My career
(Continued)
I am one of those people- phlegmatic by nature- who can’t stand it when folks don’t get along. At other schools where I’ve taught in my nineteen year career, relationships were tense; teachers griped together, snubbed one another, stepped on toes. Misery! I love coming to CSD because I would never select the above phrases to describe my colleagues. No one is particularly ego-driven, or easily offended. Opinions differ, but there is a palpable atmosphere of mutual respect and humility, with a refreshing undercurrent of playfulness.
I adore my colleagues and am extremely proud of them. Proud of their accomplishments, proud of the way they treat each other, proud to overhear my students acknowledging their justness or their depth of knowledge or their classroom skills. And it is true that these Cambridge professors are knowledgeable, and that we share a love a learning that is easily perceived. We have no teachers’ lounge (oops the cat’s out of the bag), but at the teacher’s table in the Great Hall or over the kitchen island, we love to wrestle with anything and everything. Sometimes we discuss the questions of the day, other times it’s the questions of the ages.
At a recent in-service day, we spent some time (more than was allotted) discussing the topic of liberal education- what it is , how long should it continue, how does CSD promote it and other such questions. Like most meaningful discussions among erudite Christians from various walks of life, it was electrically charged, earnest, even vehement, yet orderly and respectful. As we finally moved on to the next topic, the science teacher on my right remarked with a wide smile, “This is so healthy; we should discuss this topic every year.” Indeed, we are a healthy faculty, flawed but healthy.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions.