Lions, Hyenas, and Teaching

The following is adapted from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?

MYTH: The lion is the king of the jungle because of its dominance as a hunter over other animals.

TRUTH: The fact is that lions are nowhere near the most efficient of hunters in the wild (even hyenas are better hunters)—and besides, lions do not even inhabit jungles. Lions live in the plains where they can run down their prey.

MYTH: Anybody can teach. Teaching is just communicating information, through effective verbal communication, skills that anybody can learn and master.

TRUTH: While it is true that a part of teaching involves the effective communication of information, that is a very small part of what teaching is all about—and probably the least significant. Teaching is primarily relational, it is more than a meeting of minds, it is a transactional process between persons. Teaching is more than sharing information—it is about inspiring, motivating, awakening, challenging, and creating. Someone said, “A student is not a glass to be filled, but rather a lamp to be lit.”

The skills and craft of teaching can be learned—even mastered, and good teachers try to be masters at their craft. But real teachers don’t teach lessons, they teach people. They understand that content, ideas, concepts, and knowledge is a means toward transforming students. A teacher reaches beyond the surface of instilling ideas to plant dreams and in so doing touches the future. Real teachers don’t just try to create smarter students, they nurture the development of better persons. Real teachers aren’t made, they are called. You can always spot a teacher—they never stop teaching, or learning, and they remain forever Teacher in the hearts and minds of their students.

You can order a copy of the book Myth: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo (ISBN 0-9715765-4-8) directly from Educational Consultants.