Watching for the Light to Come On

Engaging life's big questions for yourself

Tom wore the same pair of gray Hushpuppies every day. His wardrobe consisted of three, maybe four mostly polyester outfits. His slicked-back, thinning hair and black plastic-rimmed glasses gave him a slight resemblance to the famous Existentialist Jean Paul Sartre.

And I learned how to teach by watching him. First as one of his students and eventually as his teaching assistant in philosophy courses.

Photo by Vladimir Fedotov on Unsplash

There was nothing flashy about Tom. Even though he was fluent in several languages, had studied in Rome as a Catholic priest, and was widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost Sartre scholars, he retained a Montana down-to-earth demeanor. He knew every janitor in his building at the University by name. That is to say, he knew their story and counted them as friends.

Tom’s approach to teaching was an expression of his character, not a commitment to a theory of pedagogical technique. He explained his teaching style this way to me once: “I teach to the…