Learning and Teaching.

Throughout life Ive been in lots of teaching situations and lots of learning situations as well.
Ive been reflecting on the difficulties associated with teaching and learning over the last few months and I'm going to put down in writing my current thoughts. No doubt I will offend just about every professional teacher out there, but this is how I see it:

Note: I'm not just talking about teachers in schools. It applies just as much and even more so in our daily interactions with every other person that we want to exchange knowledge with.
We can all learn how to be better teachers, and for that matter, better students as well; I know for sure that I can!

In my opinion, teaching is a very high calling.
If it is truly done for the purposes of just giving the student learning and does not involve the teacher getting something for them self (like ego or status) then it is truly one of the highest callings there is.
The sad thing is that this is rarely the case. The result of this seems to be that there are actually very few really good teachers. Its understandable that there is so much "short-fall" though, since teachers are people too and we all have our share of human frailties.

I'm going to assume that the teacher-learner interaction is a respectful one in both directions - otherwise, "all bets are off" and it just amounts to the use of force...
My thoughts on how to teach well, boil down to just two simple rules and one helpful suggestion, and are as follows:


Rule 1 - You can NEVER push learning!
Rule 2 - The teacher MUST go to the student!
Suggestion - Use complements, not just constructive criticisms!


To expand a little:
Rule 1.
Learning can only be pulled by the student not pushed by the teacher.
It matters not one jot how much effort the teacher applies to the problem, if the student is uninterested then the knowledge wont go through. This is why the best teachers (particularly in class situations) spend a good deal of effort making the subject they teach interesting - These are the teachers we enjoyed being with and why we remember those lessons.
This rule is usually not really a problem since the interest in humans learning instinct is innate and highly developed - probably more developed in us than in any other species - it is in fact what makes us so successful in our evolution. However, if the student really does not want to be in the lesson then there is nothing that the teacher can do. Often the learning instinct can seem quite hidden, but it is an abnormal situation (usually meaning there are some other really big problems in the students life). The other culprit, sadly, is the teacher (in a class situation anyway). It is amazing how some teachers can really take the life out of a subject and otherwise able students will completely switch off. That said, the basic point stands - The student has to be motivated to learn.

What if the teacher tries to push?
Well this is a real common problem and it usually means that the teacher really cares that the student understand - and that's what makes it such a shame. As soon as the teacher tries to push knowledge, tensions will rise. This is different to offering knowledge and then letting the student decide if they want it (in a classroom situation) - no tension here. But if the student doesn't get it or doesn't want it, and the teacher tries to push, it almost invariably causes the barriers to go up in the student (as well as the teacher). Then the teacher pushes harder and gets frustrated and the student gets a completely different lesson to the one being taught!... Instead of learning about the subject at hand, they cant help but switch to "learning how to deal with this annoyed and pushy person that they don't want to be around". Its amazing to see that the teacher cant figure out why the lesson is going so badly - They care about the student, they know the subject matter well, they are talking the same language - but the student is just being belligerent and willful and refuses to hear!.... ... No; Actually the teacher is pushing the information and the student is on a completely different lesson!

What if the student says "... yes, but..."?
Well, that means that the information presented by the teacher is in conflict with some understanding that the student currently has. Now if the teacher simply says - No, Your wrong, its like this..." then there is a very high probability that the student will immediately feel their opinion is being dismissed and that the teacher is being very condescending and has no real interest in helping them but is more interested in their own ego ... downward spiral!
Yes it is completely to do with egos on both sides but that is a real issue in any interpersonal exchange. If the teacher truly wants to impart the knowledge then it behooves them to :1) politely acknowledge the students point of view, even if they disagree with it - Its just a point of view and it can change with time and help. 2) The teacher needs to address the misunderstanding and help the student with this step first before returning to the original problem. Again, trying to force the exchange in any way will just put the barriers up and we are back to a violation of Rule 1.

What if the student says "... but I cant..."?
Chances are that what they are actually saying is either "...I don't know how...", or "... I'm afraid...". In the afraid case, it is usually a practical lesson. In the case of the "don't know how", they really just don't know how. The student has not said it correctly and unfortunately, the teacher usually just hears denial and then starts to push... And we know where that goes! So what they really mean is "I need a smaller step please because I cant make that leap". This is where rule 2 comes in.

Rule 2
It is to their great shame that teachers often use the phrase .... "Well, you just..." when trying to teach an apparently dim witted student! The use of the word "just" means that the teacher has forgotten what it was like before they knew what it is that they now know and are trying to teach. If the student could figure out how to do it then they surely would do it! - Everyone likes to understand. Nobody likes to feel stupid!
The problem here is that the teacher has taken too big a step for the student to be able to follow. The student can only guess at what they don't already know and this is really tricky stuff and apt to often go astray. The teacher on the other hand has the privilege of knowing all the ground they are working on and probably everything in the area as well. If the student does not "get it" then they are missing a piece of information somewhere. It, needs must, falls to the teacher to figure out what that is and fill in the gap. Often the best way is to try to explain the situation in a different way. Unfortunately the teacher often just repeats the same information , the same way, and at a louder volume - not very helpful!
The trick here is that the teacher MUST be able to step out of their own knowledgeable perspective and into the students place. A good teacher will be able to do this, figure out what piece of information is missing, and fill in the blank without "Pushing" or alienating the student - for which, the student will be grateful and reward the teacher with understanding the lesson. In a class situation where the communication is largely one way, a good teacher will explain the lesson in several different ways to try to get the idea across to many students, all with different experiences and perspectives.
Again its a simple rule, the teacher has to bridge the gap because the student simply cant.

The Suggestion.
Well, everyone knows its nice to get complements. We all learn much better if we get complemented about our efforts on a regular basis. False or insincere complements don't count here, only real ones, and we are pretty much all able to detect the difference.
Everyone also knows that it is hard to get a criticism - Even if it is intended to be constructive and is given with all the good intent in the world.
The student who is never given complements and only ever given criticism will soon enough feel stupid, inadequate, and dejected even if they are making great progress. Too often, teachers forget to apply the complements but are all to ready with the criticisms, and its a crying shame. Its so easy to give the rewards, but we forget and assume that the student knows they are doing well - not so. It is far more fun to learn with rewards than with punishments and a happy student is an interested student who will learn faster next time - Use plenty of complements!


Them´s my thoughts :)