Yesterday I heard President-elect Obama speak at a news conference where he introduced the new education secretary, Arne Duncan, head of the Chicago school system. One point Obama stressed was that we needed to increase our expectations about student performance. I agree wholeheartedly.
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Polemics against bad teaching and poor education are a staple in social science, philosophy, and education literature. I suspect for two reasons: first, they are effective in getting readers riled up, and, second, I suspect it’s just too easy to sling tomatoes at poor teachers. After all, who among us hasn’t suffered under one? However, I do love a good rant…
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I recently received a surprise call from a former professor of mine. He was gracious and kind to call me to congratulate me on the new job. A former dean himself I accepted the condolences. It was one of those tender conversations of a teacher expressing gratification (if not relief) for a former student’s success. And it was an opportunity for a former student to express gratitude to a mentor and teacher who opened up future possibilities. Those are tender moments, and they happen too infrequently.
At one point in our conversation my former teacher, long retired now, asked, “So, what are seminarians like these days?”
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I attended a seminar in a field outside of my expertise a couple of weeks ago. It was purely a lifelong learning project motivated by curiosity. While the experience was interesting, and I learned a lot I didn’t know, I was reminded of what it feels like to be a novice. Most adult learners will approach new learning experiences feeling like a thirteen-year-old: lacking the basic vocabulary of the subject, lacking sufficient background in the subject to be able to make sense of things, and lacking enough experience to even know the right questions to ask—let alone be able to answer them. All this leaves the adult learner feeling insecure and anxious. Is it any wonder adults resist participating in new formal learning opportunities?
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There are two teaching behaviors that, once mastered, can help the teacher be more effective in bringing about powerful learning in the instructional setting. These are both fundamental teaching skills (“basic”) but both seem difficult for many teachers to master. Additionally, these two skills are interrelated. What are those skills?
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Every once is a while (like last month, in fact) I get a call from a church leaders wanting guidance and ideas about creating a mini-seminary in their congregations. While that idea is driven by a desire to make Christian education more meaningful and effective in their congregations I am always suspect of that approach. I believe that any congregation will be well-served by taking Christian education more seriously, and, by go about its practice in more intentional ways. But I also believe that a seminary is one thing and a church another—and when it comes to educating in faith, the two should not be confused.
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Some time ago someone sent me an e-mail asking for advice on a matter. I wrote back saying, “I don’t give advice,” though I did provide some resources related to the question. Later, this person asked me to explain what I meant when I said I don’t give advice, especially given that he knew I did consulting. “Isn’t that what consultants do?” he asked.
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My current online course aims at helping students discern the nature of particular educational approaches. One aspect of that exercise is to discern how context influences what constitutes learning and education (and therefore, the roles of teacher-pupil or teacher-learner, master-apprentice, sensei-disciple, etc.). It doesn’t take long for most students to make the distinction that school is school but church is church (community).
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For some years I’ve been working with a group of teachers who have been motivated to improve their courses and their classroom performance. These teachers were in a teaching in-service seminar I gave some years ago (almost a decade ago!). It was one of those rare experiences when everything seemed to click: the right people in the same room at the same time sharing the same interest and serendipitously finding the right seminar. A small group from this seminar has continued to pursue their work of becoming excellent teachers, and it has been gratifying to see.
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I’m a Powerpoint presenter. In fact, it’s gotten so I can hardly conceive of doing a presentation without a remote slide clicker in my hand. Like any communication tool and media, Powerpoint is merely one way to do it. Use it well and your communication is effective. Use it poorly and it’s no better than a flip chart or chalk and blackboard. I spend as much time planning the design and pedagogy of a presentation as I do on the content. The fact is, the medium needs to complement the content.
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