Teach Autodidacticism

by Shelly Blake-Plock

"Sage on the Stage", "Guide on the Side", "Meddler in the Middle".

When it comes to teaching, they each have their time and place. There are times you will be the sage because you have to be. There will times you will be the guide because they need you to be. There will be times you will be the meddler because that's just a part of being a good teacher.

But these tags aren't enough.

At least in my experience, the majority of real learning doesn't happen just because a teacher is a sage, a guide, or a meddler. Rather, real learning only happens when the teacher and the learner are one and the same.

Real learning is only self-assessable. Real learning happens because it has to. Real learning has real consequences that have nothing to do with grades. Real learning happens when the teacher leaves the room and the school closes its doors for the day. Real learning happens when students learn to teach themselves.

And it happens all the time. And it's not graded by teachers. It's graded by life.

Teach your students to teach themselves. Teach autodidacticism. There is no better lesson.