Can't do? Teach.

'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 ]