A Teacher Concerns About His Knowledge of the Subject Matter

If you are a teacher, you may find this relevant. If you are not a teacher, reading this may help you understand the teachers better so as to be more considerate towards their career. This may help those new teacher in the field to understand themselves better too.

In my experience the knowledge of the subject is of most concern to young and relatively inexperienced teachers, who fear to lose face if they do not know every detail of the subject matter. It stands to reason, of course, that a teacher needs to know what he wants to teach, but this is often understood in terms of his having all the details at his fingertips. In my opinion this is hardly ever necessary. A primary school teacher, for instance, or a teacher taking general subjects in secondary schools can always read up what he needs to know and consult his notes if need be, like any lecturer in a university. Teachers of special skills, such as a foreign language, or those that prepare their pupils for advanced examinations can only do so after some years of study and usually know far more about their subject than their pupils ever need to learn. Of course, teachers can make mistakes. They may be asked a question to which they do not know the answer. Some teachers feel that they may lose the children's respect if they confess their ignorance, yet I have never found this to be so. On the contrary, it seemed to be a very valuable experience for the pupils. If I, the teacher, could admit to my lack of knowledge without feeling ashamed of it, the children found it easier to bear their own ignorance. Frequently I encouraged them to find the answer so that they could instruct me. This kind of role reversal can have a very beneficial effect on rate of children's learning, if used sensibly and sparingly.

Of course, lessons need to be prepared. The primary school teacher introducing his pupils to the mechanics of the steam engine has to devote some time to studying this subject even if sufficient information can be gained from consulting the Children's Encyclopedia. The French teacher reading Maliere's Tartuffe with some sixth form students will have to re-read the play and consult his notes. Moreover, all teachers need to give some thought to the amount of information they wish to present and how it might be presented.