As someone who dropped out of high school, then worked on educating myself I have some very definite ideas about what counts as education.
In my opinion, someone knowledgeable in a particular subject should be recognized as an expert when they master their art or craft. This would include methods for producing new art, historically accurate copies of artifacts and/or performances and written documentation of this as well.
I would also like to share that while some people are knowledgeable in a particular subject, that in no way implies they can teach or share their knowledge.
Education and teaching is a discipline of its own and should not be considered part of any particular area of study. (with the exception of learning how to educate others of course.)
Just because you are a master of your craft does not mean you can teach it. So tell me that teaching can be “one on one, a mentorship, providing a workshop for a particular skill, etc…”. Yeah. Sure. But you still have not addressed the fact that most people do not know how to pass on knowledge in a teaching situation!
I have known people who are brilliant at what they do, and couldn’t teach any of it as they have no concept of how to teach. Others, who may not be a leader in their subject of study, but know how to teach can make it relatable and meaningful to the people who are learning from them. (I include myself in this last part.)
While most people think they teach, I suggest that while they do try, they would do better if they took some basic courses in education. At the very least, Google “making a lesson plan for beginners”. (If you do not know how to write an effective lesson plan, this means you!)
And yes, telling others what you learned is a good way to better retain knowledge. But only if you tell someone who already knows more than you do. They can spot errors and help explain what you might not be sure of, help you find connections that you missed in your data, and overall make sure you are not reinforcing the wrong information. Believe me, unlearning a bad habit or bit of information is much harder then learning things the right way to begin with.
Just talking to others who can’t spot these things can do more harm than good.
Now on to what I think is a very basic bit of information about how to learn and teach…
I have always liked “Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning“. It breaks learning down into 3 parts, The cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning domains.
Each of these are further divided into sub levels of higher order thinking and performance.
At a bare minimum, anyone who thinks they teach, needs to at least be able to converse knowingly about these and how they are tied in to what they teach. In my opinion, if you can’t, you need to learn how to educate others.
I know that when I started school as an adult I had a hard time as I had to “learn how to learn” which is a skill most people learned as small children. I had to learn in classes while also reading about how education is supposed to work. So the upshot of this means I was always looking at how others were teaching. I was considering getting a teaching degree so I could teach jewelry arts, but I did not end up doing that as I could not afford to send myself to school and work full time to afford the classes. I worked on learning how to educate others by transferring knowledge in a way that helps others have a lot of joy in what they are learning.
Over the years I have come to see just how poorly many people teach. We have all heard the expression “He couldn’t teach you to pour water out of a boot with the instructions printed on the heel”. And it is true. But only because a lot of people do not know that they need to add to their skills as a master of their craft by making sure they know how to educate.
I always make a lesson plan for my teaching. Also when I do a video for YouTube I have a script and make sure the video will cover what I need it to cover. I take this mindset into when I do presentations at conferences as well. I am always thinking about how to teach! I wish others did as well.
So yeah, come at me and tell me why I am wrong about teaching but please, post your lesson plans so we can see them.
Think about what I said.
Just think about it.
