Monday, July 1, 2013

Teaching and Learning

I notice that when people get promoted, a story develops about their previous value. It boils down to, “The older I get, the better I was.”

That includes old fools standing up in front of a group, reading fifteen year old notes...with vigah!

In education, value comes from learning, not teaching. That’s a disappointment for teachers.

What if the purpose of education was to maximize learning...for every student? How would that change the teaching business?

I was working with a junior executive, who would look me in the face, nod his head, and take perfunctory notes. He wasn’t learning anything, he was never going to put our discussion to use.

He had learned how to be exceedingly amiable when someone was talking. It had taken him far. Teachers ate it up.

Learners want to take what has been taught and make something important. That often creates mission directed social skills.

According to St Bumpersticker, Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History, especially when well behaved means listening to an ongoing recitation of old notes. ]

If learning, not teaching, was what really mattered, what would you change?

Junior Academy – Home Of The Future

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