I find that as my students get older rather than giving them new content through a lecture or other straight-forward direct communication, I am asking them a lot of questions.
Today we explored together the ancient Egyptian pyramids. We were looking at the nuts and bolts (so to speak) of the building of the pyramids. As we explored the topic I continually asked them what they would do if they were Egyptians. How would you make sure you were building a level wall? How would you find which direction was north if you didn’t know about a compass? How would you lower a heavy sarcophagus into a room 15 feet below the surface of the earth? After they pondered each question for a time and we shared answers together I told them how the Egyptians did it. Together we marveled at how brilliant the Egyptians were.
More and more I’m thinking of my job as teacher as one of simply creating the right conditions for learning. I amend the soil, plant the seed, water when necessary and tend the plant, but the students themselves must do the growing. The things we learn about flourish and take root only when the students themselves take up the work.
It is so inspiring to watch them give truth to the statement, “All education is self-education.”
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