The Art of Teaching, Part 2: The Teaching Diamond

Part 2 of a 2-part post about my feelings on Teaching:

Few things make school more frustrating than bad teachers.  The most interesting of subjects can't be enjoyed (let alone learned) if the teacher doesn't know how to teach.  Bad teachers come in many forms, so it's hard to describe all of the problems.  But a very effective way I've discovered is with a diagram I've come up with that I call the Teaching Diamond:

The first question to ask is what Movtivations someone has to become a teacher.  The first is obivous---an Interest in the Subject, which are the Left and Top corners of the Diamond.  After all, why would you become a teacher if you didn't like the subject you were teaching?  But unfortunately, I think far too many teachers use this as their only motivation to become a teacher.  They seem to think "I really don't know what I want to do...but I really like this subject, so, I guess I'll teach it..."

But that leaves out an essential motivation---an Interest in Teaching, which are the Left and Bottom corners of the Diamond.  Why would someone become a teacher if they didn't have a passion for teaching?!  All it does is rob themselves of finding a more fulfiling career, and rob their students of an effective education.

The second question to ask is what Qualifications someone needs to become a teacher.  The first is obvious---a Knowledge of the Subject, which are the Right and Top corners of the Diamond.  After all, what kind of respecable school would hire a teacher who wasn't thoroughly knowledgable in the subject they were teaching?  But as with movtivations, far too many schools use someone's knowledge as the only qualification for becoming a teacher.  As much as they can afford, they hire the people with the most distinguished-sounding degrees and education.  They seem to think "The more someone knows about a subject, the better they'll be able to teach it."

But that leaves out an essential qualification---a Knowledge of Teaching, which are the Right and Bottom corners of the Diamond.  Knowing information about a subject, no matter how much, says absolutely nothing about your ability to teach it effectively!  No matter how much you know about something, your ability to teach it is based on your ability to see from the view of those who know nothing, break it down, simplify it, start from the basics, build from there, and handle different styles of learning.  Hiring people based on mere knowledge only further robs students of an effective education.

I don't want Professors---people who merely profess their knowledge, who just lecture, who rattle off cold information that could just as easily be obtained from a book or the internet.  I want Teachers---people who understand how others learn, and how to teach.  To be a teacher requires an Interest of both their Subject and of Teaching, and a Knowledge of both their Subject and of Teaching.  The Center of the Teaching Diamond is where all teachers should be.  Far too many focus on the Top corner, and forget the Bottom corner, which severely retards their ability.  Because as important as the Subject is to teaching, the foundation of teaching is Teaching itself!

The thing is, a well-written book or web-page can be a much more effective teaching agent than a droning professor.  The reason classes have a teacher intead of a just a textbook is so there can be someone who can tell you more than what the book does, and explain things better than any book can.  That isn't going to happen if the teacher doesn't know how to teach.  And something as dynamic as teaching isn't something that can be learned, no matter how much training you have, if you don't have a passion for teaching.

I want to see passion in academics.  Nothing would be more refreshing.

"If you want to build a ship, then don't drum up men to gather wood, give orders, and divide the work.  Rather, teach them to yearn for the far and endless sea."