I’ve had the good fortune of entering my eighth year teaching in the UH Futures Studies program. It was a goal of mine almost the moment I entered the program as a student back in 1988 when the program was still at UH-Clear Lake. I’m glad it took as long as it did, as I think it’s really helpful to bring many years of working experience as a futurist to the teaching table. It helps to give students a flavor of what it will be like “out there.” And I’ve continued to practice while I teach. Beyond the enjoyment of the classroom, an added benefit is that teaching has made me a much better practitioner. It can be very tempting as a practitioner to just “do stuff” and not get bogged down in the why and what for. One can fall into a mode of cranking out projects. The beauty of part-time teaching is that it gives the busy practitioner time to pause and think about what they are doing. To borrow from our Systems Thinking course, it creates a virtuous circle, in which learning from practicing enhances the classroom theory which in turn enhances the practice….and so on.
Part of my motivation for this post was to provide a little nudge to those who are on the fence about whether to teach a class or not. I find that lots of my clients, colleagues, and students toy with idea of teach a class on the side. Go for it! You may not get rich, but you’ll get better at whatever you do, and the students will benefit from your “real life” experience.
It’s amazing to think it’s been 8 years already. The semesters and years seem to fly by. I’m looking forward to this year’s journey. Andy Hines
