Why do you want to teach?

Posted on January 24, 2014 Updated on April 15, 2020

In the past I wrote about about how I like to read, experiment, and learn as much as possible about as many thing as possible. My goal isn’t to be the Jack of all trades and Master of none. Rather, I view knowledge and experience as pieces that can be used to build a mosaic of something interesting and/or worthwhile.

Years ago when I first started programming my manager had me work with the top performers in the group. Being inquisitive and always wanting to improve led me to ask a lot of questions in order to understand why things were done the way they were. One Analyst I worked with was extremely sensitive, and after fielding a few questions he told me, “Programming is like art. Two people will interpret things in two different ways, but in the end you will have two pictures that are similar and both do the job. So, quit messing with my picture.”

At first I was somewhat offended, but then I realized that much of what he stated was true. That led me to incorporate better methods and approaches into what I did, making them my own, as a way to continually improve. From that perspective learning really is somewhat of an artform.

What makes teaching worthwhile to me is helping people improve in ways that are their own, rather than teaching them how to do things in one specific “right” way. One analogy is that you are teaching people to navigate, rather that providing them with the route. Also, in order to be a good teacher you need to have a solid grasp on the topic, be willing and able to relate to students, and want to help them learn. It’s rewarding on a couple of different levels.

Your ability to teach well starts with your understanding of the topic, but that is just the foundation. Being able to apply a seemingly abstract concept to a concrete problem is a very helpful skill. In medicine they have the concept of, “See one, Do one, Teach one.” It is a great way to codify the knowledge and start developing the desired skills.

Being open to other approaches that might seem strange at first but then you see the brilliance in the solution is also helpful. Often a student would mention how they handled a problem and it sounded bizarre at first, but digging deeper into their approach resulted in understanding something that was actually pretty amazing.

Amazing teachers are out there, and I’ve met several of them. Those people are worth their weight in gold – especially when they are teaching children. They have their own kind of “magic” that can inspire people and provide the confidence and desire to do more than they ever dreamed was possible.

Teaching is about helping others, and not trying to be the smartest person in the room. And remember, not everyone wants to learn and/or improve so don’t take that personally. Just do your best to help the people who want to grow and improve. Mentoring is another good way to do this. You will be surprised at the positive impact one person can have by doing this.