The Skillful Teacher

Overview of the Contents
The book begins with a chapter on the experience of teaching
that emphasizes its chaotic unpredictability and the ways this is
viscerally experienced. I argue that skillful teaching resembles a
kind of contextually informed “muddling through” classroom
experience that involves us negotiating moments of surprise as we
grow into our own truth about the realities we face. Chapter Two
explores the three core assumptions that inform the book: that
skillful teaching boils down to whatever helps students learn, 
that the best teachers adopt a critically reflective stance towards
their practice, and that the most important knowledge we need to
do good work is an awareness of how students are experiencing
their learning and our teaching. Chapter Three explores this third
assumption in more depth through an examination of various
classroom research approaches, particularly the classroom Criti-
cal Incident Questionnaire (CIQ).
Chapter Four continues the review of college learning through
students’ eyes by considering the two characteristics of teachers 
that students say they value the most—credibility and authenticity.
Specific examples of each of these characteristics are given so that
readers can recognize when they are displaying them in their own
practice. In Chapter Five I explore the typical emotional rhythms
of student learning and how teachers can respond to these. Chap-
ters Six through Twelve focus on some of the practices most com-
mon to college teaching across disciplines and levels. These are
lecturing (Chapter Six), discussion (Chapters Seven and Eight),
teaching in diverse classrooms (Chapter Nine), giving helpful eval-
uations (Chapter Ten), teaching online (Chapter Eleven), and
responding to student resistance (Chapter Twelve). In all these
chapters I try to give examples of specific classroom exercises that
will be helpful and to provide advice on when to judge which of
these are most appropriate.
Chapter Thirteen examines the ways in which political factors—
both inside and outside college—affect the practice of teaching. I
Preface
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argue that teaching is an inherently political activity through which
people learn how to treat each other democratically or autocrati-
cally. I also offer some strategies for political survival and conclude
by analyzing the political values and purposes of college teaching.
Chapter Fourteen argues that all teachers have a working philoso-
phy of teaching that needs to be acknowledged and examined. I
believe that honing and refining this working philosophy is per-
sonally, professionally, and pedagogically crucial. The book closes
with fifteen maxims of skillful teaching that summarize the main
themes that emerged in the previous chapters.