Raising Learners, Part 2: Reflection

The second principle on the subject of learning concerns Reflection or self-awareness. Here’s a suggested way to present this to younger learners.

Ask your teacher after the lesson when you still don’t understand something new.

This follows the language of the first principle (Responsibility), which for younger learners says, “Your job is to learn new things.” It regards the teacher as a source of information and wisdom, because that’s what it means to be the teacher. Modern education theory (perhaps being challenged in very recent years) has a different understanding of what it means to be a teacher. One motto is “A guide on the side” rather than “A sage on the stage.” While some subjects may lend themselves to such a “discovery” type of learning, the teacher is always the teacher. This fact does not discourage learning, but provides an opportunity for a student to take some responsibility and seek knowledge where it may be found.

For older students, we suggest presenting this principle in a more articulate way. The principle is restated parenthetically with clear steps.

Find the limits of your understanding and communicate them to your teacher.
(Respect your teacher, confirm what is taught, and ask questions when this is not possible.)

Here it’s more obvious that we are teaching students to take responsibility for their own learning. But instead of seeing ignorance as a fault or weakness, we encourage students to see it as an opportunity. As teaching coach Dennis McLoughlin puts it, “We love mistakes, because that’s where the new learning goes.” Our teachers expect to find limits in the students’ knowledge, and this bears no negative associations for the student. Instead, it’s a form of success for both the teacher and the learner. A learner who discovers what he doesn’t know is having success, if he follows the principle of Reflection.

The phrase “confirm what is taught” requires the attention and mental focus of the student. Students are expected to think as part of their calling. The principle of Reflection requires mental effort from every student, which in turn sometimes leads the student to initiate an interaction with the teacher.