Being Brilliant Doesn’t Mean You’ll Be A Good Educator.
Dear Educator,
Being exceptional at a discipline, or even very good, doesn’t mean you’ll be a great teacher.
Like many, I’ve had the privilege of learning from unbelievably skilled individuals in their teaching tasks. Moreover, they knew how to transfer their years of knowledge in ways that felt empowering yet attainable.
However, I’ve also had teachers who were the exact opposite.
Educators who don’t know much about what they are teaching are rarely good. They don’t understand the topic in-depth, which starts to show after a lesson. They can’t answer questions; they rely on repetitive information and struggle with even a slight divergence.
But then there are some educators who have immense domain knowledge, yet they struggle to translate that knowledge into anything us mear mortals can understand.
They speak in riddles, become frustrated when their students “don’t just get it,” and are often incredibly hard on everyone around them. Worst yet, they often discourage students from persevering. Even educators with no prior knowledge may not make their classes suffer a similar fate.
But why is it so hard to overcome our knowledge and support those a decade behind? Why can’t educators empathize? Were they not once in the same place?
Naturally talented or gifted educators honestly can’t walk a mile in a beginner's shoes as they never wore a pair themselves.
But most teachers who find it challenging to teach don’t suffer from this “lack of beginners mind.” No, instead, there are often a few things at play.
They’re often impatient, forgetting that it takes years to become good at anything. They may be quick to frustration or anger, which is never a good place for an educator to teach from. But mainly, at least in my experience, educators who can’t overcome the curse of knowledge are extremely controlling. They believe they can push their learners to understand things faster and more in-depth than they did themselves. They think they’re such a good teacher that their students will rocket upward, no matter the odds.
Those teachers I mentioned at the start, who both have the domain knowledge and are excellent instructors, don’t teach from this selfish and controlling place. Instead, they embrace the fact that students will learn, on avg, at a similar pace. That complex concepts will take more than a few passes. And that they’re, ironically, not that exceptional as an educator. Otherwise, they’re humble and embrace the process.
We’ve all had these types of teachers. Those who were simply magical and those who we wished would magically disappear. Hopefully, you’ll be the one and not the other — but that is totally up to you.
Until next time, I hope you continue to inspire minds and shape the future.
josh
