The Basics of Teaching

From over 13 years of experience in teaching, I still come to work with a beginner mindset. What do students need? How can I come to their level and tell them stories that would resonate with them and their personal experiences?

As teachers, lecturers, instructors or tutors, sometimes we may think: I have been teaching for long time now. I know the information and the relevant practices. But in reality, we don’t know. Things in the market keep changing so fast. Students look up to us for practical implications and soft skills practice. Their questions are mostly these: What’s in this this for me? How can this benefit me in my future? How will I use this to strengthen my skills?

Also the job market now looks scarier than ever. Students often predict what would happen to them after they graduate? How will they survive and move on in this unstable and tough market?

All those provoke questions for me as a lecturer in the beginning of every semester. What students actually need besides text books, theories and exams? How can I contribute and make a difference in their academic and professional life?

Its not just teaching and explaining theories and definitions in class. Actually its more than that. Whatever we do there, the students would carry it for many years into their future lives.

So the basics in teaching is to go deep inside your heart and soul and find out your purpose and intention behind teaching. Once you sort that out, then later you would start preparing your lessons, planning the activities and designing your assessment coursework accordingly.

At the end, from my personal experience, the teaching role go hand in hand with coaching, mentoring and influencing. But with regards to you, once you start discovering your role as a teacher, don’t ignore the whispers. You do have a purpose. You can make a difference in students’ lives. Wherever you are, its you who takes the decision and makes the change happen.