TEACHERS: LEARNING HOW TO LEARN

I am confused and even a little angry that people, even teachers, are crying about what a bad job we are doing in teaching children to “learn”.  I have to admit statements I find on the internet such as, “Mostly, you’re born being a ‘learner’ rather than a ‘memorizer’ confuses me. What does the author of that statement know about brain chemistry that no one else knows? What is the difference between memorizing and learning? Isn’t using what you have memorized demonstrating knowledge? In addition, complaints about testing seem unrelenting, or at least it seems that way. Educators seem aggravated that parents expect them to evaluate students. Some seem to think they are teachers and therefore above meeting head masters and parents demand that they evaluate students; hence, they are the one being evaluated.

There is something innate called intelligence imperfectly measurable by something we call an intelligence test. Can we at least acknowledge that intelligence is a biological variable just like height. Some people are smarter than other people are. If we are not so good looking, we have cosmetics and even cosmetic surgery but there is a limit. If we have bad behavior, we have medicine we can take to correct such behavior but there is a limit. If we are not so bright, we can alter that as well, but there is a limit. I would guess this is what people are taking about when they talk about “learning how to learn”. However, there is no pill I know that will cure a low IQ. We are what we are. Some people are lazy while others are hard working at whatever they do. Hard work can make up for a low IQ but cannot turn a bumbling idiot into a genius even if a parent thinks a “good” teacher can do that.

I believe people have innate talents, which they closely ally with there their desire to learn. I did not choose my English teacher to dislike to the point of ignoring her and my biology teacher to pay rapt attention to his every word.  My father urged me to become an engineer. I tried military electronics for four years. My principle electronic teacher excelled in the subject and went on to a brilliant engineer in the aviation industry. His enthusiasm for the subject was not lacking but I never caught his excitement.  

Still, I was successful in electronics, but not enthusiastically engaged. I re-discovered my childhood fascination with botany and zoology in college. My father asked how one earns a living as a biologist; the answer was by teaching. My mother asked the question about what do you do if you do not like teaching. After counseling, the experts advised to go to medical school.  I did not think I was strong enough to carry the burden of a physician’s arrogance so chose veterinary medicine. In the second year of veterinary college, physiological chemistry and pathology fascinated me, which I eventually combined in a PhD degree and ended up being a collage professor; meaning I ended up being a diagnostic pathologist and a teacher of the chemistry of animal disease. My career is over now but I had a beautiful career, which means I followed the right leads for me but have no idea why.

I can honestly say I still do not know what people mean when they say we have to “learn how to learn”. Was I a born memorizer, born learner or what? Did someone teach me how to learn? If so, I missed it. What I did seemed to be innate. Therefore, it is my opinion that a teacher’s job is to refine what is in student’s genes without either the teacher or the student knowing it. I am reminded of a common trend I found in artists I met in such diverse cultures as Belize, Indonesia, and Zimbabwe; they took a miss-sharpened piece of wood or stone and using the natural contours, carved and polished it into something beautiful: a strange animal, an interesting face, or a beautiful flower. Perhaps, it is sophisticated American teachers and not the students who have to “learn how to learn”, not the student. 

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