Teaching College Without A Degree

it's easier when you're Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie to be a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University | Vanity Fair

 

update:dunno:

Angelina Jolie?s Georgetown University Rumor Debunked [Updated] | Vanity Fair

 

Under some circumstances, I don't see any problems. Who wouldn't want to take a songwriting course taught by Bob Dylan, or a film directing course taught by Steven Spielberg? I don't know if either one has a graduate degree, but I'm sure you get where I'm going.

 

Spielberg was a college drop out all his career. He finished his Bachelor's at one of the CSUs in 2002 (after receiving a couple of honorary doctorates); I think he submitted "Schindler's list" as his senior project. Any university would be so lucky as to have him teach film.

Similarly, when Ludwig Wittgenstein was recruited to teach at Oxford after publishing influential Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, he did not have any degree at all; they had to practically give a PhD to him on the basis of his book to satisfy formal requirements. A committee member G. E. Moore wrote on his examiner's report: "I myself consider that this is a work of genius; but, even if I am completely mistaken and it is nothing of the sort, it is well above the standard required for the Ph.D. degree."

 

One reason I've not been a fan of non-college graduate teachers is that there is a difference between the discipline and the art.

If I study art there are different schools of though/teaching. There is a discipline that gets me from complete novice to art expert. Self-taught artists might absolutely have made an impact on the world of art. But that doesn't mean they can actually teach.

Anyone ever watch that show America's Next Great Artist? It was a reality show in the spirit of Top Chef but for artists. They had a guy on there who went by "Sucklord." He was weird. And he did weird art (e.g. Nailing action figures to a piece of wood). Before the show Sucklord had a track record for actually selling art. Not from his house on etsy but through legit art dealers.

So Sucklord would have every claim to teaching at an art school as Spielberg or Tarantino if we judge commercial success as equivalent to academic discipline. But learning how to nail action figures to a board is very different from learning commercial or fine art.

So part of it has to do with having the individual only teach courses they are actually qualified to teach. I think the other part is determining if that person teaching will actually benefit the student experience or if it will just enhance the school's prestige by having the person on the faculty list.

 

I watch so little TV I had no idea there was such a show. What's next "America's Next Great Distance Education Commentator?"

 

I look forward to the inevitable drama that would unfold after they force me to share a room with Steve Foerster in the mansion I assume they would house us all in.

 

Or the antics and shenanigans that unfold as the group operates a frozen yogurt shop or smoothie stand. I can see it now.

 

I think it would be best to just combine them all into a horrible mutant. the Apprentice, Top Chef, Survivor. Let's do it all. Make Kizmet cook a soufflé at the beach while the rest of the team is battling for sleeping bags.

We could end with a bachelor concept where we reveal Steve Levicoff to the world. Bonus points if it turns out that DLTruth's theory is true about Levicoff being an invention of John Bear.

This could be amazing.

 

I make a nice omelet but I've never made a soufflé. I'm willing to try if I get to go to the beach.

 

You might. It could be interesting TV to turn the DI crew loose on the Jersey Shore. :laugh:

J.

 

I could be a chubbier, Germanic version of the Situation...

The trick will be coming up with a nickname dumber than "The Situation."

 

My suggestion is "The Complication."

Q - "Why do they call you 'The Complication?'

A - "It's complicated."

 

Many apologies...

It turns out the artist I was referencing is called THE Sucklord, not just "Sucklord." I meant no disrespect.

Hmm...not bad...not bad at all

 

Agreed. While not common, it's not unheard of for community college's to have non-degreed faculty in the more trade oriented technical departments. While the accreditors ideally prefer an instructor to have a masters degree with eighteen credit hours in the specific subject matter, through the "other" qualifications route - they will and do approve approve non-degreed faculty. Although generally they really pressure that the individual be currently enrolled or on track to obtain a degree in the field.

 

The trade programs at a community college are typically an entirely different animal from the regular academic areas when it comes to teacher qualification. I've never seen a person with a Masters degree in one of the trade programs (and my last CC had a very large skilled trade department). Bachelors degrees were incredibly uncommon as well. At my last school the requirement to teach a trade was an associate's degree and there was a waiver available for people who had been at it for long enough and never earned a credential.

I'm unaware of there being a Masters program in a skilled trade let alone a Masters program in another area where you can rack up 18 credit hours in a skilled trade. So CCs naturally have to flex on that requirement. The closest thing I've ever seen to a Masters in a skilled trade is the MFA in Jewelry Design. And I'm sure people would dispute whether a bench jeweler qualified as a "skilled trade" or a "fine art." But, fortunately, degrees haven't inflated to the point where we are seeing requirements for a Masters degree in Plumbing Science just to work at Roto-Rooter.

 

While skills and qualifications are important for the knowledge, passion to teach is also important. Teaching people with just the mindset of making more money from the student or having other malicious gain are certainly not correct. Helping the student to master the knowledge and pass the test level is your job. Having it done fast is your experience level.

So, passion, integrity and knowledge should be the right combination to be a teacher.

 

neuhaus: "Bonus points if it turns out that DLTruth's theory is true about Levicoff being an invention of John Bear. "

John Bear: Well, we've never been seen in the same place at the . . . no, wait, we have. Twice. Once in Philadelphia in the presence of Chip White (first meeting of some of the Gang of Six), and again a few years later in the presence of a top editor at Pearson, which was interested in publishing a new edition of "Name It and Frame It." (Steve was OK with the concept, but did not wish to do the work himself, and it all faded away.)

 

I somehow suspect Chip's word would not satisfy the people at DL Truth. Maybe it's just me.

But Dr. Bear...we asked the top editor at Pearson and he said that he met with you alone.

He also said that you gave him this:

 

Tyra Banks at Stanford

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/tyra-banks-teach-personal-branding-000000193.html