Comfortably numb

Image from Flickr by Ilmicrofono Oggiono

How do teachers get to the place where they are comfortable admitting they don't know everything about their subject? Some might argue that teachers should be expert at the highest level. But is this feasible for everyone and surely there is always scope to learn more? I want to ask the question: how can teachers and their students construct their knowledge together?

The process of co-learning between teachers and students can only effectively occur if and when teachers realise that learners can offer something new.  I know that over the years I have spent in classrooms, my students have often taught me things I didn't know. I cam remember several times recently when I have emerged from a teaching session with more knowledge than I had when I entered the classroom. At first I found it difficult to acknowledge that my students could teach me a thing or two. My mindset was fixed on the idea that I was there to impart knowledge and that my students were there to learn. Indeed, this is primarily the reason I am employed as a teacher, and also the reason my students arrive each day in the classroom. But this is a limited perspective on education.

The latin phrase docendo discimus - 'we learn by teaching' or, perhaps more accurately, 'people learn while they teach' is apt. This clearly applies not only to students (we ask them to prepare seminars and presentations for this very reason), but also to teachers. The so called 'expert in the room' is only expert to the extent that she has studied her discipline and has obtained a degree or other recognised accreditation at an appropriate level. There is always more to learn, and the teacher is, after all, a professional learner. So what better place to continue to learn than the classroom, where our students are gathered?

Successful teachers should learn continuously and be open to learning at all times. Without it we stand still, or fall away, particularly if our subject is fast moving. We need to put away any pride we have in our expertise and make ourselves open to the possibility that we don't know everything, we can learn as we teach, and we can also learn things from our students. We need to be comfortably numb to any misplaced notion that the teacher is the 'sage on the stage.' Education doesn't and shouldn't continue to be fashioned in this manner. Successful teachers today are indeed professional learners as well as educators. Making ourselves open to new ideas and new knowledge doesn't weaken our position as teachers. It strengthens our role, and models for our students the fact that learning is lifelong. It sends them the message that no matter how many degrees or qualifications we accumulate, we can still learn more, we can all learn together, and they can play a part in that process.


Comfortably numb by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.