifted link)
21 votes -
Has anyone gotten a degree online?
Does anyone have any experience with online degree programs? I was looking into the Arizona State University online Electrical Engineering BSE. The program is accredited and your degree is not...
Does anyone have any experience with online degree programs? I was looking into the Arizona State University online Electrical Engineering BSE. The program is accredited and your degree is not marked any differently than an in person ASU degree.
I already have a BA in Economics, but I don’t really use my degree for my work. I feel like my career is progressing just fine, but I’ve always been interested in science and math. I tried Electrical Engineering at the beginning of my undergrad, but I was too undisciplined and unfocused to handle it.
I am interested in ASU because it will allow me to take classes while still having a full time job, but I am interested if anyone else has gotten a degree while working full time. What was your experience like?
15 votes -
American teachers are missing more school, and there are too few substitutes
46 votes -
UBC student flies to school from Calgary (because Vancouver is that unaffordable to live in)
31 votes -
UK professor suffered discrimination due to anti-Zionist beliefs, tribunal rules
20 votes -
Inventing the perfect US college applicant – For $120,000 a year, Christopher Rim promises to turn any student into Ivy bait
23 votes -
Families find ways around Taliban restrictions on girls’ education
15 votes -
‘America is under attack’: Inside the anti-D.E.I. crusade (gifted link)
27 votes -
Specter of academic plagiarism has now reached the heart of Norwegian politics, toppling one government minister and leaving a second fighting for her political career
10 votes -
Canada announces cap on international students for next two years
29 votes -
Why do some educators dislike teaching people who don't already know?
28 votes -
Why this math professor objects to diversity statements
46 votes -
Citing safety, dozens of Jewish families are leaving Oakland public schools
37 votes -
Scientist cited [by Christopher Rufo to make allegations of plagiarism] in push to oust Harvard’s Claudine Gay has links to eugenicists
10 votes -
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22 votes -
OECD urges Denmark to address gender stereotypes in education and suggested introducing quotas to get more women in top management
5 votes -
Bill Ackman and the crusade against free speech
16 votes -
I got my IELTS scores back and I need help
Overall band score 8. What's the next step? I am an Indian and wish to pursue a master's program in the US. Should I prepare for the GRE and apply for spring semester? Total newbie about all of...
Overall band score 8.
What's the next step? I am an Indian and wish to pursue a master's program in the US.
Should I prepare for the GRE and apply for spring semester? Total newbie about all of this university stuff.
Thanks in advance.
10 votes -
Anyone here preparing for the GMAT?
Anyone here preparing for the GMAT? I'm a complete novice, looking to get into a b-school and hopefully get a well-paying job. Just wanted to ask a couple of things: • I don't have an excellent...
Anyone here preparing for the GMAT? I'm a complete novice, looking to get into a b-school and hopefully get a well-paying job.
Just wanted to ask a couple of things:
• I don't have an excellent academic record so which schools should I target?
• Somebody dissuaded me by saying that mba programmes have a very low acceptance rate (around 7%). Is that true?TIA!
13 votes -
Toxic posts on economist job website traced to users from elite universities
29 votes -
Despite support from corporation, Harvard president Claudine Gay under fire over plagiarism allegations
18 votes -
Where do you usually look for courses?
As my school project this year, I'm making a metasearch engine for courses (any type, online/offline, free/paid). I could just add the websites I know myself but school requires us to provide a...
As my school project this year, I'm making a metasearch engine for courses (any type, online/offline, free/paid). I could just add the websites I know myself but school requires us to provide a detailed explanation of how we did "market research", so I'm asking here.
What websites do you usually go to first to when you want to learn something? It should preferably be something which is not exclusive to IT, but those websites are fine as well if they're really good.
9 votes -
What does the oligarch behind the ‘Ivy League antisemitism crisis’ actually want?
22 votes -
The myth of the unemployed US college grad
31 votes -
With one of the lowest rates of bullying in Europe, we speak to teachers, pupils and parents to find out how Denmark is managing to stamp out harassment in schools
17 votes -
What would Sandra Day O’Connor have thought about affirmative action for men?
12 votes -
The red US state brain drain isn’t coming. It’s happening right now.
77 votes -
Is a degree worth it?
29 votes -
Course evaluations are garbage science
23 votes -
What does it mean to friend someone online?
Recently my daughter (third grade) has started learning to type at school. It's a Montessori program, so it's a pretty low tech environment overall, which I mention because I don't necessarily...
Recently my daughter (third grade) has started learning to type at school. It's a Montessori program, so it's a pretty low tech environment overall, which I mention because I don't necessarily expect them to have a nuanced view of technology issues.
One of the typing programs they use is nitrotype.com, which adds a competitive gameplay element. However, it also has mechanism to friend another player. Friends can only communicate with stock phrases, so there's not too much "Internet leakage" beyond being able to choose a username.
I set it up for my daughter on her Linux Chromebook (I whitelist things I want her to have and everything else is blocked at DNS). Seeing her interact with it the first time, I realized that she spends as much time "adding friends" as doing the typing.
On its face, this activity is pretty harmless. But I am worried about the patterns it might be creating for her. I'm worried about her uncritically engaging with the dopamine hit of getting a new friend. Or how it shapes her idea of how many friends she has or where idea of her self worth comes from. Or what she thinks friends are.
So after that long preamble, here are some questions:
- How would you explain "friends" in this context?
- Would you distinguish them from other kinds of friends, either real or virtual?
- Would you attach a moral component to the activity? E.g. that it is good/bad or helpful/harmful
- How would you frame it to the teacher? Not so much in terms of whether or not they should do it in the classroom, but what kinds of conversations should they be having about the friends experience?
- If I'm asking the wrong questions, what questions should I be asking instead?
I'm really interested in seeing the perspectives people have on this. My own ideas are a bit murky, but I will put them down as a comment.
37 votes -
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27 votes -
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59 votes -
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8 votes -
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41 votes -
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13 votes -
Israel-Hamas war becomes flashpoint on US college campuses
32 votes -
At a Helsinki nursery, children spend all day in the forest – how outdoor learning benefits children's health and teaches them to value nature
25 votes -
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6 votes -
How the Yale unions took over New Haven
8 votes -
I didn’t go to my dream school. Now I’m living debt-free.
22 votes -
Revenge of the nerds is a fantasy, it’s the jocks who have more successful careers
13 votes -
After writing an anti-Israel letter, Harvard students are doxxed
36 votes -
A handful of influencers are trying to turn the tide on toxic masculinity. But can they get anyone to listen?
36 votes