New Instructors Join the Academy's Community
This year, new faculty members and interns arrived at Exeter from all over the world. For almost all of these new instructors, Harkness-based learning was not something they had ever experienced, let alone taught.
Nearly 30 faculty members, including interns, were added to Exeter’s roster of teachers, administrators and advisers this year. Some had prior teaching experience, while others were totally new to the experience and the work. Most plan to continue working and contributing to Exeter’s community for years to come.
Many instructors undergo intensive training over the summer about how to teach their classes, so they feel ready to teach their courses well when the school year begins. English teaching intern Wendy Mellin said that she felt very prepared for Harkness teaching by the summer courses the summer courses prepared her well for Harkness teaching. “After attending the Exeter Humanities Institute last June and going through the Academy’s orientation for ne` w faculty at the start of the school year, I felt very well-equipped for this position and the responsibilities that come with it,” Mellin said.
“I think that Harkness plays a significant role in how we all learn and live together.”
Once she began teaching in the Harkness style, Mellin began to see firsthand the benefits of the method. “I really enjoy teaching in a student-centered classroom where we read the text closely and work together to dig into where we are interested in the text,” she said. She also praised the knowledge of her colleagues, especially in the realm of poetry, and she commended their willingness to counsel her about how to teach poetry well through the Harkness method. “I think that the way we teach poetry at PEA is unique, and I have learned so much about teaching poetry from my colleagues,” Mellin said.
New classical languages instructor Simon Allcock has taken a year of sabbatical from the school where he usually teaches, Wellington College in the United Kingdom, to teach at Exeter for the year. He said that he thought Harkness fosters a motivation in students that he does not often see and extends far outside the classroom. “Harkness is a school culture, it’s not a table. It’s not a teaching method, it’s a way of thinking about education,” Allcock said. “I absolutely love the idea of it. It seems to me that PEA students take responsibility for their learning, that if they’re to do well, they need to work hard. They’ll do as well as they work.” He said that, from his experiences teaching non-Harkness courses, students often “appear to have the attitude of, ‘It’s the teacher’s job to make me better,’” rather than utilize Harkness and classes as a way to propel themselves forward.
Allcock also noted that school in the United States and in the United Kingdom is very structurally different. Though Wellington College is also a co-ed boarding school of a thousand students, it hosts the equivalent of U.S. grades eight through twelve. Students at Wellington also have one large final exam at the end of the year rather than many smaller tests scattered throughout the year. At Exeter, he notes, these tests are used to “keep score,” and to learn information in smaller portions rather than “blitzing” at the end of the year, as British students are used to.
Unlike Allcock and Mellin, English instructor Alex Myers ’96 has had much experience with Exeter’s teaching methods. He was a student at Exeter long before he decided to become a teacher. He said that his first year of instructing at Exeter had been very exciting.
“Being on the other side of the Harkness table is a whole new world,” Myers said.
He already has big plans for his future years at Exeter. “I’m excited to get involved in some long term work on issues important to me, especially around inclusivity and social justice. On a personal front, I continue to write and hope that goes on in the future,” he said.
As the first openly transgender instructor at Exeter, Myers has been very happy with his first year instructing at Exeter. He said he felt as though the community welcomed him and that he has been able to have “meaningful conversations with many members of the community,” about being transgender.
“I hope I am able to be a leader for students and faculty in this area,” he said.
Other new instructors had similar experiences. They, too, felt welcome in the community, even in their first few weeks, and they said that living in a dorm and being a part of clubs, sports and other organizations on campus helped them integrate their work and passions into the community.
“I felt very welcomed by the Exeter community this year,” French instructor Sheryl Dion said. “I have enjoyed teaching French, coaching cross country and working with students as a PEAN adviser.”
Most of all, this year’s new instructors said they felt a sense of connection with other members of the community (whether they be other instructors, students or staff) who live with them on campus. Mellin expressed her happiness at the closeness of Exeter’s campus and atmosphere.
“I think that Harkness plays a significant role in how we all learn and live together,” she said. “Our relationships with each other are strong because of the collaboration which comes from Harkness.”
The Exeter faculty shifts from year to year. Though some instructors may retire or leave for other opportunities, most continue at the Academy for many years. But among all the familiar faces, a few new ones add new voices and unique viewpoints to Exeter’s growing mosaic of perspectives. In order to maintain Exeter’s diversity and keep it a modern place, the new ideas introduced by new instructors are essential.