WPSU's This I Believe
The Power of Teaching
- Contributor: Hortense Fong
Town: State College, PA
County: Centre County
Heard on NPR's Weekend Edition on August 21, 2008
My mom grew up in Hong Kong, where the education system is very different than the one we have here in the United States. In Hong Kong, students are taught to memorize, and not necessarily to understand. A friend from Hong Kong once told me a story of how she used to memorize the solutions to math problems because she didn’t know how to do them. For this reason, math was never really her best subject.
The point is, there’s a large difference between memorizing and learning. If you only “teach” a student to memorize, then he may never truly understand the concept behind the problem. It’s like the proverb by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.”
Teaching is defined as imparting the knowledge of a certain field of study. But teaching is not simply giving a student a book of facts; it is giving a student the knowledge to come to a conclusion by himself.
This belief may sound obvious. But how many teachers truly apply it to their teaching?
I’ve had many teachers who only gave me conclusions and not how to reach those conclusions. Therefore I don’t remember very much of what they taught me. On the other hand, certain teachers have taught me things I will never forget. Mr. Somers, my calculus teacher, has always made his students prove the formulas he teaches. So, even if I don’t remember the formula, I can derive it. Such knowledge is invaluable.
I tutor Maria, a fifth-grader, following an online program in the subjects of math, English, science, and history. When I tutor Maria, I try to avoid giving her specific formulas to memorize and instead try to involve her and lead her on in a way that will allow her to draw her own conclusions. When she is lost, I give her hints. When she is unsure about her answer, I ask her to give me her reasoning.
At times, it becomes frustrating when she can’t understand a concept that seems so clear to me. But I never give her the answer without explaining the reasoning behind it first. Equipped with this reasoning, she sees more and more problems to which it can be applied. Eventually, she learns to apply her knowledge to problem after problem without having to ask me or refer to past examples. Then we both know that she has mastered the concept.
I delight in the light of understanding in her eyes and can see her increased confidence in herself. She flashes me a triumphant smile, and I smile back.
Long ago, Confucius said: “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” This I believe: that teaching is giving students the skills to reach their own conclusions.
What's On Now... The WPSU web stream contains copyrighted material and may not be redistributed or reproduced WPSU-FM is licensed for public performance of the BMI repertoire
120 Outreach Building . University Park, PA 16802 . 814-865-3333
.
wpsu@psu.edu
©2004 - 2008 Penn State Public Broadcasting, an Outreach service of The Pennsylvania State University.