Portfolio careers and teaching

I've been thinking a lot lately about the place of teaching in a portfolio career. It's not uncommon, particularly in further and higher education for staff to work part time, combining teaching with other commitment. If you had a choice who would you rather be taught by:

1) A full time teacher with many years' experience and subject expertise
2) A yet-to-qualify teacher who is passionate and enthusiastic about their subject
3) A part time teacher with experience outside of education who is well qualified in their subject
4) A full time newly qualified teacher fresh out of university

The reality is that on many courses of study, particularly in further and higher education, it's somewhat luck of the draw which you might get. Any of these could turn out to be the best or the worse teacher you ever had.

At first glance, option one might seem like the safest bet - they ought to know the syllabus like the back of their hand and have been in the classroom long enough to have worked out how best to help people learn. That said though, there is always the risk that they are tired and jaded, worn down with cynicism about the education system or unwittingly inclined to intimidate their students with the depth of their subject knowledge.

Option two has the potential to be a disaster or a triumph for teaching and learning too. Someone hungry to share their subject can be inspiring and motivating but a lack of knowledge about teaching may limit their effectiveness.

Option three might offer insights into to the working world outside academia drawn from first hand experience that someone who has always taught might not. When entering the profession though, like any new teacher, they will still have to find their feet.

Option four ought to be bang up to date with the latest pedagogy and have recent experience in a range of education settings. They might also be very overwhelmed by their first teaching post and still have much to learn themselves.

Teachers often suffer from self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy. Let's face it - we could all always do better. Whether part time, full time or part of a portfolio career, not all teachers are equal. A teacher's role is to facilitate learning, to make it possible for their students to make new connections, share ideas and equip them with the skills to go out in the world and create new knowledge for themselves. As a teacher myself, I firmly believe that we must educate both our teachers and learners to accept a joint responsibility for getting the best out of each other and the educational settings they find themselves in.