Next Thursday, I will be co-presenting a session at the Liberal Arts Network for Development Conference in which I will argue that the focus of the classroom ought not be on the teacher’s knowledge; that education is not about what the teacher knows. The proper focus of education is on providing an environment in which students are given the flexibility to develop their own knowledge; knowledge that will allow them to be successful in their future academic and professional pursuits.

One of my co-presenters plans to share his apprehension when he first encountered my teaching approach; an apprehension that I am sure is shared by many of my colleagues when they learn about how little I actually “teach” in the traditional sense of the word. He will discuss the messy process of doing research in my class, the false starts, and the quiet suggestions I made that gave him guidance but no real answers.

Then he will contrast his experience with that of a friend who enrolled in the same class, but in a section that was taught in more tradition fashion. He will explain that his friend learned how to write a single type of paper organized by her professor by putting certain things decided by her professor in a specific order defined by her professor based on parameters provided by her professor.

His friend now knows how to write a single type of paper that allowed her to pass a specific composition course taught by her professor but which might not be applicable to any other situation in which she will be expected to write up the results of her research. He, however, has learned how to conduct research and then to present that research in an appropriate fashion given the circumstances of the situation in which he finds himself. His learning did not just prepare him to pass his composition course.

Because my co-presenter was given control of his research, he was both challenged and learned that learning makes a difference in his life. Because I relinquished control of his learning, he was not limited by my expectations. Instead, he exceeded the expectations he had of himself as well as the expectations that too many people have of community college students.

As a result of his learning, after our joint session, Chad Schaffer will give his own presentation on “Military Field Engineering in the Ancient World;” a presentation being given because he is a finalist in the LAND Student Scholars competition. I know that I do not have the ability to “teach” a student to write a paper worthy of such an honor. I only have the ability to turn my classroom over to my students so that they have the ability to soar higher than they think is possible.

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Note:

The basis of this essay was originally drafted as part of “Turning Teaching Over to Students,” a response to Cathy N. Davidson’s “Students Get Away With…What Exactly?” While neither a summary nor a paraphrase of her blog, some of the phraseology in the fifth paragraph incorporates structure/words originally developed by Dr. Davidson.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD