Teacher's Role (Hanselminutes 488)


From episode 488 of the Hanselminute podcast with guest Omoju Miller. She talks about the role of a teacher in the context of Computer Science education. Starting around 11:10

I have this fundamental idea that you can't teach anybody anything, what you can do is guidance and facilitation. They have to decide they want to learn it. Once you turn on the light, they will go in and get the knowledge for themselves and you will be the human that can help them figure out the bottlenecks faster. The world is so different now, everything you need to know is available to you somewhere online. So, the idea that I'm, the teacher, the expert is no longer the case. I have a certain skill that I can support you in your learning but I'm by no means the expert. You might end up being the expert for that area. I just need to unravel the blocks that are holding you back and get you on your way.

Scott’s response is exactly like mine: Wow, that really just blew my mind. The ‘factory line’ way of teaching is a thing of the past given the student’s access to knowledage in ways that far superior to the abilities of the teacher in front of them. No longer is it sensible for teachers to act like they’re the source of knowledage, they have to move to the role of enabler and facilitator.