Five Years Teaching at University: Lessons from the Other Side of the Classroom

Everyone has been a student. You might remember the excitement of looking forward to one class—and the dread of another. Maybe you felt inspired. Maybe you felt ignored. The difference? Often, it was the teacher. Most of us have been there, on both ends of that experience.

Since college, I’ve admired the job of teaching. It was never about prestige or power—I simply saw something deeply meaningful in the role. If you had asked me in school or college what I wanted to be, I would have said a teacher, a writer, and maybe one day, have a business of my own (I come from a family where almost everyone has their own business). That was it. Simple, maybe even underwhelming to some. But to me, it felt enough.

After graduation, I learnt I wasn’t eligible to teach at the college level due to a technicality. It still baffles me that someone with a degree in Marketing Management could be told they weren’t qualified to teach business. But in hindsight, it was a disguised blessing. When I reached a deadlock, I turned to my teachers and lecturers for guidance, and a few of them recommended that I contemplate pursuing an MPhil/PhD. I had always enjoyed research during my studies; that was noticed, and one of them expressed his willingness to mentor and guide me. I will always be grateful to him for this. I went for the MPhil/PhD route—it’s not easy; I won't claim it is, but I do not regret it either. Maybe some other time I will write on the whole experience. That detour became the foundation of my teaching career and has had a significant effect on my life, both in terms of professional and personal growth.

Since 2020, I’ve had the opportunity to teach at the University of Mauritius on a part-time basis. During this time, I’ve taught modules such as:

• Organisational Behaviour
• Introduction to Digital Marketing
• Marketing Research Methods
• Research Methodology and Business Intelligence
• Marketing Analytics

This experience, spanning five years, has taken me through online classrooms, physical ones, and everything in between. I’ve taught during a time when classes were traditional, navigated the sudden transition to fully online teaching during the COVID-19 lockdown, and later adapted to a hybrid model. Recently, during one of my regular end-of-year reflection exercises, it struck me that it had already been five years. That moment inspired this piece.

This isn’t a list of grand insights. Just a few honest lessons I’ve gathered along the way—lessons about teaching, yes, but also about being human.

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”¹ — Heraclitus

Like a river, teaching flows. Sometimes fast, sometimes meandering, always changing. You might deliver the same course, use the same slides, even stand in the same room—but you're never quite the same teacher, and your students are never quite the same people.

When you step to the front of the classroom, everything shifts. The weight of expectation. The need to adapt. The quiet responsibility of shaping futures—whether or not anyone thanks you for it.

Teaching isn’t just about what you know—it’s about how you show up for others.

Classrooms today aren’t just whiteboards and markers. They’re spaces shaped by technology, shifting student needs, and cultural change. Sometimes they’re Google Meet screens. Sometimes they’re WhatsApp groups. And navigating that landscape has shown me that teaching is as much about listening and adapting as it is about delivering content.

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1. You’re Always Learning (Even When You’re Teaching)

Teaching is like stepping into a river. The current keeps flowing, the surroundings shift, and no two steps feel the same. Even if you've walked the same path before, the experience changes with every class, every student, and every challenge.

I’ve often found that explaining something I thought I understood would uncover new questions or weak assumptions. The act of teaching moves you along the current—it doesn’t let you stand still.

Backed by research: Donald Schön calls this reflective practice—learning by doing and thinking in action². Teaching is not a one-way process; it is a looping process. The best teachers aren’t those who know it all but those who keep learning alongside their students.

In fast-moving fields like digital marketing and business intelligence, staying static means falling behind. Edutopia’s recent work on "Lifelong Learning for Educators" emphasizes that teachers grow when they actively revisit their understanding based on feedback and student inquiry¹⁰.

And it’s not just about knowledge. It’s also about perspective. A river is shaped by everything it touches—and students shape you in the same way. Each one leaves behind something: ideas, insights, resistance, or even cultural references you hadn’t encountered. Teaching isn’t unidirectional. When you pay attention, you grow with your students.

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2. Explaining Something Helps You Understand It Better

Imagine trying to explain how to swim to someone who’s never been in water. You can talk about strokes, breath control, and posture—but until they’re in the pool, the theory won’t mean much.

Teaching is similar. When you break down a concept for someone else, you get in the water with them. You move through it together. And suddenly, things that felt intuitive demand clarity.

