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Purpose of Teaching Reader Question

Metaphors of Teaching (and why they matter)

I’ve enjoyed getting the opportunity to work one-on-one with SLU faculty in my new role, and I invite anyone on campus to reach out at any time with questions you might have about your teaching practice. I want to stress that my aim is to facilitate a nonjudgmental and solution-oriented conversation. If you’ve ever wondered how to engage students more fully or if you’ve ever wanted to change some aspect of your teaching but were afraid to ask (for example), I am here to listen and offer suggestions.

When working with colleagues this week, I was really struck by how different teachers operate under very different metaphors for their work. For some time now, we’ve been told to be the “guide on the side” and not the “sage on the stage.” But–really–what does this metaphor tell us?

If we go back to John Dewey, it is useful to recognize that Dewey–especially in Experience and Education–firmly resists the label of student-centered. Instead, he returns over and over again to the responsibility of the teacher for the learning environment. The teacher may not lecture for an entire class period, but they most certainly work extremely hard to facilitate learning through the activities they plan, the readings they assign, and the problems students engage with (to name a few aspects of a successful learning environment).

Many new teachers, who feel pressure to avoid the role of sage, can over-correct in the other direction, giving students too much responsibility for the learning environment before they are ready for it. One example of this over-correction is having students in an introductory course take turns leading the class. While an advanced undergraduate or graduate student may be capable of leading an educative course discussion of a topic they are familiar with, it is often unrealistic to expect this to happen in an intro course.

Please note my intentional use of the term “educative.” While a student may learn a great deal by preparing to lead a course discussion, we have to wonder: What do the other students get from this experience? And, if our main goal is to have students gain confidence speaking in class and taking ownership of their learning, might there be better ways to do this? Ways that help the individual student, and the entire class? As with many issues in teaching, so much comes down to course goals. If the goal is to give students the best possible introduction to the content we are teaching, is having other students attempt to teach them the content the most effective and engaging way to accomplish this for all the students in the room?

Another way of thinking about the issue is to think about another metaphor, this one drawn from psychologist and parenting expert Dr. Becky Kennedy. Dr. Becky (as she goes by) uses the metaphor of the pilot in her work with parents. When a young person experiences of turbulence, they are looking to the parent/pilot to name the experience–we are going through turbulence–and then offer their best assurances that there is a plan in place to navigate the difficulty. If a pilot were to turn around and say–we are sharing responsibility for this flight, what do you think we should do–the child may feel incredibly unsafe.

Teaching isn’t parenting, but I encourage us to think about what ways we teachers are (and aren’t) like pilots. When times get rough during the semester, students will (not unreasonably) look to us for security. Though we shouldn’t ever do the work for students–leading to problems of learned helplessness and lack of motivation to take responsibility for their own learning–we can provide frameworks (what Dewey would call an environment) that allow students to be successful. We name the issues and challenges, and we provide pathways that students can take responsibility for walking down and toward success.

To close with a final thought, one of the main lessons we might learn from the “sage on the stage” metaphor is to be mindful of time. Ask some simple questions. How much time do I talk? How much time do the students talk? Does each student talk, or do some students talk most of the time? How much time is spent talking about those things that are central to my course goals, and how much time might be spent in interesting conversations that don’t ultimately connect to what I am responsible for teaching? Though an activity feels active and engaging, are the students learning and meeting my course goals (and might there be more efficient and engaging ways to get there)?

Pilots, guides…which metaphors work best for you? And how do even the best metaphors obscure aspects of teaching that we must be made aware of–and reflect on–in order to be the teachers our students deserve?