Standing in front of his first college classroom full of students, Preston began reading from the notes he had prepared for the lecture. Each time that Preston looked up, the students just stared back at him confused. He tried to continue powering through the material by reading his notes faster and faster. “I finished my first ever lecture in 12 minutes,” Preston said. “It was supposed to be a 50-minute class,” he added jokingly. 

That moment forced Preston to rethink his approach to this whole teaching thing. So instead of continuing to read straight from his notes, he began asking the students questions and started a discussion. The conversation that followed made him realize what kind of professor he wanted to be. 

Today, John Preston is a philosophy professor at the University of Northern Iowa, where he teaches a number of different classes, including Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, and Justice and the Good Life. 

Now in his third year at UNI, Preston focuses on creating a classroom environment that is not built on memorization, but on discussion and reflection. For Preston, philosophy is less about remembering the facts and more about understanding the ideas that shape our lives. “I’m not particularly interested in getting students to memorize the birthday of Socrates,” he said. “The goal is to figure out a little more about who you are.” 

Preston’s journey to teaching philosophy began in the same city where he now works. Preston, a Cedar Falls native, went to Cedar Fall High School before deciding to come to UNI. In the beginning of his college career, philosophy was not part of his plan. “I was actually here for computer science,” Preston said. “I wanted to be a programmer and design video games.” 

That quickly changed after he took his first philosophy class during his time as a student at UNI. The readings and discussions in the class had a big effect on Preston and his outlook on life. “The texts themselves really changed my life,” Preston said. “They made me realize how much of my life I hadn’t really been paying attention to or making decisions for.” 

After the good experiences he had in that class, he switched his major and began taking as many philosophy classes as possible. “I took one class and then changed my major and took every class I could,” Preston said. “It was pretty clear to me that this is the thing I wanted to do forever.” 

Before eventually making his way back to UNI as a professor, Preston spent his time continuing his education and working multiple jobs like substitute teaching. While substitute teaching, he worked with middle school, high school, and sometimes even elementary students. “Whoever is teaching elementary school is doing 10 times more work than any other human on the planet,” he said. “Those kids have infinite energy.” 

Now teaching at the college level, Preston spends much of his time preparing lectures, meeting with committees, and interacting with students. While the workload of

being a professor can be demanding, Preston says that the interaction with his students is what keeps the job entertaining. “Every semester I get to share these really profound ideas with a new batch of students,” he said. “Every semester the students interact with them in different ways.” 

One part of teaching that students may not notice, Preston said, is how difficult it can be to write questions for assignments. “It’s hard to write good questions that don’t give away the answer but are also fair for everyone,” said Preston. 

When it comes to what he likes to do outside of teaching, Preston describes himself as a “well-rounded nerd.” In his free time, he likes playing video games, playing chess, and working on projects around his house. 

Even though teaching brings some challenges, Preston says the experience continues to push him to learn along with his students. One quote he reflects on comes from philosopher Martin Heidegger. “In all teaching, the teacher learns the most,” Preston said. “Every semester I’m pushed to learn more and more.” 

For professor John Preston, the goal of philosophy is not simply to provide answers but to encourage students to think more deeply about their own beliefs and values. That idea goes all the way back to the same lesson that he learned during his first lecture when his script failed and a conversation with his students took its place. “That’s when I realized my style was to have a conversation with students,” he said. “That’s what philosophy should be.”