I am not the adjunct you are looking for.
From time to time, I have taught classes at various tier-zero schools for sub-minimum wages. The first time this happened was 2011, when I taught political science in Spokane, Washington. I can still remember, flabbergasted, the conversation that threw me into this role.
I can't teach political science. I don't have a graduate degree.
You're qualified. You only need a bachelor's degree with some graduate work atop it.
I've never taken a political science course in my life.
All you have to do is teach out of the book.
I studied physics in undergrad, and that was twenty years ago!
It will be O.K.. Everyone here will support you...
I'm not a professional teacher. I don't have any experience.
Oh, please! Can't you help us just this once?
And at that moment, the whole span of twenty years collapsed as I remembered multiple courses in my youth which were chaired by some brainless dummox who, clearly clueless, had been pressed into service in some similar fashion. Suddenly, I understood the feeling of being cheated, all those years ago.
Since 2011 I've taught many courses. Every time I teach one of these I swear it will be the last time. Every time I finally think I've done my part for the educational state apparatus, I relax, only to be approached again. If I've referred you here after such a request, I'm sorry. I've enjoyed teaching undergraduate students, and I appreciate the offer, and I mean that sincerely. You get the idea.
If you just came to check out my academic history, it's here...
A completely random selection of a few of the courses I've designed and taught. Some have been uninspiring. Some have been fantastic. Most were someplace closer to the mediocre middle of the bell-curve.
In 2019, I was recruited -- while teaching a logic class as an adjunct -- by a K-12 school district. I was granted a teaching license and have since been teaching more serious students, surrounded by more serious people. In 2019, I taught single-variable calculus to the IB students at a high school. I was subsequently asked to teach conversational Spanish and Spanish literature in 2021. After that assignment, I became the teacher of record for the AP psychology and SEL sections. In 2022-2023, I taught physics and chemistry.
Teaching at a school district is infinitely preferable to teaching at your university. The pay and benefits are better. I am treated as a colleague. High school students are, in every respect, superior to undergraduates. They attend classes more often. They tend to be better prepared. They are actually excited about the world. They are frightened to show up drunk or stoned, lest I call the inebriate's father.
There is no chance I will be teaching another course to undergrads, but there are countless other suckers in the world. You'll find your man. It just won't be me.
Good luck!
