Opposites

I was recently preparing a presentation for a business client on the subject of creating possibilities. To expand our thinking about what is possible, we need to maximize the space between what is and what might be. A way to do this is to identify the opposite of what is obvious. This can be applied to teaching. When I think of college teaching, what first comes to my mind is that teachers teach students what the students do not already know. The opposite of this might be that teachers remind students of what the students already do know. How would I conduct my courses if I took the second statement to be true? The assumption underlying the first statement is that students are empty vessels to be filled with the teacher’s wisdom. The opposite statement assumes that students bring relevant life experiences to the learning process. My role then as teacher is to help students connect their experiences with the subject matter.

An example. I teach management courses. Most of my students have no business management experience. Yet they do have experience managing other aspects of their lives. I can help them connect the principles of business management to management of their education, their careers, their relationships. I can have them reflect on how they currently apply management principles in their lives and how they might improve on their application of those principles. If students realize they already know something about the subject being taught, they may feel less intimidated about expanding that knowledge into new arenas. So after I help students recognize how they are already involved in managing, we can then explore how management principles are applied in the workplace. This approach also provides students who are currently not in management positions opportunities to practice management skills. They can practice applications in other arenas of their lives. As the saying goes, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” How can students learn if they have no opportunity to apply what they are being taught?

Here is another possibility to ponder. The obvious is that teachers teach students. The opposite is that students teach teachers. I have experienced the latter when I have brought my classes to an art museum. I never view a piece of art in the same way after I have had students share their perspectives of the piece. How can you become a student of your students?