By: Cassandra Hendry
In one of Rand Dyck’s political science classes, it’s not unusual to hold show-and-tell items such as souvenirs from Alberta’s oil sands, crumpled McCain fries packages, and an empty box of Stanfield’s underwear from Nova Scotia.
Each passed around memento is a part of Canada’s political history and culture, he says, and for a professor like Dyck, spicing up the country’s politics in sometimes unconventional ways is his favourite part.
“I like the material and I like the students. Somehow it all seems to flow rather naturally from those two things,” he says.
Dyck, a renowned political scientist in Canada, is the recipient of the 2014 Faculty of Public Affairs Teaching Excellence Award for contract instructors. After teaching at Laurentian University for most of his career, he came to Canada’s capital in 2006 to teach political science at Carleton.
He won the award through the nomination letters of 18 of his students, who sent in glowing testimonials of his teaching. One letter, which Dyck says is the “one that’s most touching to me,” is written by a student whose views of constitutional politics in Canada were turned upside-down by Dyck’s teaching.
“He just stands at the front of the class and basically paints us the story of Canada’s political history, as if it were story time. In this way, his voice is enthralling, he makes the complex history accessible and interesting for us students, and you can just hear the passion in his voice,” the student wrote.
For Dyck, his secret to success is to learn the names of his students as much as possible, which he says is sometimes challenging with larger classes. On the first day of class, he also asks students to write down a few facts about themselves so he can connect with them and what they’re interested in.
“I think I understand to some extent what students go through and what they need, and I try to make it as clear and painless as possible,” he says.
When he’s not teaching politics, Dyck is still involved with his students by supervising theses and writing graduate school letters. Since he’s retired, he says it gives him the opportunity to spend extra time giving students a helping hand.
With 18 nomination letters for this award alone, it’s obvious that Dyck’s dedication to his teaching inside and outside the classroom hasn’t gone unnoticed by his many students.