What I believe - Teaching Philosophy
To me teaching is about becoming.
If teaching in general is about helping people grow, then teaching a college course is about helping students become what they want to be.
Becoming professional musicians, nurses, policemen, businesspeople and advertising creative people.
We are helping them to change, to add a new dimension to themselves, to become members of a new community of people –
their chosen profession or career. And in so doing helping them to define who they are as people.
This philosophy comes partially from how I succeeded in advertising. I never got promoted by asking for a promotion. I got promoted by doing the job I wanted. Eventually the company would notice and give me the title and a pay rise. They gave me the title of Account Manager when I had already become an account manager.
It also comes from my knowledge of what employers are looking for in graduates. They don’t really care about job specific skills in most industries – they can train people on those if they need to. What they want is attitude – ability to work in a team, solve problems on their own, professional behavior. They want people to be advertising people.
In the context of helping our students become advertising people it involves three things.
1. Lore
‘A body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.’ (dictionary.com)
Our job is to pass on those traditions and knowledge so that they can converse with other members of the group knowledgeably and productively. To be able to talk as an insider.
In the context of advertising it includes such things as:
Language – ideas, targeting, strategies etc.
History – Bill Bernbach, usps etc.
Knowledge of what works – single-minded advertising, ideas, insights etc.
Imparting Lore requires some more traditional teaching but with the emphasis on those techniques that have worked well through
the ages – storytelling, repetition, involvement.
2. Skills
Although I’ve said specific skills are not the core, they do help. There are specific skills that they need to know to become a true advertising person. Obvious ones like being able to come up with strategies, ideas, create layouts, and use Photoshop. Less obvious ones like customer service and presentation skills.
We need to teach them those skills, give them the techniques and tools to practice them successfully and help them try them out in a safe environment until they are adept at them.
This requires some direction but also a lot of hands on practice.
3. Passion
To succeed in a demanding business like advertising you must have a passion for it. Those late nights and petty problems will all becoming too much if you don’t care.
In some programs passion is a given before the students come e.g. music. In advertising many join straight from high school thinking advertising sounds like a fun course and job, but without any strong emotional connection to it. If that doesn’t change to real passion and commitment they will lose out to those who are more passionate.
Our job is to share our passion and help them to find theirs. This means giving them tasks that encourage their curiosity, encouraging them to have their own opinions and feelings, and jointly celebrating the best in our business as it happens.
These three things are all important but the greatest is passion. For if our students are passionate they will find out most of the rest for themselves.
To me teaching is about becoming.
If teaching in general is about helping people grow, then teaching a college course is about helping students become what they want to be.
Becoming professional musicians, nurses, policemen, businesspeople and advertising creative people.
We are helping them to change, to add a new dimension to themselves, to become members of a new community of people –
their chosen profession or career. And in so doing helping them to define who they are as people.
This philosophy comes partially from how I succeeded in advertising. I never got promoted by asking for a promotion. I got promoted by doing the job I wanted. Eventually the company would notice and give me the title and a pay rise. They gave me the title of Account Manager when I had already become an account manager.
It also comes from my knowledge of what employers are looking for in graduates. They don’t really care about job specific skills in most industries – they can train people on those if they need to. What they want is attitude – ability to work in a team, solve problems on their own, professional behavior. They want people to be advertising people.
In the context of helping our students become advertising people it involves three things.
1. Lore
‘A body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.’ (dictionary.com)
Our job is to pass on those traditions and knowledge so that they can converse with other members of the group knowledgeably and productively. To be able to talk as an insider.
In the context of advertising it includes such things as:
Language – ideas, targeting, strategies etc.
History – Bill Bernbach, usps etc.
Knowledge of what works – single-minded advertising, ideas, insights etc.
Imparting Lore requires some more traditional teaching but with the emphasis on those techniques that have worked well through
the ages – storytelling, repetition, involvement.
2. Skills
Although I’ve said specific skills are not the core, they do help. There are specific skills that they need to know to become a true advertising person. Obvious ones like being able to come up with strategies, ideas, create layouts, and use Photoshop. Less obvious ones like customer service and presentation skills.
We need to teach them those skills, give them the techniques and tools to practice them successfully and help them try them out in a safe environment until they are adept at them.
This requires some direction but also a lot of hands on practice.
3. Passion
To succeed in a demanding business like advertising you must have a passion for it. Those late nights and petty problems will all becoming too much if you don’t care.
In some programs passion is a given before the students come e.g. music. In advertising many join straight from high school thinking advertising sounds like a fun course and job, but without any strong emotional connection to it. If that doesn’t change to real passion and commitment they will lose out to those who are more passionate.
Our job is to share our passion and help them to find theirs. This means giving them tasks that encourage their curiosity, encouraging them to have their own opinions and feelings, and jointly celebrating the best in our business as it happens.
These three things are all important but the greatest is passion. For if our students are passionate they will find out most of the rest for themselves.