When Teaching Is What You Do For Fun
The other day my partner and I spent some time with a friend I had not seen in a while. She told us about her new job and what was going on with her. She loves playing shinny and my partner also plays shinny so it was one of the many topics of conversation.
Then she asked me "So what do you do for fun?"
I told her about how excited I am about the blended class that I am teaching this term and that my other sections were going well. I started telling her about the course content design that I have been working on and how it has been really nice to work on things from the ground up and create collaborative spaces. Then she stopped me:
"Wait, wait, I'm worried about you....I asked you what you do for fun and you started talking about work."
"Well I like teaching, I like my work, my work is fun for for me."
"I guess I mean what is your shinny equivalent?"
"Um, I blog?"
(eye roll)
It was as though I was the embodiment of one of the greatest philosophical quandaries of our time. I am one of those people who enjoys their work - to the point where it is not work, it is an enjoyable experience and an extension of who I am.
I've spent the past few days pondering the reaction that I produced in her. Never in that period of reflection did I for a moment feel I was being cheated out of some sense of fun, that I was delusional, that "real fun" has to be shinny, or crochet, or volleyball, or stamp collecting, or skiing. Teaching and anything that has to do with the instructional environment, design, delivery, pedagogy, all of it - is my fun. Yes, even research.
When I was an undergraduate I played on many championship interfaculty teams indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, and volleyball. When I started graduate school my participation in sports declined because I faced new responsibilities. Last summer I played softball and that was nice but the past two terms I have not really participated in any group sports activities. I definitely miss it, and the dates for drop-in volleyball, soccer, and badminton at my local community centre are on an electronic post-it on my desk top. I am yet to make any of these times but I intend to in the near future. I also played a lot of squash in undergrad, but finding a place to play squash in Toronto that fits a non-tenured faculty budget is difficult.
All this to say, just because I am not involved in group sports at the moment, or that I don't have a hobby that is not related to my employment does not mean I am not having fun. Every day is fun for me.
Today so far I have responded to emails, participated in discussions in my online class, read great articles that I found on Twitter, and next I shall do more work on my article that I am preparing for publication. All of this is fun. It is not work.
So maybe I am the outlier in the statistics we read about dissatisfaction with working conditions, etc. As long as I am teaching that is my fun, that is my happy. I am sure I am not alone.
Then she asked me "So what do you do for fun?"
I told her about how excited I am about the blended class that I am teaching this term and that my other sections were going well. I started telling her about the course content design that I have been working on and how it has been really nice to work on things from the ground up and create collaborative spaces. Then she stopped me:
"Wait, wait, I'm worried about you....I asked you what you do for fun and you started talking about work."
"Well I like teaching, I like my work, my work is fun for for me."
"I guess I mean what is your shinny equivalent?"
"Um, I blog?"
(eye roll)
It was as though I was the embodiment of one of the greatest philosophical quandaries of our time. I am one of those people who enjoys their work - to the point where it is not work, it is an enjoyable experience and an extension of who I am.
I've spent the past few days pondering the reaction that I produced in her. Never in that period of reflection did I for a moment feel I was being cheated out of some sense of fun, that I was delusional, that "real fun" has to be shinny, or crochet, or volleyball, or stamp collecting, or skiing. Teaching and anything that has to do with the instructional environment, design, delivery, pedagogy, all of it - is my fun. Yes, even research.
When I was an undergraduate I played on many championship interfaculty teams indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, and volleyball. When I started graduate school my participation in sports declined because I faced new responsibilities. Last summer I played softball and that was nice but the past two terms I have not really participated in any group sports activities. I definitely miss it, and the dates for drop-in volleyball, soccer, and badminton at my local community centre are on an electronic post-it on my desk top. I am yet to make any of these times but I intend to in the near future. I also played a lot of squash in undergrad, but finding a place to play squash in Toronto that fits a non-tenured faculty budget is difficult.
All this to say, just because I am not involved in group sports at the moment, or that I don't have a hobby that is not related to my employment does not mean I am not having fun. Every day is fun for me.
Today so far I have responded to emails, participated in discussions in my online class, read great articles that I found on Twitter, and next I shall do more work on my article that I am preparing for publication. All of this is fun. It is not work.
So maybe I am the outlier in the statistics we read about dissatisfaction with working conditions, etc. As long as I am teaching that is my fun, that is my happy. I am sure I am not alone.
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