"One remembers 14% of what one hears, 22% of what one sees and hears, and 91% of what one teaches others" ~ Jones, 1990
In 2019 I entered a new phase of my life as a Clinical Herbal Therapist. I started marking the Pathology and Differential Assessment lessons and teaching physical examination at the annual seminar for Dominion Herbal College, not just having the only college approved clinic in Alberta for Student Clinic. Bear with me here, this is NOT self promotion, this is to let you know where I am coming from.
Little did I know, how much I personally was going to learn from this new role!
Teaching is learning
I've told many of the students that I learn at least one thing from every single one of them. The responses are interesting, especially the somewhat sarcastic"yah, right", but it's true! And I love the look on their faces when they discover that it is true.
This new role has escalated this learning! It has taught me, and continues to teach me:
- more about what I thought I knew
- cemented knowledge more firmly in my mind
- given me different ways to relate information to others and change things for different information processing styles
- reaffirmed that we probably all need lessons in learning how to learn (there's a free course for that here by the way https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn)
- things I need to change to be more effective at teaching the subjects
- to see a tiny bit better through other people's eyes
- make me a better clinician
- that my best teaching takes place when I get the students to help teach each other.
Learning is teaching was driven home to me by my daughter. When she was in high-school I was working a full time job and going to college. I worried, a LOT, that I didn't have the time to spend with her helping her with homework and going on school outings. She managed to graduate without my help. At the graduation ceremonies she got an award for her performance in nearly every class! I thought, good for her for doing that all on her own without my help. Years later we talked about all that, and I found out from her that I had helped her without knowing it (why am I crying while writing this?). She told me that it was my devotion to my studies that encouraged her to devote so much to her own studies. She has since gone on to get her Bachelors degree in Environmental Science.
Silent River Kung Fu
This attitude and recognition that teaching is learning and learning is teaching at Silent River Kung Fu is one of the things that has impressed me in my relatively short time there as a student. That theme was even integrated into many of the presentations at the Chinese New Year banquet. This is why I feel lucky to have found this school of Kung Fu. The teachers have told us students a little about what they learn from us (would love to learn more about that by the way!). They say that they are learning all the time. I love being in an environment where everyone is so willing to help each other with their Kung Fu.
We are all teachers AND we are all students!
Looking forward to learning, or is that teaching; the line between the two seems to be getting increasingly hazy.
Elizabeth
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