I like
teaching. One had occasionally taught bachelor and master students before, but
they were mostly one-day or short-course assignments so far. For the first
time, this year, I was responsible for teaching a two-month course to a
batch of master students. And the experience has been most surreal.
I use a
mixture of the Problem Based Learning and the Socratic methods while teaching.
In PBL, students are faced with hypotheticals, and they are expected to
learn kinaesthetically as they apply their minds to debate how to resolve
problems amongst themselves. Theoretically, students first meet without
preparation, and with the help of the tutor identify learning objectives for
each hypothetical. They then go home to read the necessary literature (there
may also occasionally be lectures), keeping in mind the learning objectives
identified in the blind meeting. During a second meeting, having studied the
required literature, they debate the various issues and approaches with a view to
thoroughly understand the subject matter. Alas, one hardly has the time to
strictly follow the process of PBL, and one skips the first, blind, meeting
at law school. This often leaves students unable to identify issues, which,
unless highlighted by the teacher, may remain unaddressed, or worse
unidentified.
One
approach to overcome this shortcoming is to “tell” the students about the
issues, and how they may be addressed. But give a hungry man a fish and you
feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
"Telling," I feel would terribly compromise kinaesthetic learning. I therefore find the Socratic method to be the most
suitable remedy. A teacher following the Socratic method primarily asks
questions, followed by more questions, turning the tumblers of the students’
minds, allowing students to see for themselves the minefield of issues and
potential ways out. It is most wonderful to see epiphanies unfold before the students’ eyes, as their struggles to break
through the confusions of one’s questions eventually succeed. The questions are
cumbersome, and it consumes a considerable amount of time for an epiphany to
occur. But one only wants more of the pleasure that epiphanies are. It was most
satisfying to see that students see merit in the approach and not give up –
even if once a two-hour tutorial extended to four-and-a-half hours. On that
day, the tutorial room was booked only for two hours and we had to vacate it for
another class. But that did not stop the students, who squeezed themselves in
my office - some sat on chairs, some leaned against tables, while others sat on the
floor, as we continued to passionately discuss the hypothetical, caring not for
how long it took to get it right.
But
epiphanies are like butterflies – they are difficult to catch, and easily fly away. The aficionados in class made it a point to make use of the office
hours to clarify recurring questions – something that reinforced my belief that
it wasn’t only I who enjoyed the subject.
It has
been an intellectually and emotionally intense eight weeks of learning for us,
and tomorrow is the last day of the course. I will dearly miss the class.
Teaching is about clearly articulating one’s ideas, and communicating them in a
manner that the students are able to articulate them clearly for themselves. I
doubt if there is anything else that can give one the sense of
self-actualization than teaching does – the truth is that no one learns more
than the teacher.
I
suppose it will be tough not meeting class after tomorrow. But at the same
time, I am looking forward to be able to get back to my doctoral research,
which hopefully will lead to more articulated thoughts to communicate to another
class of inspired minds next year.
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