we burn them out, pay them nothing, treat them terribly, and make them teach impossible course loads, yes.

but some of the most innovative, effective pedagogues i know are contingent faculty.

conversely, some of the least effective teachers i know are full profs. https://twitter.com/bretdevereaux/status/1295909956202438659

there’s real evidence to suggest that students suffer from the widespread adjunctification of higher ed. https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-universities-treat-adjuncts-limits-their-effectiveness-in-the-classroom-report-says/?cid=gen_sign_in

but notice, student outcomes are tied to professors’ working conditions, not their inability to become good teachers because they don’t stay in the game long enough.

the other thing we need to be real about is that adjuncts *do* stay in the game for a long time. too long, in fact.

at least two-thirds of faculty are contingent. we can’t assume all of them have very little teaching experience.

we also can’t put the whole onus of teaching effectiveness on individual faculty. so much goes into making a good teacher: access to campus resources; faculty mentoring; full membership in department committees where decisions about teaching are made.

i get the point that adjunctification of higher ed is awful for everyone. but, by making this a conversation about what students lose, we’re still commodifying education. the implication is that adjuncts put out an inferior product.

even though i understand this tweet acknowledges it’s not adjuncts’ fault, it’s still problematic to make this about teaching quality rather than lack of resources.

why? because making the conversation about teaching quality feeds into our impulses to treat students like consumers.

teaching isn’t a service i perform or a good i sell. it’s not about what the student gets; it’s about how the student is changed through collaboration.

finally, don’t get me wrong: burnout and exhaustion are very real. i’m not diminishing that. but we have to advocate for contingent faculty in their own right, not just on account of what they do or don’t do for students.