Untrained Professors and the Role of Self-Assessment

An untrained professor might lack familiarity with an institution's culture, policies, and formal teaching procedures. They may initially struggle with lesson planning, student evaluation, or navigating administrative expectations. Yet, many such educators are deeply equipped with subject knowledge, relevant skills, and innovative strategies for engaging students. They deserve to be considered for teaching roles, especially when their unconventional backgrounds bring freshness and depth to the learning environment.

This creates a dynamic, evolving relationship between educators and students—one where both must adapt. Students often benefit from exposure to varied teaching methods and intellectual styles. Introducing unstructured or experimental elements into pedagogy—if done gradually and with purpose—can lead to richer educational experiences.

This approach aligns with the concept of a premortem, a strategic planning tool that involves imagining why a project might fail, then working backward to prevent that outcome. Applied to teaching, this mindset enables anticipation of classroom challenges and preparation of adaptive strategies—thus fostering resilience and responsiveness.

Untrained professors may, in fact, be instrumental in cultivating environments where curiosity thrives. Their distinct approaches can encourage students to think critically, question assumptions, and pursue personal academic interests. However, inconsistency in teaching styles across faculty can also cause confusion. Students used to structured methods may find themselves disoriented in an open-ended class, affecting both engagement and performance. Assessment becomes difficult when expectations and evaluation criteria are not aligned across courses.

Moreover, many students are no longer drawn to what is easily available or rigidly structured. In an age where content is abundant, especially online, they seek autonomy and challenge. They want to work on real-world problems, ask new questions instead of revisiting old ones, and take charge of their learning journeys. Passive environments or repetitive content fail to inspire them. They desire personalization, differentiated instruction, and opportunities to co-create assignments and projects.

While targeted instruction and collaborative learning often pull in different directions, a balanced integration is necessary. Personalized learning should not come at the cost of foundational knowledge. A student cannot excel in mathematics while ignoring philosophy—interdisciplinary understanding enriches both thinking and application.

Assessment must also evolve. Fair assessments require fair assessors who understand what is expected from whom. Self-assessment becomes crucial here. Learners must take ownership of their growth, reflecting on their performance and direction. A system that empowers this introspection is a system that sustains lifelong learning.

Education is, fundamentally, a two-way process. The methods used at undergraduate and postgraduate levels must differ. Undergraduate teaching should prioritize conceptual clarity, practical application, and broad disciplinary exposure. Here, the aim is to build analytical skills, introduce real-world problems, and nurture curiosity. Postgraduate education, in contrast, delves deeper—requiring advanced seminars, critical reading, research projects, and professional specialization. Theories are now integrated with sophisticated tools and contexts.

Both levels demand active engagement—but with distinct objectives. If we are to prepare students not just to perform but to contribute meaningfully, then our teaching, assessment, and institutional mindsets must evolve too.