The winner of Ball State 2015 Outstanding Teaching Award originally didn't want to teach.
Kristen McCauliff, an assistant professor of communication studies, has taught at Ball State for seven years. Her parents were both teachers, which originally pushed her away from the profession.
She said she was surprised to receive the award.
"I knew I was nominated, but there are so many good teachers that winning didn't even cross my mind," McCauliff said. "It was nice that they noticed. It was a good day."
McCauliff studied political science and communications as an undergraduate student and intended to go to law school. She ended up coaching debate at Wake Forest for graduate school and realized then she hated coaching, but loved teaching.
"But I was bad at [teaching]. I didn't put in a lot of time," McCauliff said.
The life of a teacher, McCauliff said, includes factors such as a lot of hours after school, tons of emotional labor and a desire to always do a better job.
McCauliff looked to other professors for help to become an even better teacher. One professor she worked with was David Concepcion, a philosophy and religious studies professor.
“Part of why [McCauliff] is so good is that even though she is already outstanding, she continues to strive for perfection by studying pedagogy,” Concepcion said in an email. "It is the ‘willing,’ the loving, that is hard for many, but not [McCauliff].”
McCauliff said her favorite part about teaching is collaborating with students.
“Without a doubt I’ve become more student-centered and less ego-focused,” she said. "I realized I could be both scholarly and kind."
Besides what goes on in the classroom, McCauliff is also interested in what happens once the students leave. She said a teacher's job is to train students on how to be great citizens.
"It's an interesting time to be a teacher in higher [education]," McCauliff said. "We're shaping the future of higher [education] and democracy — both are going through huge changes. It's a unique challenge in the 21st century."
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