I’ve been teaching courses in several different colleges of education for 15 years now. During the first session of every class, I give a brief background on things I’ve done and the multiple roles I’ve had in and around education- I always make sure to highlight my work as a teacher. I want my students to know that I come from a place of teaching. That that’s who I am.
And for years I’ve told my students that I have a Masters degree but I don’t have a Ph.D. or Ed.D so they shouldn’t call me Professor Robbins…just call me Kirk or Mr. Robbins if you feel the need to be more formal.
But as I look back over the decade and a half that I’ve been teaching rookie educators- as I think of the hundreds of students I’ve worked with and the feedback I get from them- I’ve decided that I don’t need to give that little speech anymore. I started to think that maybe I’ve earned the right to some kind of title. Note: At the institution where I do most of my teaching I have the title of “senior instructor” due to my years of service. But it’s more of a job description that gives me a few limited “perks”. No one has ever referred to me as Senior Instructor Robbins…thankfully.
So starting last fall I no longer tell my students not to call me professor. I don’t tell them that they should call me professor…I just leave it up to them. (For clarification- if my students ever call me Dr. Robbins- I definitely correct them. I have not earned that title in any way.)
So last night I was teaching my first session of an Educational Psychology class for summer quarter. I did my typical introduction along with a picture of my family. I shared who they are and what they do. Students shared about their journeys, and families, and what they’ve experienced (good and bad) in the K-12 system. We started digging into our ideas about how students learn and what makes “good” teaching. It was a great first session. At the end- as we were all gathering our things and heading out into the Wednesday evening- one of my students walked up to me and in a very quiet voice she said, “It was very nice to meet you Professor Robbins.” I didn’t make a comment about the title. I simply smiled and said, “It was very nice to meet you too. I’ll see you next week.” And I feel good about that.
Science for All 
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