Do you have a favourite lecturer?

If so, have you ever wondered why it's that particular person who does it for you?

A couple of years ago whilst doing a qualification I had to write a reflective assignment on who my educational 'hero' was. I picked a psychology lecturer I had had during my undergraduate degree called Bianca Raabe. She stomped into a lecture theatre at the beginning of my second year, waving a book on social constructionism and proceeded to deliver a 50 minute diatribe on why mainstream psychology was flawed (at best), corrupt (at worst) or incompetent (at somewhere in the middle).

I was in love within 27 minutes.

What my reflective assignment made me do was reconsider whether it was Bianca's delivery which I liked (challenging, combative, committed) or the lecture topic itself (confusing, new, divisive).

Or is it the case that sometimes the topic chooses the lecturer? By which I mean is there such a thing as a typical social work lecturer, a typical social psychology lecturer or a typical academic librarian?

You tell me.

What I do know is that my favourite student groups are typically, questioning, enthusiastic, honest, truculent and entertaining.

So if you ever find yourself mid-lecture thinking 'I really like this woman telling me stuff' ask yourself if it's really the singer you like, or the song they're singing?