Derek Bok Quotes

The best method for a given teacher is the one which is most familiar to the teacher.

We teach teens what we think they ought to know, and we never tell them what they want to know.

Teaching at university isn't like teaching in an art school.

We can do better in higher education. And it is more than just technology. It's also an attitude on the part of faculty. We need to think through how we can produce a better quality product at less cost.

In other words, if a teacher only teaches in one way, then they conclude that the kids who can't learn well that way don't have the ability, when, in fact, it may be that the way the teacher's teaching is not a particularly good match to the way those kids learn.

Professors simply can't discuss a thing. Habit compels them to deliver a lecture.

Find a good teacher, as I found for my sons. I feel the worst thing you can do is to try and teach your own children yourself, because there is a natural rebellion that occurs.

The most important thing I learned at the University of Florida is that a Ph.D. and writing papers is very important in the United States.

I started thinking about my relationship with my students; I'm this guy who comes in from book - and movie - land and descends on angel wings into their classroom.

I grew up in a literary home and majored in French, English, and sociology. They all have served me well over the years.

Our office acts like a kind of educational establishment and we are very careful who we educate.

The best teachers are those who keep students motivated, challenged and flourishing.

I'm not sure that teaching a Core course is necessarily the best introduction to teaching.

Kim Il Sung University should set an example for all other universities of the country to follow in introducing innovative teaching methods.

Coach Reid is a great teacher. He understands how people learn, understands how to get people to get the concept of what the play is and why we're running it.

I'm a craftsman type of teacher. I don't like the thematic type of teaching that takes place in a lot of colleges.

Teaching by precept, without example, is mighty poor teaching.

Experience takes dreadfully high school-wages, but he teaches like no other.

The Ph.D. system was designed for a job in academics. And it works really well if you really want to be an academic, and the system actually works quite well. So for people who have the gift and like to go spend their lives as scholars, it's fine. But the trouble is that it's become a kind of a meal ticket - you can't get a job if you don't have a Ph.D.

I'm a shy, nervous person, and I don't like teaching with "terms." I didn't teach them, like, "This is first person, this is second person, this is foreshadowing," or whatever, so no one probably felt like they were learning anything. But I feel like teaching in that way reduces the concept to a term.

My teaching exists in a different part of my brain. However, I am lucky enough to teach very smart graduate students.

I enjoyed teaching. I liked the students. Having to formulate my ideas about literature made them clearer. I did not particularly enjoy the more bureaucratic aspects of the job. However, if you are teaching fervently, your energy and time are used up at a great rate.

You don't become a good teacher by applying techniques; you don't become a good teacher by using the latest hot methodologies that are being promoted in this or that handbook.

Education should be gentle and stern, not cold and lax.

A good teacher feels his way, looking for response.