On my Soap Box about Learning and Teaching

Before working at Skillsoft, I had a blog writing internship, a freelance writing gig, and an instructor position at a local math tutoring center. My most stressful and fulfilling job during that time was the instructor position. I started this job mainly to get out of the house. My other jobs were remote, and with the pandemic, I really missed having everyday human conversations, not just me mindlessly staring at a computer screen all day.

I worked at this math center for about one year and came out with a ba-jillion stories. Several of these kids were really gifted, while others just needed a little help here and there, but something that they all shared was being too afraid or too shy to ask questions. This was true, at least at the beginning of all of our interactions.

I had an active 9-year-old that knew how to multiply and divide three-digit numbers when she wasn’t doing cartwheels and springing up to show me her dance team moves. But when she had a question or was confused, she would scream, distract the other kids, or simply not do the math work anymore. After working with her a bit, instead of distracting the other kids, she would let out a stressed shriek of “Mrs. Latee, I don’t know what I’m doing?!” This was an improvement. Although her reaction was different from the other kids, they all had this fear of not knowing or asking questions.

So, what did I do? First, I looked out for them. I checked on them often and paid extra attention to their body language. Then, if they were having trouble, I would work on the problem them if possible. During this time, I would meet them where they are at and stress that it is okay to ask questions. But it was still odd to me. Where did this fear come from?

Was it a natural psychological thing, something learned in their home or school? I don’t have the answers, but I think it is important to point out that our relationships with learning and school really shapes our lives. It determines how we see education because our first experience of learning happens academically in the classroom.

I left that job months ago, and it still has me scratching my brain. Why are we so afraid to ask questions or ask for help? Of course, this fear is universal to everyone, but it’s just that most kids are not too good at hiding emotions.

Working as an instructor or a tutor was not new to me. Prior to being an instructor at that math center, I was a math and English tutor for older kids, primarily in high school. Like expressed before, the fear was still there, but paired with a bit of teen anguish and a cool demeanor. Not much different from working with younger children, besides paying close attention to them to see if they really understood or not. Teens are a little bit harder to crack, but the fear was the same.

I hope that from reading this, we all become a little bit more aware of our fears, and we encourage others, like children, to ask questions. Because not doing so comes at a major cost to their learning, even extending outside the classroom. Unfortunately, this theme also resurfaces in college and the workplace.

The easiest way to combat this, I think, is to become the change or difference that you want to see. Ask questions fearlessly, answer questions with kindness, have open conversations about what we do and don’t know, and stay eager to learn more. Because, of course, we don’t know it all, nobody does, and that’s okay.