Teaching is not about the teacher

When I watch a Veritasium video, or a Feynman lecture, a voice in my head says “how inspiring but also irritating that I haven’t done that. How can I be like them?” For those with narcassistic tendencies, this is an easy misconception to fall into. When we try to imitate a style, every little mistake feels like failure. It has to be perfect. And that’s a hard bargain to keep up.

Like with any artists, we should take inspiration. But each of us needs to find our own way. So instead of being perfect, we should be authentic. And we need to remember that teaching not about the teacher; it is about the student. So now the goal is to use our unique strengths, skills, and personalities to effectively communicate with the student. What they should take away? Why? What do they care about? Where are they at in their academic journey? In answering these questions, it becomes very clear what is working well or not working well, and we can learn to be great teachers.

Summary

In the anime One Piece, Luffy says he wants to find the One Piece and become King of the Pirates, and while that’s true, he doesn’t try to imitate other great pirates. Luffy is always himself and cares most about having fun, building relationships, and bringing justice with what power he does have. Along the way, he make mistakes and sees what he lacks. And he grows to build even stronger relationships and amass a powerful crew. Luffy creates his own unique path to get to the treasure, which is the real treasure all along.

Acknowledgements: I’d like to thank Rob, Karel, and Erica as well as everyone in the cohort from the engineering leadership certification program for shaping the way I think about growth. Thanks to all my past students for putting up with my in good and bad times. And the biggest thanks to my friend Jeffrey Pierce for pushing me out of this mental barrier.