Tenure

Tenure. The first time I heard it in college I thought it was “ten-year” or something like that. Embarrassing to admit, but true. It probably goes without saying that if I didn’t know what the word really is, then I didn’t understand the academic dynamics behind it. After reading what Parini has to say about tenure, I feel as uncomfortable with tenure as I did when I first heard it.

One of my favorite undergraduate teachers was limited to teaching English 1010 and 2010. She was inspiring and unique; she wasn’t tenured. On the other hand, one of my least favorite teachers seemed burdened by students and even more so in helping them. I suspect he was teaching the course because he had to. He was tenured though.

Ultimately, I think Parini did a great thing, even though it was not completely the course he chose. He was passed up for tenure, but he discovered a wonderful niche at a different school. Only by being passed up for tenure at his first school did he realize that he wasn’t teaching the way he really wanted to teach. He was pursuing his writing career with passion, but plodding through his teaching. His writing succeeded wonderfully; his teaching did not.

So for those who want to teach in the academic, tenure-structured system (I have considered it myself), how does a non-tenured teacher meet the demands of the organization while still pursuing their own subject matter with passion and teaching it in their own way?