What do you think makes a great teacher?

In the early 60s, I attended one of Walter Gage’s math classes. I wasn’t in his class; I didn’t take math. I wasn’t even going to UBC. I was visiting from U of A.

A group of us came out by train to attend a UBC/U of A football game. My friend, who was in his class. was so impressed with his teaching, she urged me to go with her to class.

We carefully didn’t sit in the front row. You only sat in the front row if you were willing to participate in his teasing and jokes; many were. Imagine, a math professor so engaging, students were sneaking in to his classes from other universities to learn math!! And it WAS worth the visit.

I eventually got my MSc and PhD at UBC and was a facilitator for the Instructional Skills Workshop for a new faculty. I often thought about Dean Gage when I asked the group to consider “What do you think makes a great teacher?”.

Darlene Redenbach
BSR, MSc, PhD