TWO PATHS TO TEACHING GREATNESS – FROM GOOD TO GREAT, PART II

 

In my previous blog posting, I wrote about the challenge of evolving from being a good teacher to being a great teacher.  I talked about the criticism that often surrounds college education.  In general, the argument is, “It is not good enough and it costs too much.”  I believe if more teachers moved from being good to being great, that criticism would largely die out.  Our world needs more great teachers and our colleges and universities should make that a number one priority if they want to survive.

On November 29, I suggested that college teachers should invent a teaching award that they would then strive to win in their classes.  My point was that working toward such an award (even if completely made up) would help focus each person’s teaching in a very personal way.  I still think that is a great idea.  (If you have read my blog over the last decade, you already know the two awards that I seek to win each and every semester.)

Over the past two weeks, I have thought a lot about moving from good teaching to great teaching.  Such deep thinking is helpful for teachers (especially me).  We need more in-depth consideration of what great teaching is and how to achieve it.  I believe every university should start that conversation on some serious level. 

I decided to follow up today with another blog essay on becoming a great teacher, but I wanted to approach the challenge from a different angle. 

There is a foundational imperative for great teaching that I believe many people do not understand and, therefore, fail to address.  For me, the essence of great teaching is being able to go down two parallel paths every semester at the same time.  The first is the conveyance of subject matter.  Whether the course is physics, accounting, Shakespeare, art history, political science, or whatever, every teacher has a plethora of information that must be communicated to students.  College courses are built on helping students learn sufficient basic information whether it is about Einstein, Botticelli, Prospero, or Machiavelli.  In my mind, you cannot discuss art history without knowing who Botticelli is.

The second path is more complicated and is often overlooked even by some very good teachers.  It is the development of each student’s critical thinking skills.  When people complain about college education, I rarely hear them complain about a lack of subject matter knowledge.  Instead, they complain that, “Students today cannot think.”

I recently discussed this concept with a friend and I slowly moved my two hands upward in parallel, “The right hand is the subject matter.  The left hand is the development of critical thinking.  For a class to be great, the two hands have to play off each other—pushing each student along to achieve learning that is comprehensive, thoughtful, and usable.”    

I suspect that many, if not most, college teachers do a pretty good job teaching subject matter.  I do not often find that to be a huge problem.  I am a much bigger cynic when it comes to developing a student’s critical thinking skills.  From my perspective, lectures and testing, the heart of many classes, often seem to never go beyond subject matter communication.  If that is the case, then it is no wonder that college education is criticized.  No matter how good subject matter conveyance can be, it will not create great teaching by itself.  That, to me, is a firm belief.

If I were a provost, I would issue a challenge to my school, “How do we go about being truly successful at both subject matter communication AND the development of critical thinking?   I am not speaking of senior honors courses.  I am talking about every single class that a student takes at our school from their first day to their last.” 

I have taught in college for 51 years and I believe that is the essential problem that we have to solve if our educational institutions are going to survive. 

The sad part is that I do not have an answer for you on how to do that.  I know how I try to develop critical thinking skills in my students, but every teacher has to attack this challenge in their own way. 

Here are some of the tactics that I use.

--I have not lectured in any form since 1991.  In my mind, a lecture is only leading your students down one of those two paths.  By 1991, I was sick and tired of being a “one-path” teacher.

--I give questions to my students 48 hours in advance of every class I teach.  Some of those questions are easy.  A simple reading of the book will suffice.  Many of the questions, though, ask the students to go a step (or two) further.  They require the students to think about a situation and come up with a reasonable idea or a unique response or a possible hypothesis.  I want to know what they think more than what the answers are.  My favorite quote is from James Thurber, “It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”  Nothing probably defines my class better.

--In class, we discuss each of those questions.  Obviously, the students struggle.  Thinking is really hard.  I cannot make that easy.  One of my favorite class responses is, “Figure it out.”  Even if they arrive at the wrong conclusion, I want them to arrive at a reasonable conclusion.  It is good practice for them.  Being wrong is no sin. 

--For my tests, I always allow the students to have a couple of sheets of notes.  Why?   Because those sheets, force me to write more thoughtful questions.  Any test question that tests memory is simply leading them down one of those paths but not the other.  Plus, with the Internet, memory is no longer as important as it once was.  I want to put them in a position that they have never considered so that I can see how they respond.  (If you have ever wanted to be a coach, that sentence should resonate with you.)

