by Paul Lines

Created on: January 22, 2009   Last Updated: January 23, 2009

Student teachers will often ask how they can possibly teach other learners when they are not fully qualified teachers, in other words like those they are being asked to teach they are still students. It appears that many see an issue in the scenario that they are either uncomfortable with or do not know how to resolve. Yet perhaps it is not as problematical a situation as they student teachers perceive it to be.

In fact, when asking questions such as how can I teach when I am a student, there are a number of things the trainee teachers have failed to take into consideration. The first and perhaps most important of these is that fact that, irrespective of where we stand in life we are all learners and teachers at the same time.

For example, there is not one person who can honestly turn around and say that they have nothing left to learn, irrespective of their age, career position or depth of knowledge and experience. There is a famous quote that says, "the more I learn, the more knowledge I have to impart to others" and this is some truth in this. The student teacher therefore has to remember that, irrespective of the fact that they have not completed their training process, they still have value in the classroom in being able to teach and impart knowledge to others who are still on the earlier steps of the education pathway.
Secondly, the manner of learning has to be considered as well. We are all aware, or should be, that we can learn an immense amount from text books and publications and by listening to others past experiences. However, how can we measure that efficiency and effectiveness of that learning unless we test it within a practical environment? Consider the art of riding a bicycle or driving a car for instance. We can all learn the skills needed, and the theoretical process that is required to be able to complete this task by reading books. However, we cannot know whether that knowledge has made us proficient, or learn our deficiencies in these tasks until we get on the saddle of behind the steering wheel.
It is the same with learning the art of teaching. All of the theoretical information that the student has absorbed during the course of his or her studies is extremely valuable. Nevertheless, it does not inform them whether they have the ability to turn this knowledge into practice. Neither does it let them experience the anomalies that will occur within a practical teaching environment; the unexpected incident that they have not been trained to address. This part of their learning can only be completed by engaging in the role of a teacher in a real life environment of the classroom.
Furthermore, within the educational institution the classroom is not isolated or a desert island. There are always other people who have the technical, educational and practical experience that the student teacher can call upon if they find themselves floundering; someone to point them in the right direction.
In conclusion therefore, and to answer the concerns of the student teacher when faced with the prospect of teaching students when they consider themselves to still be learners, the response is simple. You are learning to teach but you cannot complete that learning unless you engage in the practical art of teaching, from which you will learn more, as will the students within the class you take.

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