One of the things I most enjoy about the Osher Institute here at William and Mary is taking classes from people who are teaching their passion. All of us developed hobbies or interests during our working years, but most of us found it difficult to carve out time to pursue these interests while we were raising our families and building our careers. In retirement, many of us are able to cultivate these existing interests and develop new ones. Adult learning organizations like Osher are always looking for instructors with new and fresh teaching ideas. How might your hobbies or interests lead to a class that someone else might want to take?
Do you like to garden? Teach a class about gardening in your climate zone. Teach a class that includes a trip to a local arboretum or public garden. Teach a class that explores volunteer gardening opportunities in a local community or historic site. Teach a class that explains what “master gardeners” do.
Are you an amateur chef? Create a class on “A Well-Stocked Kitchen,” teach a course on Chinese cooking, or create a dining group that explores local restaurants. Do you appreciate a fine wine or a strong ale? Create a group that shares these interests and visit local wineries or breweries.
Were you a teacher? Pick a part of your course that you were never able to spend enough time on and develop a “deep dive” into that part of your curriculum. A few years ago, a retired math teacher taught an Osher class called “How to Lie With Statistics.” A retired physics teacher taught a class called “The Physics of Sound,” during which he played with all kinds of sound-producing objects and helped us analyze what we were hearing – and most importantly, for his aging audience, why we were not able to hear as well as we used to. A retired English teacher taught a six-week course on The Odyssey. A retired Spanish teacher hosts a weekly Spanish Conversation Table. And so forth. This is your chance to teach your passion, unencumbered by someone else’s time allotment.
Do you use social media? A lot of older people don’t. Develop a class on the “Uses and Abuses of Social Media” or some such thing.
Do you love art or enjoy music? Use this time in your life to develop an understanding of one specific aspect of the topic and teach a class on it. Go to a local gallery or join a local music society and teach a class that explains the benefits of it.
Do you love to read? Form a book group that reads one, two, or two dozen books together over a given period of time. Focus your group on mysteries, fantasy, science fiction, or nonfiction – you get to pick and then find people who want to join you.
Are you a writer? Take a writing course or teach one. If you have published something, teach a course on how to do that. Run a writers’ workshop which encourages people to bring in things they’ve written, share them, and support other writers.
How about sports? Tim and I taught a class a few years ago called “Football 101,” pitched to people who have been forced to watch football for years – sometimes decades – and yet don’t know much about it. You could do this for another sport – soccer, badminton, ping-pong, pickleball, walking, swimming, etc. Either participatory or explanatory. People will be interested.
Do you have a hot take on diet or nutrition that you would like to share with people? What about yoga or Tai-Chi? I can guarantee that you will find people who will join you in a course you offer on this topic.
Do you love to travel? Teach a class about traveling to a particular part of the world or about traveling under certain limiting conditions — impaired mobility, chronic illness, whatever.
The sky is almost literally the limit. If you are an amateur astronomer (or astrologer), you will find people who want to learn more about the field.
You may feel like you don’t have extraordinary expertise in a field. This doesn’t mean you can’t develop a course about it. As you research the course, you will learn more about it so that you are comfortable teaching it. You will know more than the people who take your class. If you discover that someone who has enrolled in your class has literally written a book on the topic, welcome their input and suggestions.
Thank you!
You're a born teacher. And are very good at it.