Last week I participated in a class as a student. The subject material was new to the whole class and it very easily could have been overwhelming. As the students were standing around during a break toward the end of the class I overheard a common theme in the comments--"the teacher never makes us appear stupid".
Early in the week the professor intentionally created an environment where students were encouraged to participate and it was safe to give the wrong answer. Wrong answers were not acceptable as a final conclusion, but were viewed as an opportunity to go back and think through the process that led to a wrong conclusion. Mistakes were considered learning opportunities, not failures!
Each of us were more competent at the end of the class than we were at the beginning. Largely because we all admitted we were learners and did NOT presume to have more knowledge than we actually had acquired.
This made me consider my teaching. Do I give the impression to my students that I only want to hear right answers? Do I so value the right answer that students are unwilling to speak up if they are still in the learning cycle for fear of humiliation? Are wrong answers treated as failures or learning opportunities?
How about you? Who is the best example you know of somebody who created an environment where it was safe to be wrong as an opportunity to become right?
I once sat under the teaching of someone who had very strong opinions about things and when they asked for answers to questions, even fairly open ended questions - they had already made up in their mind what they thought that answer should be.
ReplyDeleteIf one were to give an answer that did not coincide with what was in the head of that particular teacher - it quickly became very apparent.
There were two problems that came as a result of that. #1 People became afraid to share during class time for fear of "getting it wrong" and #2 the teacher did not view themselves as a potential learner from their students. We are all growing in our relationship with the Lord - none of us has fully arrived and one can learn a lot from the life experiences as well as personal study times of those whom they are teaching as well.
I have had occasion while teaching myself when a clearly wrong answer has been given. It is not a matter of perspective or a question that could be answered in a myriad of ways. It has happened when there is only one clearly biblical response - and that wasn't the one given.
That is where I struggle myself as a teacher. Being tactful and affirming while at some point correcting the thinking process of the student. Sometimes others in the class do the correcting..and that's when it seems to work the most graciously, but it doesn't always happen that way.
I would be interested to hear feedback on how to correct graciously.
Two principles I have found useful in graciously correcting:
ReplyDelete1. People RECEIVE better when they are offered something rather than when they are forced to accept it.
2. People REMEMBER better what they discover rather than what they are told.
These two principles can often be accomplished by changing statements into questions. i.e. "What do you think about....as an option?" or "Have you ever considered...." or "What brought you to this conclusion?" Followed by "Are there other possible trains of thought?"
Sometimes I will affirm the value of their contribution, but offer an alternative. i.e. "That is a common position held by [a certain group of people] however, many historical figures have disagreed with that position and held....
I might suggest further reading or experiences, then follow up by asking if they still hold to the position they shared in the group.