It's a wonder I can think at all

With all the (deserved) fuss over teaching, education, life-prep and what goes on in a student’s brain, we have largely neglected the other side of the equation. What goes on in a teacher’s brain is an integral part of the process. It takes both a teacher and a learner, and Vanessa Rodriguez has focused on this under-studied aspect.

There is a lot of groundwork to cover before she gets to her point. Rodriguez justifiably dismisses the empty-vessel model in which teachers are there to pump data into empty heads. “The basic input-output model of teaching-learning brings us up to the development level of a dog, chimp or bird.” Various other theories don’t cover the entire process either. She posits that teaching is innate. We see it in children who have no training. But she also says it takes a lifetime to master. And of course, we don’t collect and spread the best; we simply let them go and replace them with others who need a lifetime to master the skillset. So is it any wonder that progress remains largely a concept?

Rodriguez doesn’t penetrate the actual neurology of the teaching brain much. She says it is too early in our learning curve for that. But in her view, the teaching brain is buffeted by dozens of factors from the upbringing of the teachers, to the prejudices they bring to the classroom, to the cues they give and receive in interactions. Once aware that these are even factors, it can help improve both the teachers’, and the students’ performances.

The kind of teachers Rodriquez refers to (and that she is) are entirely alien to me. These are thoughtful, caring, perceptive and nurturing people. They are endlessly creative in their approach. It is worth following Rodriguez’s line if only because she looks at her calling so much more profoundly (than any teacher I ever had). She is one to watch.

David Wineberg