3 of 13

Local

Write now Article Tools

Having been both the teacher, and the taught, I can honestly advocate for local methods over imposed methods, for one key reason: successful teachers aren't born, they are made. The best teachers are made of a keen sense of intuition imbued with infinite compassion for the actual learning of their intended audience. Therefore it isn't enough for them to simply teach, someone must be learning. Imposed teaching methods cannot, from a distance, factor in any one of a hundred different factors in effective learning where the rubber meets the road.

One of the fundamental truths in teaching is trust. If I don't trust the source of your knowledge, or your methods, I cannot take my learning from you. The phrase "because the Board of Education" says so is a tribute to only one thing - mass production policy. There is no service to the individual, yet, that is what learning is, individual, unique, and singular. What works for one student, may not work for the next.

People don't care what you know, until they know that you care. There is no teaching method that displays empathy, that confers the wisdom to slow down and really listen to what a child or teenager is saying. The more didactic the approach gets, the less it imparts the intended knowledge to it's target students. Imposed teaching methods wreak of stagnation and control.

Socratic teaching methods allow a teacher to engage students at a level that is of vital importance to them, and employs real-world references that they can relate to in their day to day life. In the tried and true methods of tell me, show me, then do it with me, there is little need to study the importance of crop rotation techniques in Chicago schools. Similarly, it is irrelevant to teach subway survival body language to children playing on farms in America's break basket. While this example speaks to content of teaching, content is what drives teaching method.

Teaching is universal, it's personal. A teacher's job is, first and foremost, to engage. As long as local methods are sidelined in favour of superior methods imposred by outsiders, it's a cold, out of touch stroll down an indifferent hall. It is the reason our kids don't stay in school.

Learn more about this author, Amanda Elias.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Teaching the world: Should experts impose teaching methods they consider superior or should local methods be honored? ?
We want to hear your view. Write now!