Well, Bassam and Sultan tracked me down tonight, diligently following me to a Syrian restaurant where we had the chance to meet and catch up on things. While we finished our business at hand, Sultan reminded me he had asked a question about whether teachers were born or created, in other words were people natural teachers or could they be taught to be good teachers? It immediately reminded me of three things: Is teaching an art? Is teaching a science? And what is the role of intuition in teaching. I promised him I would address it, so here goes.....
As a teacher-trainer for more than twenty-seven years now, I have long believed that I cannot afford to believe that teaching is an art - I have come to this conclusion because if teaching is an art, then my job would be to find the people that had the artistic ability within them and recruit them to be teachers. I think most of us believe that art is something that needs to "pre-exist" in a human, and is brought out. Many of us consequently believe that you cannot really teach art to someone. Given that I don't often get to go out and "find" teachers, this metaphor is unaffordable!
If teaching is a science, perhaps then we can develop it within people. Many people find this comparison to be distasteful though, as if you could build a teacher as you can a machine. I would add that too many teachers do not receive enough guidance, enough feedback, enough mentoring no matter what the case (art of science), and we would better serve them if we believed that all humans have the capacity to teach, just some start the process a little more equipped than others.
I was reading a great book on neurology (that I could actually understand) several years ago called "Descartes Error" by A. Damasio. When I got to his chapter on intuition, I was simultaneously disappointed and very pleased. He explained intuition in a way that I had long believed myself (his esplanation was far more elegant however), so I was disappointed that I had not discovered the idea, but that I was thinking soundly when I did come up with it (I would repeat this over and over again in graduate school, realizing that I probably would never come up with an original idea, but some of mine weren't completely crazy :). So here is how intuition works - I call it a synthetic incapacity, he called it an inability to connect an engram to a somatic marker. In either case, when we have an experience, we register that experience in two ways: 1) there is a cognitive event and a memory is created, 2) there is an emotional response and it is recorded in another part of your body. One note here, if you haven't visited emotional theories, it would be worth your while - i.e., do you think of an event first then the thought produces an emotion, or does the emotion happen instantly creating the subsequent thought (James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer Theory, etc.).
Intuition happens when we face an event later that is similar to one we had previously encountered. The events are not quite close enough to connect the cognitive response or the memory, but they are close enough to resurrect the associated emotion. From that emotional response, good or bad, we make an emotional judgement about the event or situation- generate to it or away from it. So there is a logic of sorts buried deep within, just not recognizable or connectible at the moment in our brains. Neat stuff huh?
Now I want you to think of the best and worst teachers you have ever had in the classroom. I bet you both of them prized themselves as being very intuitive. I believe when it comes down to it, the only person's intuition we really trust is our own (outside of mom and dad of course :). And I really don't have much use for intuition as a fuzzy concept as a teacher trainer, as you cannot "share" intuition with another, you cannot pass it on.
I have talked about "operationalizing your intuition" before I think. This is where we dig down and find out what is really behind those good hunches, those natural inclinations. That was the basis of my chapter on The Three Responsibilities of a Student - helping largely intuitive learners (teachers) break down the learning process for non-intuitive learners. We will be talking about this in about 77 hours - yikes!
As a teacher-trainer for more than twenty-seven years now, I have long believed that I cannot afford to believe that teaching is an art - I have come to this conclusion because if teaching is an art, then my job would be to find the people that had the artistic ability within them and recruit them to be teachers. I think most of us believe that art is something that needs to "pre-exist" in a human, and is brought out. Many of us consequently believe that you cannot really teach art to someone. Given that I don't often get to go out and "find" teachers, this metaphor is unaffordable!
If teaching is a science, perhaps then we can develop it within people. Many people find this comparison to be distasteful though, as if you could build a teacher as you can a machine. I would add that too many teachers do not receive enough guidance, enough feedback, enough mentoring no matter what the case (art of science), and we would better serve them if we believed that all humans have the capacity to teach, just some start the process a little more equipped than others.
I was reading a great book on neurology (that I could actually understand) several years ago called "Descartes Error" by A. Damasio. When I got to his chapter on intuition, I was simultaneously disappointed and very pleased. He explained intuition in a way that I had long believed myself (his esplanation was far more elegant however), so I was disappointed that I had not discovered the idea, but that I was thinking soundly when I did come up with it (I would repeat this over and over again in graduate school, realizing that I probably would never come up with an original idea, but some of mine weren't completely crazy :). So here is how intuition works - I call it a synthetic incapacity, he called it an inability to connect an engram to a somatic marker. In either case, when we have an experience, we register that experience in two ways: 1) there is a cognitive event and a memory is created, 2) there is an emotional response and it is recorded in another part of your body. One note here, if you haven't visited emotional theories, it would be worth your while - i.e., do you think of an event first then the thought produces an emotion, or does the emotion happen instantly creating the subsequent thought (James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer Theory, etc.).
Intuition happens when we face an event later that is similar to one we had previously encountered. The events are not quite close enough to connect the cognitive response or the memory, but they are close enough to resurrect the associated emotion. From that emotional response, good or bad, we make an emotional judgement about the event or situation- generate to it or away from it. So there is a logic of sorts buried deep within, just not recognizable or connectible at the moment in our brains. Neat stuff huh?
Now I want you to think of the best and worst teachers you have ever had in the classroom. I bet you both of them prized themselves as being very intuitive. I believe when it comes down to it, the only person's intuition we really trust is our own (outside of mom and dad of course :). And I really don't have much use for intuition as a fuzzy concept as a teacher trainer, as you cannot "share" intuition with another, you cannot pass it on.
I have talked about "operationalizing your intuition" before I think. This is where we dig down and find out what is really behind those good hunches, those natural inclinations. That was the basis of my chapter on The Three Responsibilities of a Student - helping largely intuitive learners (teachers) break down the learning process for non-intuitive learners. We will be talking about this in about 77 hours - yikes!
i really liked the question: born or created??
ReplyDeleteand i liked the answer more
to me
good teachers are created but if they want that and have the will to be
i myself have never imagined myself a teacher
but when Allah chose that to me i discovered that it is my message in life and i worked a lot to be good teacher
i still need more and more but my students make me feel that i'm good
Tahani S.
I think that teaching is both science and an art. Science in the sense that any teacher has to have knowledge in a certain subject in addition to the teaching methododlogies that he has to gain or acquire. However, when it comes to the performance it is art! Because if we take the same exact curriculum and have different teachers explain the same thing in endlessly different ways. However, only a few can make the subject interesting and appealing.
ReplyDeleteZeinab
Can I say it is scientific art? An art to be learned or imitated?
ReplyDeleteyes, zeinab i like the teachable art theory
ReplyDeleteI think that teaching is an art which is governed by science.
ReplyDeletesabreen