When that 'student' is your teacher

On the first day of class, a student turned to Ian Da Silva and asked, "What do you think this class is going to be like?" Little did he know he was talking to his teacher.

Niki Healey, Rene Frey, Jenni Denniston, Julie Harvey and Da Silva teach a course called Business 020 to about 2,000 first-year students - and they're all in their early to mid 20s.

In fact, Da Silva and Denniston, both 23, graduated from Richard Ivey School of Business just last June. Months later, they're teaching one of the most challenging first-year courses at Western.

Since the 1960s, Western has provided up to six recently graduated honors BA students the opportunity to teach Business 020 for a two-year term, says pre-business program director, Elizabeth Grasby. She says, to her knowledge, this program is the only one of its kind in Canada.

"Most universities will either have tenure professors or PhD students teach at this level," she said, but Western takes them fresh out of their undergrad.

And for good reason.

"Business 020 is based on the case study method, similar to Ivey's method of teaching," said pre-business co-ordinator Denise Ritchie.

"It was felt that recent graduates from programs that taught the case study method would be most familiar with that method of teaching."

And students agree. First-year undergrad Will Beldman takes Business 020 with Da Silva and echoes Ritchie's sentiments. "He's more familiar with the material. He just did it, so it's fresh in his mind."

Classmate Amber Kanwar said when she first saw Da Silva, "I was shocked at how young he is." Still, she says, "I got used to it pretty fast - he knows what he's talking about so I don't even notice anymore."

Regardless of age, these lecturers are more than prepared. Healey, 25, is in her second year of teaching and says not only did they go through "two years of ridiculous business classes and doing over 600 cases at Ivey" but they also completed two workshops about teaching and writing cases. Da Silva added that they taught summer intersession under the mentorship of a returning teacher. "You're definitely ready to teach," he said.

And it's a lot to be ready for. Da Silva's 9 a.m. class on Wednesday morning is a hub of activity. Nearly 100 students crowd into a classroom in the new South Valley Building, and hands fly up to answer a flurry of questions. It doesn't take long to notice this is unlike any other class at Western.

"It's a different first-year course, and it needs a different way to teach it," Da Silva said. "You're not anonymous in this class - it's your first time learning through participation."

And because participation is such a big part, students need a teacher they can talk and relate to.

"I think the students relate a lot better to us," said Frey, 24. "We understand better where they're coming from," Da Silva added. "They're more comfortable asking us questions. I think we just seem more human to them."

The five students chosen to teach Business 020 were selected from a pool of about 100, Grasby said. "We get very intelligent lecturers who work as a team, closely together, and can relate to students because of their youth." Grasby says another benefit to the program is that the teachers are given lesson plans in advance and can concentrate solely on the teaching aspect. "The students gain in that respect," she said.

They also gain from the enthusiasm of the lecturers. "They appreciate the energy we bring to the classroom because we're excited to be there," said Frey. "We're new, we're fresh at it - we're not an experienced professor just going through the motions," Healey added.

Frey was offered a job crunching numbers for an accounting firm, but he didn't even consider it. "This is the only job I wanted." Da Silva could have been making considerably more money problem solving for a big company, but he also declined the offer. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," he said.

"When you find out that you've actually influenced somebody with what they do or how they think," Frey says, "nothing beats that." They all agreed. "You can really have an impact on people, and you see it right away," Da Silva said.
Healey, Frey and Da Silva said they would pursue business-related jobs when they have completed their two years of teaching. But, Healey says, "it's not going to be as much fun - and it won't be nearly as rewarding. It's kind of bad," she laughed, "but it's all downhill from here."