Teaching: Three Simple Words

The inner sanctum

Teach.

Adjust.

Repeat.

How hard can it be?

I'm an assistant professor of education. I have a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from a well-respected institution. I have years of teaching experience at the both the high school and collegiate levels. I've published in the right journals and presented at the right conferences. I'm the go-to guy, at the head of the class, and, if you squint your eyes real tight, I'm an expert in my field.

But here's the truth: I'm still a beginner.

This is what years of professional experience have taught me: teaching is hard. Though aspects of it get easier, it never gets easy, and mastery is always out of reach. It's a profoundly frustrating endeavor, particularly in a consumer based culture, because the pay off moment when the perfect student rolls out the factory door never arrives. It's like running a marathon where the finish line moves at the same pace you do. You sweat and agonize for hour upon hour, only to discover that you haven't left the starting line. There's no summit to reach and no final clue to decipher. There's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, because the rainbow never ends. It's a road trip with no destination, and if you ask "are we there yet?", the answer will always be "no."

And that's exactly like it should be. This is both the simple truth and profound mystery of teaching. Expertise isn't a matter of getting it right; it's a matter of getting it wrong in a systematic fashion. It's not about knowing all the answers. It's about being hyper aware of what you don't know. It's about making plans based on the best information that you have and then gathering new information in a rigorous and reliable fashion. It's about absolute fidelity to your one little corner of the puzzle even though you'll never get to see what it looks like when it's finished.

So teaching is hard. I tried to find a witty wrap-up for this post, but that pretty much sums it up right there.