To Teach is To Learn — Insights into a Relationship that Gifts

To teach is to learn

I started to grasp the concept of that phrase while studying with my friends for the GCE 'O' Levels in secondary school. I was good in some subjects, they were good in others. And we helped each other out by teaching one another what we knew. While it was unsurprising that we got better results in our weaker subjects, it was surprisingly for me that even my strong subjects improved! It seems that there is further growth that one experiences when taking on the role of a teacher compared to just being a student.

Years later during my time at Nanyang Polytechnic - an education track that favours practical applications over paper tests, I experienced a different facet of this concept. During my three years in my Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management, we had to complete a dozen projects every semester. Grades were bell-curved, which meant each team was judged by who was best of the cohort and not what was simply right.

But what is the best? That premise forces project team members to reconcile their different mindsets and perceptions with one another. Tensions may boil over during such dialogues and the process is memorably frustrating because one realises that there is no one right answer. So what do you do then?

I took the initiative to explain my position to my teammates. But with the appreciation that there is more than one right answer, I become open to new critical thoughts on what I had originally perceived to be both correct and the best. This can be done internally as I form my argument, or it could also be externally by way of feedback from my team. The latter took a much longer time to learn due to my inherent stubbornness. But it came eventually.

It seems that in a position to consolidate and dispense knowledge, one can become more receptive to new knowledge. This hypothesis made me yearn for more opportunities to teach, and thus to learn.

Most recently, I have ventured into conducting workshops on Documentary Storytelling. It is always a joy to share what I had learnt to empower those who may seek to tell their own stories or that of others. I always start off my sessions with how I came to be in this position - an often misunderstood boy that was captivated by how documentaries convey information and compelled attention. It was a super power that I wished I had and am now developing.

But I am aware of how little one can technically learn in a workshop. So much information, so little time. It was one of the displeasures of workshops that I acutely remembered when I was a teenager. "Why include something in the class if you can't properly integrate it due to the lack of time?" I often wondered. Yet, put too little into the class and people may feel that they did not get their money's worth.

I circumvent this dilemma in two ways:

1. I treat each workshop as an opportunity to spark a continued curiosity to learn.

I was inspired by an episode of Even Stevens when the main character (Louis Anthony Stevens) played by Shia LaBeouf wanted to learn how to play the drums. That led to him taking up classes. But the instructor never taught him the technicals. He taught Louis how to have fun. Through the episode, Louis experienced how fulfilling this activity could be yet was taught none of the skills to get him there. The instructor even organised a mock solo concert for his student with his parents being the only audience members. Naturally the show sucked - and the parents were initially not too pleased. But Louis Stevens was hooked by the experience. When the instructor asked whether he was ready to do the hard work to get to experience the sense of fulfilment again, he enthusiastically said yes.

I model my workshops on this episode. Each one is an opportunity to hook my students with what Documentary Storytelling could be for them so that they will develop an inherent motivation to learn. There are few things more compelling than that.

2. Expose them to the knowledge available all around them

With that inherent motivation bubbling in them, I point them to the knowledge sources that they seek. I benefited from them personally, and there is value in seeking for what you want rather than being taught what you think you need. And one of the greatest advantages of this generation is the low barrier of access to new information - learning to navigate in this ocean of knowledge is an invaluable life skill.

As I craft and refine my slides and stories for each subsequent session, I too am examining what I know and challenging myself with what I thought I did. Couple that with the questioning from curious minds, and I have put myself in one of the best positions to learn.

What a gift this relationship is.