In a previous article last Sunday I observed that many people feel they know all there is to know about teaching. They believe their experiences as students in classrooms has taught them all that there is to know about the art and science of teaching. They sincerely believe that if they know a subject well, they can enter a classroom and teach it.

Why is this position problematic? Why is the informal observation of teachers as they go about their work in the classroom insufficient to learn all there is to know about teaching, even if this ‘teacher-watching’ is done over a number of years?

At first glance, this argument is not only plausible but seems to make sense. After all, many of us have learnt a skill or have acquired knowledge by observing others as they go about performing a task or an activity. So it can be argued that when students observe teachers they are bound to learn from them.

Furthermore, if the teachers being observed are good at their work one can argue that observing them can only leave a very positive, inspiring effect on their observers.

So what is wrong with this reasoning? The main problem with this ‘apprenticeship of observation’ is that students do not have access to a teacher’s thinking and the reasoning behind their actions, and so do not know why the teacher has taken a particular course of action.

They are not privy to the aims and objectives that lie at the back of the teacher’s mind. Nor are they privy to the teacher’s immediate or subsequent evaluation – reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action – two processes that underpin the teacher’s subsequent actions.

So while they observe the superficial trappings of teaching they are not in a position to frame their observations in a pedagogical framework that links actions with knowledge of pedagogy, subject matter content and context. This puts severe limits on the professional knowledge required for teaching that they can acquire.

Another problem with the ‘apprenticeship of observation’ is that the wrong inferences can easily be drawn about what works in the classroom and what good teaching should look like. For instance, a common misconception is that teaching is effortless – a misunderstanding that is more prevalent in those who had the fortune of having been taught by excellent teachers and whose classmates were high-flyers and motivated to learn.

Another misconception is the idea that what is most important is teachers’ affective qualities, such as caring, kindness and empathy, rather than knowledge of pedagogy, context and subject matter.

A third misconception, mainly held by those who do well at school, is that not only is teaching easy but that learning itself is relatively effortless and involves the simple transfer of knowledge from teachers or books to students through listening, reading and memorising.

The misconceptions that arise from the ‘apprenticeship of observation’ are not an insignificant problem because many students eventually become parents and they would want teachers of their children to act in ways that mirror their preconceptions of what good teaching and learning is all about.

This leads to stagnation in classrooms, as teachers are discouraged, or sometimes even prevented from adopting classroom practices and approaches that are not in line with parents’ more traditional views of teaching. Thus, schools become conservative institutions with a lot of inertia where change in teaching practices occurs very slowly, if at all.

The problem becomes much bigger when some of these students eventually train to become teachers themselves. In order for such teachers to become good teachers they need to understand teaching and learning in ways that are quite different from those they understood while they were still sitting behind their desks in the classroom. If they fail to do so it will have a negative effect on what they can learn from teacher educators and mentors and what they can assimilate from their classroom experiences as teachers.

The development of a deeper, more nuanced understanding of teaching and learning can only happen when teachers are helped to address their preconceptions and misconceptions of what good teaching is. Simply allowing teachers to assimilate what they are being taught to their pre-existing beliefs will not lead to effective teaching.

This is why high-quality teacher education, which focuses on helping teachers challenge their preconceptions and misconceptions of teaching and learning, is of the utmost importance.

Leonard Bezzina is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education specialising in the teaching of mathematics.

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