“When I went through University, there wasn’t much emphasis on teaching. So a lot of my professors, they didn’t really put a lot of work into the presentation. They were good. They knew their subject well. But the idea that they would think of interesting ways of involving students, they didn’t. So when I began teaching I thought, that was my first thought, to teach the way I’d like to be taught.”
Although she officially retired as Associate Professor, Classics, in 2001, Eleanor Irwin continues in the role as the Dean's Designate for the Administration of the Code of behaviour on Academic Matters, providing advice regarding integrity issues to the UTSC community. In this conversation, Eleanor reflects on the changes in demographics in the classroom, and the changing approach to teaching from the time she was a student in the 1950s-60s until now. She shares her commitment as a young professor to "teach the way she'd like to be taught."
Being a student was the only thing I did
I ate lunch at the Women's Union usually
I taught the way I would have liked to be taught
You had to broaden your references
Interview Participant: Eleanor Irwin
Interviewer: Stephanie Hinds
Location: UTSC campus
Photographer: Ken Jones
Date of Interview: June 1, 2015
To hear the full audio of the oral history interviews visit: Scarborough Oral History Project