I once heard a story about an engineering class in a fine, private university. The course was taught by a foreign national. His idea of a lesson was to mumble (in a heavy accent) while writing equations on the board with his right hand and erasing his previous entries with his left. Meanwhile, the students, among the best and the brightest, feverishly took notes. After class they all headed for the library, took out books on the overall subject of the lecture, and searched to find an equation in the books that matched an equation in their notes. From this starting point they taught themselves the material covered in the lecture. Why did they attend class? It was required? So they would know what would probably be on the final exam? Force of habit? It is no surprise that the attrition rate was around 50 percent.
A class is a captive audience. By the time you reach higher education, the responsibility for learning the material presented in the classroom rests primarily on the shoulders of the individual student. Supposedly, all the previous years of schooling is preparation -- a student should be able to read difficult material and be an autodidact. Yet a recent study finds that almost half of the college students in the study showed no significant improvement in the key measures of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years. It's clear that "covering" the material in class is not imparting it in any meaningful way to students.
How many teachers think that teaching is "covering the material?" How many writers figure that if they write content about the real world -- getting the facts down -- then readers will learn it? Don't they get that if they want others to get what they say, they have to do more than just say it willy-nilly?
There is one person who comes to mind who people listen to -- namely, Oprah. (Note: I don't need to use her last name.) Interestingly, in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Oprah defined herself as a teacher. Her mission is to help people be their best selves so that they find happiness and fulfillment. Her self-declared brand is "love." And if you doubt her power to influence, know that her book choices, no matter how challenging, are enough to make them bestsellers.
What does Oprah do that makes her both powerful and empowering?
What if more teachers tried to emulate Oprah, (while remaining true to themselves)? Would that improve the quality of education? Are these traits useful for assessing classroom teachers? Is there any way to measure these traits and their effectiveness? Just musing...
A class is a captive audience. By the time you reach higher education, the responsibility for learning the material presented in the classroom rests primarily on the shoulders of the individual student. Supposedly, all the previous years of schooling is preparation -- a student should be able to read difficult material and be an autodidact. Yet a recent study finds that almost half of the college students in the study showed no significant improvement in the key measures of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years. It's clear that "covering" the material in class is not imparting it in any meaningful way to students.
How many teachers think that teaching is "covering the material?" How many writers figure that if they write content about the real world -- getting the facts down -- then readers will learn it? Don't they get that if they want others to get what they say, they have to do more than just say it willy-nilly?
There is one person who comes to mind who people listen to -- namely, Oprah. (Note: I don't need to use her last name.) Interestingly, in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Oprah defined herself as a teacher. Her mission is to help people be their best selves so that they find happiness and fulfillment. Her self-declared brand is "love." And if you doubt her power to influence, know that her book choices, no matter how challenging, are enough to make them bestsellers.
What does Oprah do that makes her both powerful and empowering?
- She is authentic. She fearlessly reveals her own humanity -- her struggles with weight, her mistakes in judgment, how she overcame the scars of sexual abuse. Her success is the possibility that others can also succeed. You can trust her.
- She knows how to listen to and really hear others. She is present in the moment. Not only does this honor and validate the speaker, but it keeps her in tune with her audience; she listens attentively to them as well. She quickly and generously acknowledges the work and contributions of others.
- She is not concerned about being an authority. She knows how to ask questions. But when she does speak on a subject, you know that she owns it. People listen to her because they hear something for themselves in what she speaks about.
In addition, Oprah is all about empowering her audience to go to authorities when they need to. (Subtext: Don't be afraid to ask for help.) As a result she has produced a constellation of real authorities who can impart skills such as Dr. Phil, for human relationships, Suze Orman for dealing with money, and Dr. Oz for overall health.
- She doesn't sugarcoat. Some stuff is hard. It requires discipline, hard work, diligence and support from others. Oprah never says "this is easy" unless it really is. She knows that self-esteem comes from the self-knowledge that you've done something difficult. Over-praising that is not truly deserved creates its own set of problems, although it is important, especially for children, that their efforts be acknowledged. Overcoming challenges builds persistence.
- She does her homework. True, she has a staff to help her. But her collaboration with others is yet another mode of constructive social interaction.
What if more teachers tried to emulate Oprah, (while remaining true to themselves)? Would that improve the quality of education? Are these traits useful for assessing classroom teachers? Is there any way to measure these traits and their effectiveness? Just musing...
"[Oprah's] mission is to help people be their best selves so that they find happiness and fulfillment. Her self-declared brand is "love."
I disagree. Oprah's mission is to achieve ever higher ratings as measured by Neilson. In an effort to achieve this goal she has sold her audience on materialism (e.g.: giving her audience members lavish gifts and trips). Rather than "teaching" her audience an ethics of immateriality, she conveys a message of mass consumption, i.e., purchase as many products and services as you can. This is NOT the kind of ethics I want my 9-year old learning from ANY teacher.
Great article. I think millions of people around the world would agree that Oprah is the perfect example of what a great 21st century teacher should be. She inspires people to work together to solve problems for the good of the common man. Everyday she teaches millions about hard work, failure, success, discipline, love and giving. Her efforts to encourage others to give to those less fortunate no matter where you may land on the socio-economic scale have inspired many ordinary citizens to engage in their own brand of, "I want to help my community philanthrophy." If, as Oprah has done, a fraction of our teachers pledge to teach our future leaders the values, principles and skills they need to help their neighbors and communities the world will undoubtedly be a better place.
Ray Thomas
Executive Director
Xposure Foundation Inc.
The first comment by the anonymous contributor is a perfect example of the point of my blog. The point of my blog is that people often miss the point as she obviously did. This post was not about Oprah's values.