'Those who can, do; those who can't, teach'
You know the saying, you have probably said it about people. I am a teacher. Of sorts. I am not a qualified teacher and have never taught children but, I do teach. Actually, once upon a time I was desperate for work and considered taking a job teaching at a preschool. After the interview, they offered me the position and I really needed the work but I turned it down because I was scared. It wasn't the children that scared me rather, they said I would have to sing to them. I am no angel, my voice is much worse.
But, I think people have fundamentally misunderstood this aphorism. They have used it as a snide remark against teachers to make a dig at their lack of skills to make it professionally but, it may not mean that at all. Read it again.
'Those who can, do; those who can't, teach'
This is not a dig at teachers, this is a direction for the unskilled. If you are unable to do something well, teach it.
One of the fastest ways to develop understanding and skills is to spend time investing in helping others understand also. For those with children at school, rather than asking what they learned, find out what they can teach you about it as it will help them better understand themselves.
There are reasons for this in my opinion. When you have to teach someone something (and you want to do it well) you are forced to understand the topic from a different perspective and find the right approach for them, not for you. This gives a much rounder view of what is on the table.
Next, there are the gaps in knowledge that you didn't realise were there until you found that you are unable to transfer understanding without closing the gap. You thought you knew, but under practical testing, you found yourself lacking.
On top of this, there are the unexpected questions which of course come from perspectives you likely haven't considered before. Perhaps some of these fundamentally change your view of the topic.
The problem many have with taking this approach is that we are trained to stay quiet if we are unsure and definitely do not teach others when we do not know ourselves. But, I disagree with this as if people take responsibility for what they learn, the onus of learning is on the student, not the teacher. In my view, there is no such thing as a bad teacher but, there are definitely bad students. That statement of course comes with many caveats but I am sure that you are able to work out what I mean.
For me, if you haven't noticed, I 'teach' a lot but in actual fact, I teach nothing. It is a conversation between myself and the reader as we both try to untangle whatever mess is on the table at the time. Sometimes I may have insight, sometimes my insight is negated by someone with better information or more insight.
The discussion, often in the comments section at Steemit, may prove my entire post incorrect and make me look like an idiot. Meh, so I look like an idiot. Better than acting like an idiot thinking I am doing the right thing, in my opinion. Not everyone holds this opinion though.
Many would much rather get the correct information in a straight forward manner and move on without needing to have a discussion. Others feel that if someone makes errors in their presentation, they should be discounted altogether. Often, it is these people who are very smart but their brilliance goes ignored. Must be frustrating to consider oneself the smartest in the room yet have no one listen.
Being part of the conversation at any level has value and discounting or dismissing based on slices of information correct or missing altogether is quite silly. The reason is that just because someone doesn't know something in one area doesn't mean that they are clueless in another. Helping them round out their understanding might compound against their other skills too.
If you haven't noticed, this conversation has changed in form slightly from me teaching, to you helping me learn and this is the point of Teaching to learn. The student and teacher are not static positions, they are fluid and are in constant flux. Through the conversation we have many opportunities to change hats so that we all can benefit.
I have learned so much of what I know from being wrong it is amazing. And, whether people realise it or not, those who have helped me understand this or that have also learned a lot about the topic also. Sometimes it has given them cause to shift their views a little, sometimes ways to strengthen them but, when they move on from the discussion, they are better prepared for the next.
So, whenever you would like to learn something fast, get other people involved, teach them what you know so you can work out what you don't. And, if you keep the channels of dialogue open, you will often find that what they have learned they apply in different ways and will learn new things you would not have discovered otherwise. Lots of value in good communication.
And that is what teaching is, communicating ideas to another. That's it. So, unless you do not communicate at all, you are a teacher also. Is it because you can't do?
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
As somebody who's spent a few years teaching back in the day, I can absolutely testify to this - having to explain something to somebody else forces your own understanding to ctystalize to a deeper level. On top of this, students often ask questions about things you might have never thought about before so answering them forces you to come to new knowledge and understanding one way or another.
I can relate to this so much. I am a teaching assistant at my university right now and one of the classes I taught was a Java class. When I took that class myself about 2 years before then, I did work enough to get me a good grade. Now that I had to teach, I had to look over the material again and comprehend everything on a different, deeper level than before.
Another great post @tarazkp! 2018 is looking fun already haha
Indeed. Having to explain something really forces you to grasp it thoroughly. Having to synthesize a good and succinct explanation is what is the key I think. I used to teach English and you would be surprised at the amount of charts, graphs and tables I was drawing on the whiteboard to explain things. Having to analyze things like that surely deepened my understanding and appreciation for the language.
