ABSTRACT
It’s hard to talk about teaching. Teaching is so complex, with so many facets, that any particular description is inadequate. Community college instructors often refer to their teaching in brief comments-about their commitment to covering course material, their aversion to lecturing, their efforts to “get students to think for themselves,” or the importance of hands-on projects in occupational courses-that hint at but don’t fully convey what they do in the classroom. Others resort to metaphors, as many people describing teaching do; one described his class as a “sheepdog situation,” in which he herded his “sheep,” while others referred to “teaching from the sidelines” or described their roles as facilitators or mentors or coaches.
