I did, however, have two strengths I thought would be useful. First, I was a dancer, and I’d been performing on stages since I was four years old. Surely, I thought, a lecture was just a very complex performance. Second, I’d been privileged enough to observe some exceptional philosophers present their lectures. I’d watched the way they presented complex philosophical ideas, how they stimulated debate in a deliberate manner, and how they modelled the kind of reasoning and argumentation they were expecting us to develop in our essays in their teaching. I’d marvelled especially at how they beguiled us with the ideas of the presocratic thinkers in our course on ancient Greek philosophy; how they made formal logic such a satisfying puzzle-solving exercise; and how they made philosophy so significant and relevant to my own existence that I just could not stop reading it. I was hooked. Standing in front of that group of around 60 students was exhilarating. I left that lecture theatre knowing that this was the place I wanted to be – thinking, analysing and debating philosophical ideas and concepts with students who were as passionate about the discipline as I was. In that lecture, I used no technological device or applications (there weren’t any at that time excepting for PowerPoint that was not widely used); I had no formal training and I had no mentor to advise me on pedagogical theory or lecturing techniques appropriate to philosophy. But my passion for the discipline and my desire to share it that I had then set me on the path that I continue walking today. Standing in front of that group of around 60 students was exhilarating. 90 A Journey of Innovation
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjU1NDYx