By Cassandra Hendry
Picture this: It’s the first day of class. There is no syllabus, grades or requirements. This doesn’t mean they aren’t available yet; they actually don’t exist. When the third-year students shuffle into their seats, the professor asks a surprising question to her class: “So, what do you want to learn?”
Welcome to law professor Melanie Adrian’s classroom. And that’s not all. If you visited her first-year law class, you might see students watching a rap video and then discussing it in relation to legal frameworks and paradigms. ‘Just your typical course’ is not in Adrian’s vocabulary.
“I’ve learned to take some risks with teaching. I’m always thinking about the most creative ways to keep the classroom a dynamic, living, constantly thinking environment and community,” says Adrian, who recently won a 2014 New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.
An anthropologist by training, Adrian takes a unique and often hands-on approach to teaching. She says she tries to help students, especially intimidated or nervous first years, connect to the material. One way is through pop culture: rap music.
One example is when Adrian played a Zimbabwean hip-hop song to her students. That day, they were learning about the intersection of human rights and democracy. It turns out that the song was based entirely on that theme, and through an accessible medium, Adrian could pique her students’ interests.
“About 95 per cent relate on some level to this kind of music, either culturally, linguistically or musically,” she says. “If you bring it home in a context which they’re more familiar with and then build out from there, it’s an easier transition.”
And it’s worked. Adrian says her students seem more confident and have improved their grades. One student even told her at the end of the year that had it not been for her class, they would have dropped out of university.
“That’s pretty powerful. It’s one of the reasons I teach.”
Despite being at Carleton for only four years so far, Adrian’s already been praised for her innovative teaching. Nomination letters poured in for her recent award and she’s heard a lot of positive feedback about her courses. But for her, all she’s focused on is helping her students not only succeed but grow.
“What we’re responsible for is teaching. And hopefully what we can do is generate a long-lasting creativity and ingenuity of thought in our students. That’s really what I’m after.”