The art of teaching
My parents are teachers. But their passion and gift sort of didn’t rub on to me. I absolutely have a phobia of stepping into a class of Form 5 students and giving a lesson of trigonometry. Can die wan!
I will have to give a short presentation on the analytic continuation of the Reimann Zeta function sometime next week or this thursday. The thing is, will my presentation be well recieved? Will my fellow coursemates be able to take away something from it?
I guess, for any teacher (or lecturer) the art and trick is to give the essentials without sacrificing the depth. Some teachers manage to do that. I still can remember how Miss Moey thaught us Bible Knowledge in form 5 and 4. Inspirational!
I really wonder how is it that a particular human being is able to connect so well with another and yet some are not able to. Charisma indeed is one of the intangibles of human existence. How is it that business consultants and trainers are able to whip up a storm during seminars? How is it that (some) pastors are able to preach effectively? All these are a mystery.
The wonder of a teacher is how he/she is able to be transparent; letting the student probe his/her mind without being confused.
As it is, the essentials without sacrificing the depth. The great and noble profession, teaching. No wonder experienced teachers know that they must love thier students. It is the nessecary condition to be able to even establish the basic rapport that allows learning to take place.
