Why You Should Not Listen to Your Teachers

A friend of mine was a special education major at Florida State University. The instructor was the department head, and had no recent real-world teaching experience. She was lecturing the class on teaching and behavioral methods that were more than 10 years old. My friend pointed out that the methods she was describing were currently banned by the school system. The instructor replied, "Well, I am here to teach you what this course requires. Policies vary from district to district, and you will adapt to the new policies when you actually get a job."

This concept of "I will teach you what you need to know" is prevalent in both educational and business today. I have attended many business training sessions where the instructor refused to deal with new material that was relevant and timely to the class. Many teachers in college seem to be stuck in neutral and not learning new material that is related to their field. It is well documented that doctors are unable to stay current because their caseload is so high that they no longer have time to read the appropriate journals. There are entire college courses on managing corporate change; yet businesses still have huge problems making even the smallest of changes successfully.

One thing that disturbs me about the lack of innovative spirit is that when you walk through the halls of businesses and educational facilities alike, you see the motivational posters and works of art that proclaim slogans such as:

"If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you always got."

"Necessity is the mother of invention" (Thomas A. Edison)

"Go over, Go under, Go around - but never give up."

Yet, when you are employed at that same company, or enter the institution and begin to evaluateits practices and procedures, the day to day details of running the organization, and the relationships between employer and employee (or faculty and students), you will find that all these signs are nothing but eye candy. What they propose to teach and the reality of the situation are two separate things.

The company that encourages "open-door" policies also keeps track of how many visits you make to the "open door". If you raise concerns, they find ways to pressure you to be quiet or they outright fire you. In education, teachers are afraid of losing their jobs due to political intrigues that result from asking too many questions or complaining about things that just aren't right. In college, instructors have been known to severely limit discussions about socio-political issues to their particular ideology, and not to accept any work that does not support the instructor's thesis.

The problem with listening to the teacher is that the teacher is not always correct. The teacher does not always have all the information that is required to successfully complete a task. The problem in not listening is that you may miss something that is quite important. The teacher has the needed information, but he or she is not the final arbiter of truth. The final arbiter of truth is time. According to this quote from James Chapman, "Now is not eternal, and Time is the great equalizer." An equally wise quote, and one related to this topic is, "Time will tell."

Should you listen to your teachers? Yes. Should you question what they are telling you? Yes. Should you evaluate what you are taught in light of new information? Yes. Should you allow your teacher to decide for you what is and is not the truth? No. Education is knowledge, data is information, and wisdom is knowledge guided by truth. If you concentrate on knowledge and information, but ignore truth, then you are operating as a computer might. On the other hand, if you take the information and knowledge that is given, apply the filter of truth to it, then you gain wisdom, which helps you to know how to use the knowledge that you have gained. "The beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom; and with your acquiring, get understanding." (Proverbs 4:13-14)