The Lost Art of Teaching? Where has Good Teaching Disappeared to?

I know this sounds like a dumb question.

However, bear with me in that it is a lot more comprehensive than one might think.

When most of us think of teaching, we reflect back to our school years. Some of us might think of classes we took in college while others may remember high school memories, or even going back further into our elementary school years.

Having been a student for most of my life AND playing the role of 'teacher' as my profession for the 35 plus years, I came to realize early on how BROKE the concept of teaching was and is.

BROKE?

Did he just write "BROKE?"

Yep.

Here's a question for you:

How many of those incredible lectures in Algebra or U.S. History do you remember?

Yep, me too. (Not many - if any!)

Research tells us that even if we ACE a class and get 99% at the end of the course, if we are not actively interacting with the material, within only six weeks most of that acquired knowledge is gone.

It's true... Think back on the content of your class and how little you remember of it.

Let me let you in on a little known fact that is actually the 800 LB Elephant In The Room:

College Professors, 99.99% of them have never been trained in how to effectively teach.

Read that again.

College Professors are hired based on minimum qualifications of a Master’s degree and applying and then getting hired. 99% have NO CREDENTIAL that taught them how to teach. I know because I did the research on this and wrote a book about it.

Here’s the scarier part. 

I received a teaching credential from a major University of California college and in that entire year of the credential, I didn't even have ONE LECTURE on how to connect, inspire, engage, empower, or even entertain my students. I learned about rubrics, assessment, classroom management, lesson plans… all interesting and necessary items to learn but I did not learn how to CONNECT.

This is why the system is B R O K E N.

It is also why I teach the way that I do.

In a nutshell, it’s all about connecting, laughing, empowering, inspiring, and drawing out the incredible talent that resides within EVERY SINGLE STUDENT who ever stepped into a classroom.

In my humble opinion, good teaching is about making knowledge interesting, engaging, entertaining, challenging, and APPLICABLE!

My student reviews have bore this out. You can find out about ANY college professor by just going to https://www.ratemyprofessors.com and put in the school and the professor’s name and you’ll get a peek at what students are saying about them. Below, if you scroll down past the first few, which are based on online teaching due to Covid, you’ll see the face-to-face reviews.

My legal name is Tabor Ray Faulkenberry and so at Las Positas, you’ll see it as Tabor. Here’s Las Positas’s student reviews.

https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=2276267

Here is Ohlone’s:

https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=2259967

And finally, Diablo Valley College:

https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=1862286

My point in sharing these reviews is that students WILL REMEMBER WHEN THEY FEEL CARED ABOUT AND ENGAGED!

This is something that education can change and NEEDS TO!

I started doing training at our college based on our book and slow but sure, we’ll get there!

Whether you’re teaching for fun or for a living, think about how to engage, empower, inspire, and entertain your students.

You BOTH will be glad you did and everyone will enjoy the process!