What separates the great teachers from the good?

It is a question that can be debated endlessly without ever arriving at a definitive answer. However, examining the careers of the professors and instructors singled out for honors by NIU undergraduate students this year offers a pretty good outline for any such discussion.

While this year's winners teach very dissimilar topics, comments from their students and colleagues indicate that they have much in common. In addition to mastery of their chosen subject areas, they share in common the ability to challenge and engage students; they possess a willingness to work with students beyond the walls of the classroom; and last, but not least, they share a sincere love of the work that is teaching.

Students in Katharina Barbe's German 202 classes not only can carry on a conversation in German; they can also bop along to the latest hip hop hit in Berlin.

“German 202 is the last course they are required to take (to fulfill their language requirement), so I try to keep it especially interesting, hoping to convince them to major or minor in German,” Barbe says of her unusual teaching tactic of having students translate hip hop tunes.

When those students are not rapping, Barbe has them watch German movies (tracing the history of the country since World War II), read German newspapers, read German literature and tells them stories of her childhood growing up in Berlin.

The result is a unique class that not only has students often coming back for more, but consistently giving Barbe some of the highest teaching marks in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, despite labeling her as a “tough grader.”

“I haven't found a textbook that meets my needs,” she says of the unusual conglomeration of teaching materials she employs in her classes (she teaches the full range of upper and lower division classes), admitting that her constantly shifting syllabi are due in part to her need to keep material fresh and challenging for herself. “If I get bored with material I can't teach it, so I am continually changing.”

Her goal, says Barbe, is to move students beyond conjugating verbs and submerge themselves not only in the language, but also in the culture from which it emerges.

“For lower-level students, I try to find a balance between perfect grammar and what you actually use,” she says. “The most important thing about learning a language is that it exposes you to another culture and shows you that there are many different ways of doing things.”
To further reinforce that lesson, Barbe also is a strong advocate of students spending a semester overseas, sometimes helping them land Fulbright scholarships or internships to make the experience more affordable.

“She embodies the nurturing, yet demanding, professor that undergraduates seek in order to negotiate successfully the confusing world of requirements, deadlines and options,” says student Kathy Love who served on the language department's nominating committee.
Barbe's dedication extends well beyond class hours.

She has directed three Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program projects, acts as division coordinator for German, Classics, Asian and Slavic, and is an active participant in the Foreign Language Residence Program. She also occasionally conducts programs to introduce elementary school students to foreign languages, and works with the Goethe-Institut Chicago to help support teachers of German in 13 Midwestern states.

“She is a passionate teacher whose work both inside and outside the classroom is an inspiration for students and colleagues alike,” says Anne Birberick, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

Despite those many commitments, Barbe still finds time to make annual visits to Berlin (along with her daughters, whom she is teaching German at home), where she spends time with nieces and nephews, immersing herself in the German culture just as she demands of her students. To do any less would be unfair to those students and to herself, she says.

“My teaching philosophy is borrowed from (the Czech writer and former president of the Czech Republic ) Vaclav Havel, who said, ‘Join the people who are looking for the truth and avoid those who have found it.' It means that you should always look for knowledge – you never should really stop – and that's what I try to do.”