Chapter 2 blog
The chapter lists 6 different ways of differentiating an expert from a novice. Of the six, I am interested in #5: Experts are not necessarily good teachers.
I can assure you that this is as true as gospel.
I have had decorated college professors who hold multiple advanced degrees in their field but could not teach if their very lives depended on it. Some have the personality of a dial tone; some teach as if the students could read their minds. Others teach as if they have a relationship with the chalkboard and no one else; others teach as though they do not care to have any relationship with anyone at all.
On the other hand, I have also had decorated college professors who hold multiple advanced degrees in their field and teach like it's always their first time. They know how to meet students at a level that is comfortable to them and teach from there. They always have a willing and ready smile so students know that they could be approached for problems and such. They know how to make a lecture seem interesting enough to hold a student's attention.
And so, from the two previous paragraphs above, one can therefore conclude that expertise does not necessarily imply pedagogical skill. As a teacher it is desirable to have both; you cannot teach what you do not know. On the other hand, it is also useless to know and be an expert in something if you are unable to teach it to someone.
To know and to learn how to impart that knowledge --- two things every teacher must have.
posted by arlene chua @ 2:46 PM
3 Comments:
At 9:44 AM,
Anonymous said…
Boy can I relate to this. In college I had a basic history course of the U.S. up to the Civil War. Our professor would come in late with his hair sticking in all directions and would lecture for an hour. His lectures were beyond boring and would conclude with him passing out 20 pages of faded mimeograph copies for us to memorize for next week's quiz. We spent 8 weeks covering the colonization of North America and 2 weeks on the American Revolution to the Civil War. The only thing I remember from that class is a quote of the teacher, "You can't have pea soup if you don't have peas!" I found that profound.
At 5:09 PM,
Anonymous said…
I totally agree with you I had professors that would lecture from his notes and you could literally see the paper aging. They would hand at notes and would talk about the same thing on the paper and would not elaborate on the topic being taught. I really did not absorb any information from this professor but off course when evalutions came out for the professors I did indicate my concerns in the comment portion of the evaluations.
My advice for professors is if you are going to read from your notes, make sure to hand out the notes and just dimiss class because off course college students can read.
At 11:05 PM,
Musikero671 said…
It is really so frustrating to have professors who are placed on the pedestal and really act in character - a statue: lifeless with an infinitisimal gaze. I don't think that they should teach. The students do not deserve to be taken for granted. Teachers like these should be relegated as consultants who will just talk only when we need them.
Well, they exist for a purpose... to remind us all not to teach like them. God is so good!
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