Dear Editor:
The act of teaching is exactly that; — an act. It is a second class citizen, a miscreant, an unwanted stepchild, the loser pretending to be hip. After all, teaching is not the exclusive sacred realm here; it is learning that is sacred. It is the conscious act of the learner taking responsibility for their own learning that becomes the crowning glory of higher education. Teaching is just the flawed process by which we do our best to facilitate learning, and without the conscious choice by the student to learn, teaching is just an act of futility.
As a faculty member, it would be all too easy for me to complain about the lack of initiative of my students, or document their late papers and their excuses, and use these as the scapegoat for any deficiencies in their learning. But I will not do that, for the truth is I am blessed to have many wonderful students; — students who want to make their lives better by learning.
We’ve all had bad teachers. The people who make us feel bad when we don’t have the “right” answer, the people who favor memorization over independent thought, and the people who have helped us accept, as fact, that the process of regurgitating spoon-fed information is synonymous to learning.
To all of that I say “so what?”
As students and faculty, we have daily opportunities to take ownership of the learning process. We have opportunities to take back the seemingly lost art of thinking and to find ways of learning how to learn effectively. Yes, learning HOW to learn. I know, oddly, there aren’t many courses called “Learning How to Learn 101.” So, let me give you the crash course.
I would expect the author of your column to have had six words permanently impressed upon the grey, rippling contours of your brain. They are the “5 Ws and H,” or who, what, when, where, why, and how. I learned those words more than 25 years ago from a man who is now my colleague and they have changed my life in very favorable ways. So I owe him a thank you.
Here’s how they can help you learn how to learn. You start by picking one or more of those words and apply it to something you just thought you learned. For example “why” is this so? “How” is it that I have come to accept this as truth? “Who” claims this to be true and are they to be trusted, or is their point of view skewing the veracity of their claim.
As you ask these types of question, and more importantly answer them for yourself, you begin to develop what are called meta-cognitive learning skills; — you start thinking for yourself. And, your learning will accelerate. The second step in learning how to learn is to remember that your teacher is only one of many vehicles for obtaining information. If you choose to take control of your own learning, you’ll expand the realm of your learning options to include, but also move beyond the classroom. There are fellow students, family members, libraries, the Internet, co-workers; — an entire community of people who can stimulate your learning; — and at the heart of that community is you, the person who is ultimately responsible for that learning.
So, are there some bad teachers here? Probably. Are there teachers who are expecting you to regurgitate? It wouldn’t surprise me.
But, if you really want to learn, I can assure you, there are a many, many, many faculty members here who would be thrilled to help provide you with some awesome learning experiences; — experiences that you can carry with you for the rest of your life. I still carry many of those experiences with me today. So, if what you really want to do is learn, the choice is yours. Most of us here will support you in that choice, — after all, it is learning that is the sacred realm here, not teaching.
Sincerely,
David Schamus
Assistant Professor
Computer Science and Information Technology