There’s a lot of history behind this idea. Basically, I was burning out on school (can you relate?), until I discovered a different philosophy of education that convinced me to continue. I loved learning, but school was starting to suck. A lot.

The way I understand it, Oxford college students used to meet with their professors to discuss what they wanted to learn. The professor would assign a bunch of reading assignments and tell the student to come back when he finishes. They would then discuss what the student learned and repeat the process. The professor was a tutor.

This involved books. Libraries. Things we did not have back when America was a colony. Education shifted from the student’s readings to the professors’ lectures. He became a mobile library. Teacher-centered education has been the norm ever since.

The problem is that even the best teachers cannot make someone learn.

Students must take responsibility for their education. They have no excuses now that we have libraries. While professors must improve and provide college-level instruction, the responsibility never left the student.

In the Christian worldview, teachers (a la Ephesians 4:11-13) don’t exist to be served, but to serve. Just as one might scrub toilets, teachers teach. Thus, I want to be clear: As nice as “Adjunct Professor” sounds, I think “servant-tutor” is more accurate.

That doesn’t mean I think titles are bad or that I’m the only one who sees it this way. It just helps remind me that my job is to serve students by assisting them in their educational transformation.