Stephen Brookfield discusses his four core assumptions about teaching and the skills and attitudes necessary to make it effective in Chapter 2 of his book “The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom” (2015). His thoughts carry the weight of years of experience with teaching and practicing these skills.
His first assumption places the focus squarely on the student and addresses the reality that any group of learners will include individuals with a diversity of experiences and preferences. He prioritizes their learning, above conventions or what feels comfortable or familiar for the teacher. His fourth assumption asserts that students should be treated with respect, again acknowledging that the expectations about how that is expressed can be very diverse. The second and third assumptions point more directly to the attitude of the teacher and the skills involved in reflecting on what they are doing as a teacher and assessing how it is aligning with the particular students in the current class. All these assumptions affirm that the key to effective teaching is being aware and understanding your students in order to adapt your teaching.
I recognize in myself the tendency to “approach teaching a new class with a collection of biases, intuitions, hunches, and habits” (p. 16) that direct my planning. This is based on experience with previous classes and also reflects my own preferred learning style. I tend to prepare a class I would like to be a student in. Brookfield acknowledges that this may come from our best intensions, and may be effective, but also says it may ‘get in the way’ (p. 16) and be unhelpful to students.
A couple of words from other discussions I have participated in lately came to mind as I was thinking about Brookfield’s assumptions: humility and service. The teacher role inherently carries power. Without an outlook of service and an approach of humility, that power can be oppressive rather than inspiring. Therefore holding our own plans ‘lightly’ and our intentions to do what is most helpful for our students ‘heavily’ is imperative in walking out the teacher role responsibly. However, teaching is also a leadership role. In conversation about her studies, a friend of mine reflected on the qualities of leaders that engender confidence and stability in a group. She noted careful, calm listening and thoughtful responding rather than impulsive reacting as a key quality. I think this applies to Brookfield’s suggestion to assess students’ experience of the learning situation and reflect on our own experiences as guides for our teaching practice.
The key message I take from this chapter is that I must get past the assumption that what works to promote learning for me and has worked for my students in the past will work for all students, and be adaptable to new students’ needs. Two key skills in this process are openly and critically reflecting on what I am doing as a teacher, and assessing how students are experiencing the learning activities I design. This takes deliberate effort, which leads us into the third chapter where Brookfield provides tools for collecting the inside scoop on how the students are doing.
Brookfield, S. (2015) The skillful teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom (3rd ed.) Jossey-Bass