This is known as the protégé effect—we learn better when we teach others³. The act of simplifying complex ideas not only deepens understanding, it exposes gaps you didn’t know were there.

Each explanation is a swim through familiar waters—but always with a slightly different current.

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3. Be Kind. Students Are Dealing with More Than You Know

Teaching, like swimming, depends on rhythm and breath. Some students arrive paddling with ease. Others are barely staying afloat. What looks like disengagement might be a student struggling just to keep their head above water—family stress, financial pressure, illness, fear.

Often this has been my case too, to be completely honest. I can only be ever thankful to the great teachers who offered support, were understanding and gave me some flexibility. Without them, I don't think I would have had the life I have right now.

Flexibility isn’t letting students off the hook—it’s inviting them to show up in ways that work for them. Studies show that when teachers offer flexibility and support, students not only stay engaged, they perform better. Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindset reminds us that focusing on effort and potential beats punishing outcomes⁴.

According to Edutopia’s coverage of trauma-informed pedagogy, emotional safety is foundational for academic success¹⁰. When we meet students with empathy, we offer them the safety to find their stroke—and eventually, to move with strength.

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4. Don’t Fear Tech and AI—Help Students Use It Well

Like the flow of a river, technology in education carves new paths—sometimes slowly, sometimes in floods. And we can’t afford to be rigid rocks in its way.

When ChatGPT hit the scene, some colleagues fiercely resisted it. “It’ll ruin critical thinking,” one said. I understood the worry—but I also saw great possibility.

Instead of banning AI tools like ChatGPT, Consensus, or Perplexity, I brought them into the classroom. We dissected generated answers, critiqued prompts, explored bias, and asked how these tools might reshape future careers. I always stress they are tools—not the driver. At best, AI excels as a sparring partner: one that helps accelerate learning.

Backed by research: According to the OECD’s 2023 report on AI in Education, students who are taught to use AI ethically and creatively are better prepared for tomorrow’s job market⁹.

This resistance isn’t new. As Vince Beiser notes in The World in a Grain, even the glassmaking industry resisted automation when machines first appeared⁵. But the world adapted. Industries evolved. Education must too.

Curtin University has already begun taking progressive steps—developing thoughtful policy questions around AI in assessments, including acknowledging AI use, ensuring critical engagement, and emphasizing transparency⁹.

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5. It’s Not About the Test. It’s About the Life After

The real test of education isn’t what students can recite in a timed exam—it’s what they carry forward and use.

Some of my most meaningful classes didn’t revolve around traditional tests but around challenges that mirrored the real world, such as building digital campaigns with limited data.

Even in research methodology classes, I stress this: the value of research isn’t just academic. It's deeply personal and widely applicable. Whether you're figuring out which health advice to trust, navigating financial decisions, or making sense of product reviews, the ability to analyse information, spot patterns, and question sources is a survival skill.

A 2023 study by NewsGuard found that 49% of viral news links shared on social media contain misinformation.¹⁶ In such an environment, research literacy isn’t just helpful—it’s critical.

This echoes Richard Mayer’s distinction between rote and meaningful learning: one is short-lived; the other sticks⁸. Edutopia’s work on performance-based assessment reinforces this—what students create, present, and reflect on often matters more than what they can recall under pressure¹⁰.

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6. Teaching Is Emotional Work

Rivers swell. They calm. They carve canyons over time. Teaching is no different. It’s filled with surges of connection, and quiet stretches of uncertainty.

Teaching is personal. It stays with you after class ends. A great session can light you up for days; a difficult one can leave you drained.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I spent countless hours talking into a webcam, trying to maintain some sense of connection. I missed the spontaneous laughter, the raised hands, the feeling of the room shifting with a shared insight. None of that happens in the same way through a screen. And yet, some adapted by doing the bare minimum—reading slides with their camera off, detached and distant. I can’t subscribe to that. Students know when you're not really there. And honestly, they deserve better. The classroom—physical or virtual—is a space where real human energy flows, and it demands presence.

Now that I teach in hybrid mode, I’ve come to appreciate the convenience and flexibility that online learning offers—but I’ve also seen its limitations. Engagement drops when cameras are off. Passive learning becomes the norm. Some of this can’t be helped. But there are things we can do to make it better. For example, I keep my camera on and use tools like a Wacom tablet, OpenBoard, and OBS Studio to make classes more dynamic and interactive.

