What is the Difference Between Teaching and Learning
It seems as if some schools are too focused on teaching and instruction instead of learning. These are schools that keep putting more bricks in the wall. While some might complain that these are merely matters of semantics, the words carry with them powerful and controlling implications.
Teaching and instruction tend to focus on the actions of the teacher transmitting and conveying content to students. A school committed to student learning, on the other hand, would focus more energy on how teachers are orchestrating the questioning, thinking and discovery of students so they might come up with their own ideas.
In the first school, the teacher might explain the magic of a particular poem and poet to a class, expecting that the students would take careful notes. In the second school, the students might look at the poems and argue over the degree of magic to be found.
While the above sketch is a huge overs
implification of what actually occurs, it does capture a crucial educational divide that usually goes unmentioned.
A few years back I watched three different teachers working with classes in the Louvre.
It seems as if some schools are too focused on teaching and instruction instead of learning. These are schools that keep putting more bricks in the wall. While some might complain that these are merely matters of semantics, the words carry with them powerful and controlling implications.
Teaching and instruction tend to focus on the actions of the teacher transmitting and conveying content to students. A school committed to student learning, on the other hand, would focus more energy on how teachers are orchestrating the questioning, thinking and discovery of students so they might come up with their own ideas.
In the first school, the teacher might explain the magic of a particular poem and poet to a class, expecting that the students would take careful notes. In the second school, the students might look at the poems and argue over the degree of magic to be found.
While the above sketch is a huge overs
implification of what actually occurs, it does capture a crucial educational divide that usually goes unmentioned.A few years back I watched three different teachers working with classes in the Louvre.
In the first group, a teacher spoke rapidly and energetically about a painting while her 15 year old students wrote down her every word. Even though the painting was hanging right there in front of them, the girls were so busy scribbling they had no time to look at the painting. They had learned, I suppose, that capturing the teacher’s words were the secret to scoring well on art appreciation.
In contrast, the neighboring group of 15 year old girls were gazing at a painting spellbound. Neither they nor their teacher did much speaking or writing. The teacher dangled a question and let it hang suspended.
“What questions come to mind as you consider this painting?”
The girls stare intently. Here and there a student scribbles briefly on a note pad then returns to staring.
“Shouldn’t we be thinking about his choice of color and his use of light?” asks one girl.
A half dozen girls nod their heads in agreement as the teacher smiles her approval.
“Certainly,” she says. “That makes sense to me. What else?”
And a third group across the room listens with full attention as an attractive and charismatic guide speaks enthusiastically in front of a huge battle scene.
This class is made up of senior citizens who do not bother to take notes but hang on each word of their guide as if she is the leading world authority on this artist. With the personal appeal of a movie star, she casts a magic light on the painting before them. They have the luxury of feeling rapture while learning, comfortable with the knowledge that there will be no test and the morning will end with a wonderful meal at a bistro accompanied by good red wine.
In contrast, the neighboring group of 15 year old girls were gazing at a painting spellbound. Neither they nor their teacher did much speaking or writing. The teacher dangled a question and let it hang suspended.
“What questions come to mind as you consider this painting?”
The girls stare intently. Here and there a student scribbles briefly on a note pad then returns to staring.
“Shouldn’t we be thinking about his choice of color and his use of light?” asks one girl.
A half dozen girls nod their heads in agreement as the teacher smiles her approval.
“Certainly,” she says. “That makes sense to me. What else?”
And a third group across the room listens with full attention as an attractive and charismatic guide speaks enthusiastically in front of a huge battle scene.
This class is made up of senior citizens who do not bother to take notes but hang on each word of their guide as if she is the leading world authority on this artist. With the personal appeal of a movie star, she casts a magic light on the painting before them. They have the luxury of feeling rapture while learning, comfortable with the knowledge that there will be no test and the morning will end with a wonderful meal at a bistro accompanied by good red wine.
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