Teaching

When I think about teaching, I immediately think of a teacher and a whiteboard or chalkboard even. I picture that teacher explaining some foreign concept to hungry pupils. 

As a parent though, teaching looks much much different. And I think the vast majority of teaching looks different. We want to teach through wise words and examples. And I cannot overemphasize how importantt our words are. Words can kill or bring to life, they’re so important. 

But I think we end up teaching (or learning) through observing actions rather moreso than listening to spoken words. 

I think we remember more of what someone did, than what someone said. 

We disregard what someone says when their actions don’t match their words. Which means we place more emphasis on actions. 

So parents and leaders are teaching more simply by how they act out in the world, then by what they say. We need to make sure our actions match our words. And we need to make sure that we confess it when they don’t, and show those in our sphere of influence that we’ve messed up. People can respect  genuine mistakes much more than they can value  hypocrisy. And people are good at spotting hypocrisy. Most people can instinctively tell when behaviour doesn’t match up to what they’re being told. 

Teaching is a fine art, but it’s also quite simple. Demonstrate what is right. That’s the most impactful teaching method.