Those Who Can, Teach: Teaching as Christian Vocation(3 McMaster General Studies)

For many aspiring academics, the transition from doctoral student to classroom teacher is a challenging one. The classroom culture, the needed pedagogical skills, and the expected level and type of work are significantly different in the two environments. Nevertheless, most doctoral students go on to teach in undergraduate or seminary classrooms. To prepare the PhD students at McMaster Divinity College to negotiate this transition successfully, the faculty holds a biennial colloquium covering the major dimensions, both theoretical and practical, of a Christian teaching vocation. On the basis of the presentations of the colloquium, the essential topics have been addressed in essays prepared for this volume for the benefit of all who aspire to excellence in their teaching, especially those in Christian higher education.

About the Author :
Stanley E. Porter is President and Dean, and Professor of New Testament, at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has written widely on the topics of biblical studies and linguistics.

Review :
"At last there is a book written by experts in theological education that will help those who wish to teach effectively these truths. Stanley Porter and his colleagues provide some practical steps for bridging the chasm that normally separates teaching and learning styles. Teaching should be seen as a means of informing scholarship and vice versa, and this masterful collection of essays shows you deftly where and how to begin this journey." --Don Page, Trinity Western University "Stanley Porter explicitly and implicitly addresses the negative effects caused by an almost universal absence of graduate school instruction in the fundamentals of good teaching. . . . These reflections cover a wide range of both theoretical pedagogical considerations . . . as well as practical pointers on effective teaching. Noteworthy throughout these very helpful essays is the acknowledgement of the seminary or Christian college educator's need for humility, patience, enthusiasm, and dedicated, prayerful commitment to the teaching task." --Deane E. D. Downey, Trinity Western University "Those Who Can, Teach provides educators--both veterans and beginners--with the clear thinking and practical advice that all of us wished we had before entering the classroom for the first time. All of us on occasion have remarked how odd it is that one can earn a PhD without any instruction in how to teach! Those Who Can, Teach shows us how this problem can be rectified." --Craig A. Evans, Acadia Divinity College