On the difficulties of teaching
Teaching is a deeply challenging and often poorly understood craft. At universities, it is often lamented (but rarely acted upon) that professors receive little to no pedagogical training and are then expected to spend decades teaching. This pattern extends far beyond universities, however; viewed broadly to include tasks like employee training or product evangelizing, teaching is ubiquitous across sectors. Yet, as in universities, teaching is a skill that is generally expected of people by default, much like filing paperwork or writing emails. Underestimating the craft of teaching is a mistake, because teaching is hard. What makes teaching so hard? In this post I will explore what I consider to be the main factors.
Accountants and comedians: these two professions could not be more different, right? Accountants must be organized, detailed-oriented, and meticulous. Nothing should be missed. Comedians, on the other hand, must inspire and elicit strong feelings in their audiences. Yes, being an organized comedian wouldn’t hurt, but it is secondary to the art of the performance. Being an outstanding teacher requires excelling at both of these disparate skill sets. When teaching a course, one must keep track of dozens of homework assignments, lecture notes, quizzes, exams, grades, missed work due to illness, and all the rest. Any small mistake leads to confusion and frustration from dozens (K-12) or hundreds (university) of students. Being organized and meticulous is a must. And yet, being inspirational is equally critical. An outstanding teacher motivates students and sparks curiosity. Every class is a performance; like a comedian, a teacher should also possess a strong voice, a keen sense of timing and, yes, ideally some good jokes as well. It would seem teachers must do it all.
Teaching is challenging for many other reasons. Teaching is personal: to teach most effectively, one must be authentic, build trust with the students, and create a safe environment for learning. This means lowering one’s defenses and being approachable, yet still maintaining boundaries. As a teacher, one is inevitably also a role model to at least some students, and this brings with it a sense of responsibility to be the best version of yourself.
Beyond the teaching skills, being an outstanding teacher requires deep subject-matter knowledge of the discipline being taught. Much of what makes a learning experience outstanding is the way that the specific content is motivated and communicated. A skilled teacher can do a fair job of teaching many disciplines, but to do a great job requires seeing the big picture all the way down to understanding the smallest details of the subject matter.
Finally, an important skill in teaching is avoiding what is sometimes called the “curse of knowledge” or “expert blind spot”. This cognitive bias leads us to teach too quickly because we have a hard time remembering what it was like to see something for the first time. If a skilled teacher can get inside their students’ heads and anticipate what students are thinking or wondering, they can effectively set the pace, identify where students might stumble, and correctly interpret student questions.
Job opening: Teacher. A successful candidate will be: detailed-oriented and organized, inspirational, funny, approachable, and a natural leader who possesses deep subject-matter knowledge. The ability to simulate other human minds is a plus.
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