The task of teaching is, of course, about the needs and
development of the students, usually in terms of a specific discipline—in this
case, the history of art. Perhaps paradoxically, however, I have found that
students of various levels and dispositions are offered the best opportunity
for the acquisition of knowledge and skills in an environment that appears, at
least superficially, to de-emphasize their needs and interests—their ranges of
experience and perspective, or opinions, their ‘voices’—in favor of a lecturer as
an authority and performer.
Authority refers both to that of the teacher and of the
discipline.
In the first instance, the word points to the teacher’s
responsibility vis-à-vis the immensely transferential nature of any classroom. A
teacher must earn the students’ respect as well as demanding that they show it
towards each other. Simply knowing a great amount about the topic is a given
and in fact amounts to very little in pedagogical terms. Students at all levels
learn from the example set by the teacher; they will mimic his or her
structures or habits, etc.
In the second instance, the authority in question is that
of the discipline itself, represented primarily by the teacher. I do not believe
that the history of art—or any academic discipline—should in have to ‘sell
itself’ or be made to somehow ‘matter’ to students; if anything, they should
learn to become relevant to the topic, by following the example and structure
of the course. Good teaching always seeks to magnify the best within its students,
not to disrespect them by coddling their weaknesses. The rigor and poetry of
the discipline, built painstakingly by the efforts and conflicts of many
dedicated scholars over centuries, should never be vulgarized or lowered; rather,
the teacher should seek to make the students smarter and more skilled, so that
they can rise to the level of the material, and master the challenges presented—hopefully
with interest, and pride.
Performance provides a model of what is demanded by the
lecture format. The material must be brought to life, first through careful preparation
and then by means of improvisation in the classroom. Like any stage performer,
a good teacher must be dexterous and above all empathic, in order to always
modulate and maneuver based on the needs a variegated and always-shifting
student-audience. For example, the needs of the remedial (they may, for
example, require additional and repeated clarification) must be balanced with those
of the more enthusiastic or advanced (who are nourished by more nuanced and
sophisticated interpretations). Ina related fashion, rhetoric and persuasion by
means of carefully delineated interpretive and historical structures (on the
part of the teacher and students) are emphasized in the place of mere listing
of historical and stylistic information (i.e., rote and uninspired teaching
leading to the same kind of learning).
