Thoughts About Teaching/Learning

 Can you think of teaching without thinking of learning?

     Learning is an unavoidable, automatic outcome of good teaching. Learning outcomes may be related to the ingredients and components of successful instruction. The emphasis on learning has yielded many new ideas and understandings. But it seems to me that thinking about them at the same time is the healthiest. When they need to be thought of as inseparable, I used to think of them as two sides of the same coin, but that still conveys a sense of separateness. There is no point in teaching if it does not promote learning.

     In fact, one of the most common critiques of learner-centered approaches is that students are left to their own devices to understand. That, however, is an incorrect inference. It's called learner-centered teaching, and it refers to the instructional strategies and approaches that teachers use to help students become more inspired, independent, and self-reliant.

 

      Actually, we condemn students for their surface learning methods when we think deeply about teaching, but I see a lot of surface learning when it comes to teaching. Our obsession with teaching techniques, the tips, tricks, and gimmicks that can make our classes dance is relevant, but so are the assumptions and premises that underpin them. We look for the "correct" answers to what we believe are straightforward questions. Thinking that good teaching comes from knowing the right answers minimizes the complexities that keep teaching interesting. Moreover, by speaking about learning, I don't mean student learning, but rather learning about teaching. It's about using our passion for learning to approach teaching as a subject to master and a skill to develop. Teaching is less of a talent and more of a skillful knowledge that teachers have worked hard to acquire.