Teaching and Learning or Learning and Teaching

Does good teaching foster life-long learning. Does our emphasis on effective instruction really foster the type of learning one desires? Where should I our emphasis fall? Should it be on effective instruction or in assisting students in learning how to learn? Overall, students who do well in our academic programs are those who know how to learn. Those that struggle are generally not lazy, they are just not comfortable with the instructional methodology employed in academic circles. I suggest that we change our focus from teaching or instruction to learning for two reasons: (1) before we were teachers we were learners and (2) our focus ought to be on preparing the student to effectively navigate the discipline which we teach. This leaves us with the perennial question, "How ought this to be done?"

Appreciative Inquiry or Fostering Positive Change

Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change (2005) by David L. Cooperrider and Diana Whitney provides an alternative way of fostering change that values truly values the person. The underlying structure of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) involves make affirmative choices that move an organization towards its desired ends. AI summons one to draw on a person's strengths as a means of addressing the area(s) in which a person struggles. In our hyper-praise/hyper-critical culture that often overwhelms a person, AI provides a useful approach for navigating this tension in the church, with youth ministry volunteers, and those hyper-critical people who freely offer their perspective. AI provides some helpful insight and ought to be read and discussed as a group. For more information on AI, go to the AI Portal.

Switching the Light On

I just finished reading Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath which is subtitled How to Change things when change is hard. I'm a change junkie, which is probably more of an outworking of my ADHD than anything else. One of the observations they make about change is that the need and desired condition must be clear, concrete and manageable. How often are things clear, concrete and manageable? It is common knowledge that people learn best when expectations are clear, concrete and manageable. Reflect for a moment, in my educational journey expectations became vague, abstract and less manageable the longer I stayed in school. Does a person's need for clear, concrete and manageable instructions disappear with age? I doubt it. Effective instructors provide students with clear, concrete and manageable learning tasks which they can complete. Why is this so easy to forget?