Dooley Noted: 3/29/2014
I teach at several schools, and I teach for a seminar series. A huge chunk of my life is dedicated to education.
I receive daily emails, pages long, from students wanting to know all the answers.
I will most certainly guide them. But my return emails are short.
They want to know everything, and they want to know it right now.
I understand.
They expect me to have all the answers because I am an educator. But the best educators I’ve ever had as colleagues or mentors are the ones that make one huge admission:
“I don’t know everything. I only know what I know right now.”
I work with several anatomists that have been teaching for 30-40 years – as long as I’ve been alive. Each one of them can be found constantly at the center of the room, leafing through Gray’s Anatomy to confirm their anatomical memory.
They follow “I don’t know,” with, “Let me see what knowledge is available.”
Before you ask, make sure you’ve taken the time to actually look for yourself.
That struggle you feel is an absolute motivator, attempting to make you challenged to investigate for yourself.
I’m here to catalyze, not to spoon-feed. Spoon-feeding never has – and never will – work to help a student learn.
One must learn and be motivated by failure – with trial and error. Your mentors are here to guide you, not give you all the answers.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley