Good teacher = critical learner

Another late addition post.

29 Jan, 2013

This particular post is going to sound pompous, but, the short of it is, I think I’m a decent teacher. I’m growing and learning how to be better (as I will be in twenty years time) but I think I know how to impart information in an interesting way – not all the time, not to every student, not without mistakes – but often. I can read a group that I’m teaching and realize when I’ve lost them and (sometimes) find ways to get them back. I try to be, and pride myself on often being, attuned to the people I teach. I can think of and create a variety of imaginative ways to impart information in an interesting manner. I do not do this every lesson and sometimes not even every week, but I work hard to be engaging and relevant in my delivery of material. I think I am a good teacher, at least some days. Being a some-days good teacher, however, makes me an all-days critical learner. I find that many people who teach who are not teachers (pastors, course instructors, leaders of meetings, etc) teach badly. And I notice. And it is extremely difficult for me, being so awash with thinking about good teaching methods, to learn something from someone who teaches it in such a terrible way. It is even worse when I think, I’m about to be pompous again, I could probably teach the same material better. I find myself critiquing the teaching methods and delivery of material of almost every person who has the misfortune to have me in a learning position. Those I do not critique have won me over. And I learn the most from them. Thinking more about it, there are just a few aspects of teaching that, I think, make all the difference.

1.      You must respect your students and what they bring. It is very easy to tell if you don’t. This should be obvious.

2.      Know when you have lost your students. Don’t continue if you have. 5 minute stretch breaks make the world of difference.

3.      Don’t ask questions with one answer in mind and don’t make it obvious when the previous 3 answers have missed your one answer. This is hard.

4.      Pay attention when your students speak. No joke.

5.      Create a safe space. Respond in a way to every spoken thought in a way that promotes a comfortable, secure place. This is rare.