To get to excellence in teaching, we have to consider learning - and what is real learning. Bloom's Taxonomy came to mind as I read in the introduction section about the higher levels of learning which occurred for students of the "excellent teachers". The study that was conducted, "looked for signs students developed multiple perspectives and the ability to think about their own thinking" (p. 10). In other words, the best teachers were
developing the minds, not filling them.
The concept is seeking to develop "sustained influence" (p. 11) by guiding the students to their own thought processes. It comes back to the proverb:
Although we recognize the universality of a proverb, how would we translate that in our mind to education and thought?
Give someone a thought and they think it that day;
Teach someone to think and they will come up with new thoughts for a lifetime.
What ideas do you have for how to re-write that proverb for teaching/learning/thinking?
I look forward to your comments/suggestions.
