There are many people teaching but only a very few understand what it takes to be a really good teacher. First, the person must understand the subject thoroughly, know how it works and also how it fits with other parts of the subject that is being taught. Most teachers of today are only repeating or copying what someone else has said or is doing. That doesn’t mean that they know the subject well enough to be a good teacher. While they may seem to be knowledgeable about the subject they may only be repeating what they have heard. When this is true, then the teacher is not very helpful to many of the students. To be a good teacher requires a good understanding of the subject, but also a good understanding of the students, how they learn and how to make sure they all learn.
Eunice belongs to a small group of women that meet one day each week to knit and talk. There is a place on the internet where questions can be asked about knitting. Some woman had asked a question and did not understand the answer. Her comment was that “I may be too dense to understand.” The person who had answered the original question came back with this statement “If you can’t figure it out, it isn’t that you are dense, it is that I haven’t explained it in words which work across the net!! If that is the case, come back and we can try again. Don’t EVER think you are too dense to do anything knitting- if you can’t do it, it is because you haven’t had the right instructions yet in a form which suits you.” This person really understands teaching.
If you want to teach it is your job to be sure the student learns. The student came to learn, not to be told they can’t learn. If the teacher doesn’t like questions, that is probably because they don’t know their subject or they think the student just can’t learn.
There are very few if any foolish questions, there are foolish answers and the most foolish of all is the one that isn’t answered.
If the teacher did a perfect job there would be no need for questions as every student would have understood everything.
