Dooley Noted: 4/22/2016
For the last several months, I’ve been teaching for three medical schools.
Med school is hard.
So is chiropractic, physical therapy, dental, podiatric school.
I’ve had the honor of teaching anatomy at all of these disciplines, plus educational seminars for massage therapists, strength coaches, acupuncturists, and fitness instructors.
No matter the discipline, there’s one truth about students.
A frazzled student is one who cannot learn.
I’ve been taught by instructors who attempted to cut me down, thinking it would motivate me to study harder.
It didn’t. I was already studying hard.
It simply made me never go to them for guidance.
We cannot motivate our students through scare tactics.
The limbic system can’t learn as well in an overly stressful environment.
If you have the honor of educating others, please limit your attempts at cutting them down.
I’ve watched it happen many times.
Most of the time, a student simply needs a point in the direction they were close to heading.
Then, when they relax, the answers keep coming.
You don’t have to give the answers.
That ultimately won’t help the student.
But you can encourage them.
You can be enthusiastic to help them focus.
You can loosen the vice grip they place on themselves, instead of twisting it tighter.
If the outcome is to teach and for them to learn, you risk hindering this process with scare tactics.
Remember the last time you felt frazzled – and consider how you got yourself out of it.
The tough and tender teacher can de-frazzle, simply by pointing the students in a proper direction.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley