Mary Myatt writes about a joke concerning two men in a bar. One says: “I’ve taught my dog to speak French.” “Really?” says his friend, “let’s hear him then.”
“I said I taught him – I didn’t say he’d learnt it,” comes the response.
Herein lies a profound pedagogical truth: despite our enormous efforts, learning does not naturally follow teaching.
As teachers, we cannot define our success merely by the clarity of our instruction or exposition of a concept or process; we also cannot jump straight from instruction to students independently applying their knowledge to a task that will consolidate their learning. This very often fails. Therefore, we need to structure practice in a way that enables them to succeed.
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