Some of the most acclaimed professors of academic subjects, teaching in our finest institutions of higher education, are not always the best teachers. Many students, who have attended these institutions and have degrees to prove it, will tell you that they were not always sure what exactly they learned. Yes, they listened and they took notes, but after they passed the test and received a grade, could they really demonstrate how the knowledge gained from a particular course helped them to do something of value?
I remember taking a required course for my major during a summer session at a prominent Utah institution of higher education (this was many, many years ago). The class was scheduled for 1:00 P.M. (right after lunch). The students usually came in on-time and always had to wait several minutes before the professor made his appearance. He would come sauntering in about five minutes after the hour and would take a minute to look us over. I supposed he was taking a silent head count. Then he would sit down in his chair behind the desk and, in the front of the classroom, put his feet up on the desk, lay back in the chair and start reading to us from a very dry Advanced Physiological Psychology textbook. It wasn’t long before most of the students were fast asleep, and it was not unusual for him to nod off from time to time, either. That was the very worst academic experience that I have ever had. Did I learn very much? Only from reading the book on my own and underlining important aspects of the text so that I could pass the required tests. A teacher, whether they have an advanced degree or no degree, must be able to impart their knowledge and make it stick while looking into the faces of their students and watching their expressions to assure that they are understood. If a student is unsure about some aspect of the subject, they must stop the teacher and ask questions to verify their understanding. A good teacher will site examples of where and how the knowledge was used and can be used to make it valuable in life.
The subjects that are easiest to teach are those where subjects are taught in a lab setting where the instructor is able to demonstrate a procedure and then watch the students do it themselves. Hands-on class instruction is always the most valuable. However, not all subjects can be brought to a lab. Even though a subject isn’t a lab-oriented course, the concept and points of importance can be emphasized in that manner. From an unknown author:
“Words—so innocent and powerless as they are standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they (words) become in the minds of one who knows how to combine them.” Good teachers know how to use them to clarify their subject and to open the minds of their students.
Imitation is the most common and the most effective teacher. The only problem with imitation learning is that too often we imitate the wrong people or the least efficient way to do something. It is hard to break a learned procedure, much like it is hard to break a bad habit.
The most interesting thing that I have learned about teachers and teaching is that if we are observant, we can learn good and interesting things from anybody and in almost any circumstance or place. The story below (from an unknown author) is a good demonstration of that.
A private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the school bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove the lip prints, and the next day the girls would put them back again. Finally, the principal decided that something should be done about it. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses). To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required to do so. He took out a long-handled brush, dipped it in the toilet bowl, and cleaned the mirror with it. He followed that with a squeegee. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.
I will conclude this message by repeating the concluding remarks of the unknown author of that story. “There are teachers…and then there are educators.”