What Teaching Means

August 20, 2007

I was in class this morning and the students were asked to come up with what they thought to be their definition of teaching. As part of this exercise we were asked to think of some of the greatest or most favorite teachers we have had and why we thought of them this way.

I have to admit that I couldn’t pick out a favorite right away, so I went the other direction and mentioned some teachers that I have had with whome I did NOT particularly have a good experience being in their class. Here were my classifiers:

  • Felt like the professor was there to pad their own ego
  • Research was their primary function, therefore teaching a classroom full of college kids to them was a way they could continue their research and came secondary to their students’ learning

What my teacher did was turn this around and point out these two qualities boiled down to these respectively:

  • Pride
  • Disinterest in student outcome or performance

Over time, it has been pointed out to me that instruction at its root psychologically is a spiritual thing. Growth and change occurs in an individual as they are lead through effective teaching. Of course the student must be motivated, but we can teach our students to become motivated in our subject material. Paraphrasing a great religious leader, “Effective teaching is the very essence of leadership. [Growth/Achievement] will come only as men and women are taught with such effectiveness that they change and discipline their lives. They cannot be coerced,…They must be lead and that means teaching.

Granted, at this early stage of the semester it is difficult to pin down what I think of my teachers, but so far I don’t think I have anything to worry about. There are two parts to learning, learner motivation and instruction, that I think for me have been influential in my development as a person. Everybody is different, of course, so I’m being objective but as an educator I want to become a better motivator and an instructor. If nothing else, hopefully I will be able to accomplish this.

Filed under:
Education, Musings, Teaching by Jeffrey

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