ABSTRACT

Believing that education is important to self-actualization and self-development, I make time to encourage folks who have either never tried college or dropped out without finishing degrees to come back to school. One of the most common explanations I hear for why they were not able to complete coursework is that the classes they were attending were just “too boring.” When folks are asked to explain what constitutes a boring class, they usually lay blame on the professor. They do not think of the classroom and what happens there as created by the mutual interplay between professor and student. To them, the classroom “belongs” to the professor and she or he is the sole factor determining what takes place there. This is the way most students have been taught to think about education in the classroom. However, what takes place in the classroom is never simply determined by a professor, even one who may be boring.