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Do You Teach Subjects Or Students?

There is a significant difference in the pedagogy, environment and attitude of teachers who see themselves as teaching students versus a teacher who sees themselves as teaching “english”.

Teachers of students
start with the students and consider what they already know and need.
Teachers of subjects….
start with the content to be taught or covered.

Teachers of students
focus on relationships and connection.
Teachers of subjects….
focus on pace and coverage.

Teachers of students
reflect on the quality of learning.
Teachers of subjects….
reflect on the quality of teaching.

I love this quote from George Couros in “The Innovator’s Mindset”.
“When I first started teaching, I remember thinking that students should learn the way I taught.: they should adjust to me. I could not have been more wrong. A great teacher adjusts to the learner., not the other way around. …. As leaders we need to develop a culture that focuses on doing whatever it takes to ensure that we are successful in serving all of our students.”

Teachers should regularly seek feedback from their students. If the learning environment that we are creating for our students is not working for them then we should take that on-board as formative feedback and look at adjusting our practices. “Is there a better way?”

A challenging question we should often ask is, “Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom?”

We are getting some terrific traction with schools utilising the SurveyMyClass instrument to ensure their teachers are receiving formative feedback from students on a regular basis.

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