Quote of the day, on teaching and teachers

In one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates warns a student that teachers can be dangerous. "You do not even know to whom you are committing your soul," Socrates says, "and whether the thing to which you commit yourself be good or evil."

Of course I agree with this quote, which is from Professor Steven Cahn who teaches a graduate course in philosophy to remind doctoral students about the profound seriousness of teaching.  It is with a "handle with care" that I approach teaching because I neither want to to brainwash students, nor to turn off any potential interest in the topics I teach.

This essay comes at a good time for me--during a light-hearted sidebar chat about giving students a break in the class, which I always do, a few students noted that they do not get any break in some of the other classes that also meet twice a week for an hour and fifty minutes each.  I explained to them that they have a right to a ten-minute break, and that such a break is factored into any class that meets for more than 50 minutes.  My point is this: every aspect of teaching--contents, behavior, and even breaks--are far too important for teachers to ignore and neglect.