Yesterday I was awarded the title “excellent teaching practitioner” from my university.
Of course, Groucho Marx famously said: I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.
Given my innate distaste of titles and hierarchies, I am tempted to make his words mine. However, as the economy of the university and department has worsened to the extent that you cannot do research without getting some external funding, applying for the status of “excellent teaching practitioner” seemed as the quickest way to get at least enough funds to fund a small project and go to a few conferences and keeping in contact with your international colleagues.
So I applied, and it seems I was accepted.
An extra advantage is that the peer review process of my work enables me to use somebody else’s bragging about me, rather than having to inflate my ego all by myself (the latter being the common process amongst middelaged white men).
In their concluding description they have at least captured what I would like to be, but how I would never dare to describe myself:
Translated: “Kjelsberg has an unusually broad disciplinary range and appears highly competent. We regard the textbook, which is currently used at a number of educational institutions in Norway, as an excellent component of the application. We are also impressed by the extent of the scholarly publications directly related to Kjelsberg’s own teaching.”
Disregarding all the titles and freemasonesque characteristics of some elements of higher education, getting an ego-polish like that makes it worth it. Plus the money of course!