Lessons from Master Teachers

At the KCPDC Master Teacher Retreat this year, 20 of the best teachers from colleges in the KC metropolitan area generated a list of axioms or teaching truths: philosophy they teach by, such as:

• Teachers should violate expectations of the students (regarding bad, or no longer appropriate, andragogy).
• Teaching isn’t talking, and learning isn’t listening. Good teachers don’t tell their students what to do, but engage in a conversation about learning.
• Bad teaching is answering questions that haven’t been answered
• Teachers have to be authentic or transparent in their motives and goals. This means having discussions about pedagogy/ andragogy.

We further discussed the importance of talking to students about striking the right balance between: home, work, school and health.