Rob McKenzie
Rounding Some Corners

View more columns

Teaching can inspire learning

It's back to school for students, where they're spending as much time with teachers as they are with family and friends.

And there are many teachers out there: 7.2 million in kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools (according to the U.S. Census), plus 2 million at colleges (according to the Department of Professional Employees, a coalition of unions representing teachers).

What do you think a teacher's job is these days?

Some have a cynical view that a teacher is a babysitter for busy parents who aren't around enough to watch their kids.

Some have a mentoring view that a teacher is a role model who develops one-on-one relationships with young people so they have someone positive to emulate.

Some have an old-school view that a teacher is a bastion of knowledge that they impart to obedient pupils.

Some have an idyllic view that a teacher is someone who touches the student's life forever.

Regardless, to help students learn these days, a teacher has to overcome significant obstacles:

  • Annoying cellphones, video games and computers that repeatedly pull the student's attention away from schoolwork with their beckoning screens and random sounds.
  • Turbulent home situations including divorce, economic hardship and medical ailments that destabilize the student's well-being and blur their focus on learning.
  • Intrusive advertising messages that tell the student they have major inadequacies to be rectified by buying things, when they should be receiving messages reinforcing their self-esteem and encouraging them to explore more compelling educational interests.

With all of these distractions, it's no easy task for teachers to help students hunker down and concentrate on their classes.

Still, good teachers thrive on the challenge of instilling in their students a lifelong thirst for knowledge.

They vary their pedagogy (their approaches to teaching) by lecturing, problem-solving, discussing and just listening.

They use an array of instructional aids, such as handouts, PowerPoint slides, handheld objects and websites like YouTube, Twitter and Ted-Ed.

They're friendly, but they don't act like a buddy; they're well-prepared, but they don't act like a machine.

They embrace humor, mystery and wonderment.

You can tell when a student has benefited from a good teacher because, after they've acquired new knowledge, they want to learn more on their own.

Therefore, good teachers teach others to teach themselves.

Questions or comments?


Reader Reaction
Print this ArticlePrint this Article Email this ArticleEmail this Article
Bookmark and Share