Glad to see you here :)
Yeah, I have been teaching in one form or another for 15 years now (adults) and I sometimes feel bad as I think I learn more than them :)
It's a pleasure to be back here ;)
Teaching used to be my main gig in my early to mid twenties and to be really honest, I miss it a lot! I seemed to have a knack for it and it felt quite fulfilling and as you said, I did learn a lot myself. Part of regular gigs included teaching business English to accomplished professionals from all kinds of fields and I have no doubt I was learning more than they were as they needed English for work so we often discussed what they do, how they handle different business situations and all kinds of fascinating info about the inner workings of their professions.
This is what I did my firs 12 or 13 years in Finland (still do a little) before starting my own business. It can be good fun.
I did that for a few years and than there was the financial crisis and work become unsteady so I moved on to other things. I've recently started doing some temp teacher work from time to time and I quickly realized how much I was missing it.
Very well written. I especially love this. I am going to use it w my kids!!
“For those with children at school, rather than asking what they learned, find out what they can teach you about it as it will help them better understand themselves.“
It could be worse. You could neither do, nor teach, which would make you an administrator.
a politician.
I think we all teach and we all learn, how much is highly variable on the person. Without getting things wrong how could we know the right way, failing your way forward is an integral part of life. Some realise this, others don't. Those that don't dwell on their failings and tend not to learn as much from those who brush their self off and try again.
The article was on point. Being able to experience teaching, i could verify that you learn twice as much as you teach others. For example, instead of letting student solve problems on there seats, I let student to share and explain the process of solving the said problem, on the board; and at the same time, allowing other student to interact with. Thus, students learn more about the said discussion than just by listening to a plain lecture.
Heck Yes! I'm the same way. You never know that your'e right or wrong until you run into someone who knows fact vs opinion. Until then, you're open to educated guessing.
My wife gets annoyed when I make educated guesses. I tend to make guesses often on questions that she doesn't want answers to, I guess? =)
Absolutely!!
Great Post, my friend :)
This attitude comes from the reality that it is too easy in many countries to get into the teaching profession. This has come about because of a skewed job market where there are teaching shortages, probably due to the underpaid and overworked nature of the career. So the market has become a market of easy to get onto courses and be in the industry. However, as you point out being a great teacher is a phenomenally difficult task. Perhaps if salaries were increased and working conditions improved the industry can retain the best talent and attract top tier minds, thus changing the attitude towards teachers.
In Finland, school teaching requires a masters degree, even if underpaid. It is not the same everywhere. For me, the whole industry is stagnant and ineffective due to its institutionalised nature. It is definitely an industry that is in need of a good shakeup. It isn't the teachers alone though.
I think this is the key difference between the old type of teaching versus a new type. The old type made people strictly adhere to their style and memorize their truth.
A new style, as you mentioned, is to remain open minded and allow yourself to be changed when encountering new evidence.
I feel the old approach is severely deficient, and doesn't allow room for growth, the new style of open-mindedness is clearly the better approach.
There is still a long way to go. I see in the not too distant future an augmented reality classroom with global lessons and localised content. It could get scary, or it could be excellent.
'Those who can do, and then retire, and then pass the knowledge on after reaching 50yrs old.
those who can't do, lessen the standards in the long term.
Harsh?
Maybe, but 90% of the teachers I had aged under 50yrs old were a waste of time..
Education standards today to bear this argument out, I think.
(there are other factors to this, of course - but excellent teachers will mitigate a lot of these others factors out of the equation)
Yes, it depends how and why they got into the profession in some way plus, their willingness to go out and get practical life experience. Too many are career students.
It's kind of ironic that this is a saying because generally those who have actually experienced and studied a topic tend to be the best teachers in my opinion. For example, if you want to learn about finances, then you want to learn from someone who has actually become wealthy and is debt free versus someone who has only been to school and studied about it.
Or, one of my best lecturers at University was an emerald mine owner and millionaire until he lost it all. He had some lessons to teach.
Agreed! But by far anyone who has been in the field whether they succeeded or not is a great teacher in my opinion.
Great advice @tarazkp I've personally found the following to be very true!
Teaching is a great way of reinforcing what you've learnt, but it can also delay your learning in other areas. That's my excuse for why I haven't gone beyond the basics of any foreign language that I've studied and I'm sticking with it.
lol... I have lots of excuses in the same area.
I've always hated that little saying. My version goes like this:
Those who can, do and teach; those who can't, critique.
You should really have put a period at the end of the sentence. ;)
Lolz. Is it better now?
:P
great content man. keep it up. thanks for sharing
I think you are a very good teacher @tarazkp
Great work dear , it's helpful.
Great post man.... thanks for your great advice....
Emotional one , good philosophy . Heart touching thoughts..................
Great post. Its also helpful post.
Like it Carry-on....
Thanks