The Wacom tablet allows me to write and draw in real-time, replicating the feel of a physical whiteboard. OpenBoard is an open-source digital whiteboard tool that supports illustrations, annotations, and layering—ideal for live problem-solving and visual explanation. OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) helps me pre-record high-quality lectures with clean visuals, camera overlays, and screen shares that go far beyond typical slide decks.

These choices didn’t come from a rulebook—they came from trial, error, and care. There are other software out there; if you are a teacher or an aspiring one, feel free to explore.

And please—if I may speak on behalf of students everywhere—let’s retire the early-2000s slides filled with dense, unreadable text. They may get you through the hour, but they rarely help anyone learn. Teaching is a craft. Let’s treat it like one.

A 2022 study in Teaching and Teacher Education found that emotional labour significantly impacts teacher wellbeing¹³. As teachers, we manage not just content but human energy. It’s invisible work—but it’s very real.

Showing up fully, even when it’s hard, is part of the job. And part of the honour.

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7. Industry Experience Helps—but an Open Mind Matters More

One of the things I’ve learnt is how difficult it is to teach business effectively if you’ve never actually worked in business. There’s a difference between theory and practice.

I’m fortunate to have a foot in both academia and the industry, and that helps me stay grounded in what’s actually happening. When most people see a popular influencer or a viral marketing success, they see entertainment or inspiration. But marketers often see the machinery behind it—the campaign budgets, the algorithms, the sponsored boosts.

Still, that shouldn't have to be a privilege. I've seen educators using outdated case studies and figures from decades ago as if they were still relevant in 2025. The world moves fast—especially in fields like marketing and tech. We owe it to students to stay updated.

But let’s not swing too far in the other direction either. Theory has its place. In fact, the right theory helps us see patterns, anticipate change, and act with insight.

“Nothing is as practical as a good theory.”¹⁵ — Kurt Lewin

A sound theory isn't some abstract idea—it reflects reality and helps us navigate it. But without real-world grounding and continuous reflection, even the best theories lose their edge. That’s why teaching must be a constant interplay between principle and practice.

It’s not about choosing sides. It’s about making sure we don’t teach marketing like it’s still 2005—or reject the value of decades of thinking because a TikTok trend said otherwise.

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Reflect and Act

After five years, I still get nervous before the first class of the semester. And I still don’t have all the answers.

But here’s what I do know:
Good teaching isn’t about being perfect. It’s about showing up, paying attention, and adjusting as you go.

So if you’re teaching, learning, or just thinking about what education should look like:

• Are we making room for students to grow—or just testing how well they perform?
• Are we meeting students where they are—or expecting them to meet us where we’re comfortable?
• Are we building lessons that stick—or just lessons that pass?

Because in the end, teaching is like a river. We don’t control the flow—but we can learn how to move with it.

And what we teach today shouldn’t just fill heads. It should shape lives.

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Notes & References

1. Kahn, C. H. (1979). The Art and Thought of Heraclitus. Cambridge University Press.
2. Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. Basic Books.
3. Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2013). The protégé effect: Teaching others to learn. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(4), 1061–1073.
4. Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House.
5. Beiser, V. (2018). The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization. Riverhead Books.
6. Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. ASCD.
7. Puentedura, R. R. (2012). The SAMR Model.
8. Mayer, R. E. (2002). Rote versus meaningful learning. Theory into Practice, 41(4), 226–232.
9. OECD (2023). Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Education.
10. Edutopia (2022–2023). Reports on trauma-informed pedagogy, lifelong learning, and assessment reform.
11. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching (2023). Providing Effective Feedback.
12. Journal of Educational Measurement (2022). Reimagining Assessment in the 21st Century.
13. Teaching and Teacher Education (2022). Emotional Labour in Higher Education.
14. University of Chicago Urban Education Institute (2021). Relational Trust in Schools.
15. Lewin, K. (1945). Quoted in various texts on applied social psychology.
16. NewsGuard (2023). AI-generated news websites proliferate; 49% of viral social media news links rated as misinformation. Retrieved from: https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/newsbots-ai-generated-news-websites-proliferating