Welcome...


Sterling Hennis

I am not sure that what I did during my professional career was always obvious to my family and friends. They did, or course, know that I taught and worked with students, but everyone was always busy doing this and that and probably did not know exactly what I did. For that reason I have decided to describe a very few of my experiences with students over the years.

My wife, Anita, has always been very supportive of my work She has been an integral part of everything I have done. She has welcomed all of my students into our house and entertained the pledges of the fraternity when they first became a part of Sig Ep. We often were involved with my students beyond the classroom, and they often became a part of our extended family. In fact, Anita and I accompanied one of my students and his bride on their honeymoon to England and Scotland.

I have been retired for the past several years and have had the time to reflect on my work as a professor English Education for forty-one years. Even though I had wonderful students and had a wonderful experience at a wonderful university, I don't believe that I made any impact on the educational establishment throughout my career. I see very little difference in the schools now as compared to the time I began teaching. In fact, it may be worse. I see now a standardized-test-driven curriculum that has become even more rigid than in the past. I do not believe that this has been created by teachers and educators, but by misguided politicians who want to show "no child left behind," and fundamentalist thinkers who refuse to believe that anything ever changes. It is, of course, essential that learning be evaluated. It is necessary for making improvements in the education of children and for showing that public money is being spent in the most effective way. But there are better ways of doing this.

Educator

Even though my work has probably had no real impact on the overall educational system, I hope I have helped my students see that there are better ways to promote learning. And I know that many of them do a great job in their own classrooms in creating the best experiences possible – and insuring that learning is exciting for their students. But they still have to conform to required regulations and spend much of their classroom time preparing their students for standardized testing. I have always tried to get my students to learn how to get their students enthusiastic about the learning process, how to determine what knowledge is of most worth, and how to fight the rigidity of the educational system. Since I believe that motivation is crucial to learning, I tried to design my courses to promote this--though sometimes stretching the borders of conventionality.

My approach to teaching and learning is to focus on process, while not excluding product. Fact, or product, is the driving force for most curriculum design. And basic information is critical. For example, our great body of literature, passed down through the ages, is most important. Through the minds of great writers and thinkers, literature provides a cultural base that can help give direction and meaning to our lives. So this content is sorely needed at all educational levels. But isolated facts about the stories and lives of the characters are not enough. If one does not read or has no interest in reading, little has been gained. It has been estimated that only one American out of ten has read one or more books in the past year. This number would not reflect books that are required to read in a school setting. We need to get students excited about reading, about what it can do in our lives. Students need to have a permanent reading habit – a willingness to read when there are no requirements to read. But this goal is often not obtained because of the way literature is taught. In one part of this paper I have attempted to show some of the kinds of things we did in my classroom. Everything described is as I remember it, however, I did change the names of the students.

Fraternity Advisor

I have tried to show my relationship and involvement with a fraternity. I was faculty adviser to a fraternity for over forty years, and have continued my contact with them. It has been a great experience for me. It has given me the opportunity to watch the development of these young men over many years. We had many up and downs over the years, but overall the ups far outnumber the downs. For those who do not know what a faculty adviser actually does, I have included some of my experiences in working with the House.

Since – I guess – most people think of professors primarily in the classroom, I thought I would describe a rather unusual business venture. But it was an outcome of an educational experience. It started with a Sunday School class I was asked to teach. Again, all the characters and conversations are real, but I did change the names. In my university classes, I used this experience as an example of the kind of learning that I tried to promote: a unit built around the solution of a problem.

Website Overview

This website contains information describing different aspects of my life. As with any recollection, it is subject to the influences of human memory. The website is organized into the following sections. The menu bar at the top of each page allows you to navigate to any section.

• About
• Prelude to a Career
• Professor Years
• Fraternity Adviser
• Side Career
• Paintings

Contact Sterling Hennis