Woodrow Wilson must surely have been regarded as an excellent teacher by some.
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His mode of pedagogy evolved from monologue to a Socratic dialogue as the school year progressed. - Source
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He had real insight on how to teach his subject - history.
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He urged hist students not to ‘learn history’ but to ‘learn from history — by arousing ‘genuine living interest in the subjects of study.’ Toward that end, he asked his students to ‘look into ancient times as if they were our own times, and into our own times as if they were not our own.’ - Source
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And had a clear understanding of the ultimate importance of “self-learning”.
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Wilson realized ‘that everything of progress comes from one’s private reading — not from lectures; that professors can give you always copious bibliographies and times inspiration or suggestion, but never learning.’ - Source
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While also grasping the functioning spirit of a university.
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He would conclude that ‘the very best effects of university life are wrought between six and nine o’clock in the evenings, when the professor has gone home, and minds meet minds, and a generating process takes place.’ - Source
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And how the true role of a university extends beyond the edge of its grounds.
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‘Of course, when all is said, it is not learning but the spirit of service that will give a college place in the public annals of the nation.’ - Source
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One wonders if this insight into the fundamentals of eduction wasn’t in part a reflection of his father’s.
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Joseph Wilson had no desire to rush his son into a schoolroom. He put no faith in dogmatic education, believing that information had to permeate in order to penetrate.
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At Wesleyan (his second or third teaching position depending on whether you count his part time lecturing at John Hopkins), he complimented his teaching with coaching the football team.
The is a level of stubbornness that jumps out.
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Unwilling to solicit business, he procured not a single client (as a layer) - Source
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