Tagged: Jacob Lindsay

Jacob Lindsay: A teacher’s job is to become obsolete

This. This. This.
From Jacob Lindsay of Soja Mind / Body:
On the first day of class I share a slide that says “A teacher’s job is to become obsolete.” I really believe this. I see some teachers who are extremely skilled at what they do, but who have never raised a student to their same level of skill. Why? I believe it has a lot to do with the relationship they set up with their students. Namely, a hierarchical relationship with the student will always keep the student reliant on the teacher, and one cannot achieve mastery while being reliant on another. As a teacher, I see my primary duty as manipulating the environment of the classroom so that each student has the best chance of succeeding on their own. That of course is an enormous task, because each student’s ideal learning environment is different. But there you go. That’s why it’s a job. I was thinking about this right now because one of my recent graduates just got hired on as my new co-worker. The truth is, she was a strong candidate to begin with, and my job as a teacher was primarily to get out of her way while she succeeded on her own. I think “getting out of the way of your student’s success” is one of the most important lessons to learn as a teacher. It feels like you’ve done nothing, but that’s the point. They did it.

Jacob Lindsay: Obstacles to Following Directions

From Jacob Lindsay of Soja Mind / Body:

The number one lesson I have learned as a teacher (and a parent!), is that, given clear directions, students will generally not follow them (or will selectively follow only parts). If teaching (and parenting) was simply about giving clear and accurate directions towards a positive outcome, things would be much easier.

As I consider this it, of course, brings to mind all the times that I, given clear directions towards a positive outcome, failed to follow those directions. And what were the reasons?

1) Lack of awareness/understanding: I thought I was doing the thing, but I wasn’t, either because I didn’t really have an experience of doing the thing in the first place, and/or because I was adding something else that didn’t belong there.

2) Fear of failure/embarrassment: I didn’t want to give up the thing I was already doing, and/or I was afraid of failing at the new thing (and possibly embarrassing myself in the process).

3) Other social pressures: I felt a strong social pressure (real or imagined) to not follow the directions and/or do something else.

4) Denial of the process: I didn’t actually believe the thing would work.

5) Denial of the outcome: I didn’t actually believe I would like the outcome.

Hmmm…maybe more. So…where does that leave us?