What is a lesson after all? - Part Three

If you missed one or both posts on this series, click here for part one and click here for part two.

It's been almost a week since my last post, so let's review the first two posts hehehe...

First, we stablished that, in a learning environment, the need of the learner is what will ultimately determine the topic of the lesson, what I'm calling "the something to be taught". Then, we discussed that the defining attribute of a learner is their willingness to move forward, to advance, to learn. Today, we will be talking about the teacher. What makes someone a teacher?

(Before I start let me tell you that this post will be longer than the others, just like the third movie in a trilogy hehehehe... There are just too many ends to tie...)

I started the second post on the series stating that anyone could be a learner, but the same is not true in the case of the teacher. Let me, hum, rephrase that... Anyone can't BE a teacher, but anyone can BECOME one. Ok, let's take a look at that distinction.

When I say anyone can BE a learner, I'm implying that the attributes of a learner are already in the person, that is, everyone has lack of knowledge and a need to advance, improve. All that is left in order to be a learner is a change of attitude, of heart if you will. Basically all you gotta do is be willing to learn and that's it, you are a learner. Now, there will be hard work along the way, but the change of heart is what really makes someone a learner. The hard work will bring you the knowledge you so desperately need, but you will only actually do the work if you are willing to learn.

BECOMING a teacher, on the other hand, requires more than a change of heart. It requires acquiring knowledge, abilities, etc. and that's why I'm using "becoming" instead of "being". It requires hard work, effort, dedication, among others to become a teacher.

Let me see if I can make my line of thought a little clearer: BEING involves a change of heart since you already have the other defining attributes, whereas BECOMING involves not only the willingness, but also the hard work in order to acquire the defining attributes (qualifications and abilities, just to quote a few) needed for the job.

So I guess that, by making that distinction, I introduced some of the defining attributes of a teacher. By all means, let me clarify that what I'm about to discuss is not a comprehensive list of attributes of a teacher, I'm just going to touch on a few of them.

The first thing someone needs to become a teacher is knowledge of the topic at hand. How do you acquire this knowledge? For us humans a commitment of time and hard work is the answer. Now, when you actually learn something, does that make you ready to teach it? When you think of some of the nerds out there who know a lot, I mean, a LOT, but can barely interact with other human beings, the answer becomes obvious. No, you are not a teacher yet. Pretty humbling, huh? But that's the topic for another post hehehe....

So, anyways, you got the knowledge, what do you need next? You need the ability to teach that knowledge, that is, teaching techniques, and how are you going to learn that? Yes, that's right, more time, dedication and hard work... Tired yet? Me, too! But guess what? You are NOT a teacher yet!

Now comes the fun part... You must be thinking "I have the knowledge and I have the techniques, what do you mean I'm not a teacher?"

Let's resort to a teacher's best friend... No, not the dictionary anymore, but Google hehehe... I googled "teach definition" but the best search result I could find was the one provided on top of the links, check it out here. It reads "Show or explain to (someone) how to do something". So, besides knowledge and ability you gotta have "someone" to teach to. I will go further and say that not only you need a learner, but also you gotta understand that person, how that person learns so that learning can actually take place. 

And how do you acquire that? No, not hard work this time, but experience... Lots and lots of it, with lots and lots of different students... And then, only then, you can hopefully say that you became a teacher, but only until you have a new student that you can't reach and then the process starts all over again... That, my friends, is real teaching... Or should I say real learning?

Sometimes it is frustrating to think that, no matter how hard you work, you are never going to achieve the status of "perfect teacher". Because there will always be a new challenge awaiting for you, as long as you keep teaching.

So why bother? I see two reasons. First, every person who became a teacher is first of all a learner, and therefore willing to learn. Second, the learner. Every real teacher sees the need and willingness of that human being in front of them and is deeply moved to help that person in whatever possible way.

For length and maybe boredom purposes I need to finish this post. So, to answer the question at hand, a teacher is basically someone who has knowledge, teaching techniques, a deep understanding of learners and willingness to improve in order to make learning happen. And that's not easy and definitely does not happen overnight.