When I came back from Holidays, I went straight to a two weeks course in Utrecht, an Animal Sciences course. It didn’t take me too long to realize that I had forgotten how it is to be inside a classroom, following lectures the whole day, with teachers scaring you about the “Exam”, with having homework to do, etc. Actually, it hasn’t been that long since my last similar experience. Let me see… I had classes for the first two years of my PhD, which would mean… 2006. 3 to 4 years only. Not a lot, but I have to say that I had forgotten how it is.
Anyway, apart from paying attention at the lectures itself, and all the subjects that I had to learn in two weeks, I suddenly find myself thinking about teaching. Yes, being in their place, the teachers. I have always wanted to teach. I had some opportunities here and there. And I always loved it. But the opportunity of teaching in a University, being responsible for a discipline, I did not get yet. And I have to say “Yet” because as the time to choose what to do next and what kind of job to look for after my post-doc approaches, I am creating this list of all the things that will guide my decision. Being able to teach I guess is one of them. I even thought that, if I get a job in a Research Institute or a Company that don’t have teaching as a part of it, I will look for part-time teaching someplace else, because teaching is definitely part of my plans.
And it feels good to know what to look for. I always thought that the worst thing for a student or for someone already looking for a job is not knowing what to look for, what you would like to do. That makes things a lot more difficult, because what makes you move forward is “Aim”. When you have an aim, you know that at least you are moving towards the right place.
I did some teaching as a postdoc. Initially I was not asked to do it, but when I made clear to my PI that I'd like to gain this experience, it was quite simple to get to do some lectures. Many PI's have teaching duties, which 'distracts' them from doing research. So if you take over some teaching, you may actually be of help!
I learned that lectures are not the same as seminars: it is less interactive. The first time I was so surprised that after finishing my presentation, nearly everyone just packed their bags and left, but hey, that was also what I did at university, wasn't it? Then a couple of students came forward and asked questions about what they wrote down. A glimpse of their notes (pages of them!) made clear that my message has been passed successfully and that felt really good!
There must be a way to do some teaching. Go for it! I think it is a great thing to do, and it enables you to put an additional skill on your CV!
You are completely right: the aim is definitely the essential part of your job decision making! And I think it's great that you had confirmed this during one of your classes; it must be a good sign! Great idea too to make a list of things you like to do...do you also write down the things you definitely don't want to do? And are you able within the NKI to teach certain classes? Within our academic hospital/university it's possible for PhD-students and postdocs to teach some biology/pharmacology/medical sciences classes and guide the practical courses; maybe they offer similar thing at the NKI??
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I learned that lectures are not the same as seminars: it is less interactive. The first time I was so surprised that after finishing my presentation, nearly everyone just packed their bags and left, but hey, that was also what I did at university, wasn't it? Then a couple of students came forward and asked questions about what they wrote down. A glimpse of their notes (pages of them!) made clear that my message has been passed successfully and that felt really good!
There must be a way to do some teaching. Go for it! I think it is a great thing to do, and it enables you to put an additional skill on your CV!
You are completely right: the aim is definitely the essential part of your job decision making! And I think it's great that you had confirmed this during one of your classes; it must be a good sign! Great idea too to make a list of things you like to do...do you also write down the things you definitely don't want to do? And are you able within the NKI to teach certain classes? Within our academic hospital/university it's possible for PhD-students and postdocs to teach some biology/pharmacology/medical sciences classes and guide the practical courses; maybe they offer similar thing at the NKI??