--I often set class questions and test questions in alternative universes just to force the students to think differently.  “Assume you are on the planet Krypotien and you have the following situation, what would you do next?”  “Assume Shakespeare was transported to the current year, what play would he begin to write first?”

I could come up with other tactics but you probably get the point and I don’t want you to become a clone of me.

**

Okay, here is my challenge for you today.  Make a list of the specific tactics that you use that are designed to help your students develop their critical thinking skills.  That is a simple, non-confusing requirement.  A tactic should involve subject matter conveyance but it must also force the students to do something that will have a positive effect on their critical thinking skills. 

When you finish your list, send me a copy at Jhoyle@richmond.edu and then send a copy to the students you will be teaching in the spring.  Students will always react better if they understand what the teacher is trying to accomplish by the work that is being required.

 

 

BE DARING

BE DARING

Over the years, I have met a lot of good students.   I have met far fewer great students.  

Over the years, I have met a lot of good teachers.   I have met far fewer great teachers.

Occasionally, students swing by my office to ask how they can become great college students.   They feel that they are good, probably even very good.   But, they know they are not great.   At least, they are not yet great.

Occasionally, emails arrive from teachers around the country who ask about becoming great teachers.   They feel that they are good, probably even very good.   But they know they are not great.   At least, they are not yet great.  

Of course, many people are interested in how to move from good to great.   Jim Collins has managed to earn a fortune by writing fascinating books about companies that make the transition.   I am more interested in people who succeed in the crucial move from good to great.  It does happen but, from my vantage point, not often enough.  I sometimes refer to this as “stuck on good.”  

When someone asks me about going from good to great, I often relate a story that I first heard years ago.   Despite being an oldie, it does an excellent job of drawing attention to an important truth.    (With the recent ups and downs in the stock market, the punch line of this story doesn’t exactly hold true today but you should still get the point.)  

Here is the story I like to convey.   A very rich person goes to the best grad schools around the world and hires ten of the most outstanding recent MBA grads.   He brings them into his organization and reads out specific instructions.   “I’m going to allow each of you to manage and invest $500,000 in cash.   At the end of one year, I will award the person who has made the most profit with a bonus of $250,000.”   The young MBAs grow excited because they all believe they are destined to win that big pile of money as their reward.

After 15 minutes of intense thinking, each of the ten new hires rushes out of the room to go buy shares of Apple.  

The rich person looks at an assistant and whispers “Once again, I just saved $250,000.”  

Over the years, under normal conditions, buying Apple has been a very good investment strategy.   However, if you truly want to stand out as great, you have to do something that is different from the crowd.   We are all just average until we do something that is unique.  You cannot be noticed by doing things exactly like everyone else—even if the strategy is a good one.  

People want to believe they can become great by doing what everyone else around them is doing.   I have met a lot of people with that belief.  That will not work.

Inevitably, you must be willing to take a risk and do something different.   To be great, you must try something that others have not dared to do.   And, that opens you up to risk.   If you shoot for greatness, you must be willing to accept the possibility of failure.  I am not talking about ridiculous risk.   I am talking about a considered, acceptable level of risk.   You will never be great at anything—you will never stand out from any crowd—if you avoid all risk by simply blending in.

Okay, when is the last time, in your teaching, that you tried something that was truly original?   Maybe a better question is:   What are you going to try this semester?   Always be on the watch for something different to do.  What can I change?   What needs to be improved?   What would a possible improvement look like?   What positive benefits might accrue?   What are the real risks?  

What can you do this semester in your classes that will make you stand out?   You want to walk the halls of your school and overhear colleagues whispering about you:   “Did you hear what that guy tried in his class?   I hear it was amazing!!   I plan to try it myself next semester.”  That is the ultimate compliment.

There is an interesting term that you might hear occasionally in business:   fast follower.   It refers to a person (or a company) who watches others for innovations.   If those innovations seem to work, they adopt them quickly.   The idea is to accrue some of the benefit without accepting the related risk.   In other words, such leaders are fearful of their own innovative thoughts and prefer to piggy back on someone else’s success.   That’s a good way to be good.   That is no way to become great.

As I have argued previously on this blog, I think our world needs more people who truly want to shoot for being great.  “Good enough is good enough” is a very depressing motto.

If you really want to be great, you have to look around and ask “What can I do that will make the learning process better for my students and that has never really been tried before as I envision it?”  Over the next couple of weeks, step away from the crowd and do something both unexpected and awesome.   Make your push to go from good to great.