Teaching does not neatly fall within the realm of science, even though so many people wish it to. Teaching comes from knowing your content, students, and the environment in which you are expected to teach. The teacher like a painter assembles the colors and decides how to layer them on the canvas. If the teacher does a good job, then the result will be pleasing to the eye. If the teacher does a poor job, then people will look at the teacher and say, “good try… better luck next time.”

Teaching is an art that few people attempt to perfect. Many teachers are content with the same product they put together year after year. I liken them to poor charades or taboo players. When they draw a slip of paper with a word on it, they have a vague concept of the word they are trying to get their team to understand, give lackluster performances that confuses and even disinterests their teammates, preferring to run out the clock and take the Loss instead of reflecting upon their mistakes and their audience’s background knowledge to improve their delivery. Contrast this with the talented players. The people that look at their word/concept and know exactly what it is and how to communicate its definition. They assess what they know about their teammates and use those details to influence their delivery, pushing themselves to get their teammates to not only guess the correct word but to do so as quickly possible. This is the art of teaching.

Now are all bad players destined to be bad forever? No. Reflection and innovation will create progress, I firmly believe this. However, stagnation and blaming others will usually impede progress. Think about the poor teachers in schools. Most of them never reflect on whether what they are doing is best for their students or the environment in which they teach. Many blame the students for not being capable of understanding the teacher when they give instructions or not possessing the requisite knowledge and skills to understand the lesson. Most “try to teach” until the clock runs out, and play the same game the next day.

This is weak thinking. Instead of thinking that your team sucks, think how you can use what they have. Instead of thinking, this content doesn’t make sense to them, think “how does this content make sense to me and how can I explain it to my students. Think How can I use what they know to help them make a connection and learn what I need them to learn. Thinking in this manner is where the art of teaching happens.

Science will never be able to tell you exactly what to teach and how to teach. That’s impossible. It would be as if there was one food or one medicine that everyone should eat and take to be healthy and strong. People are complex and need different sources of nourishment and types of medicine. Teaching requires teachers to think about their content and their delivery depending on the wildly complex individuals that have been assigned to them for the year. A good artist adapts to the materials they are given. A poor artist does the same thing expecting the best results. The very definition of insanity. As teachers we owe it to ourselves and our students to constantly reflect and innovate so our Art progresses and flourishes. Science alone will never get this done. Teaching is an Art that begins with the teacher and ends with their student’s understandings.