The Real Reason You Learn A Lesson Better When You Teach It: Nachas, pride and satisfaction that is derived from someone else’s accomplishment
July 7, 2013 Leave a comment
The Real Reason You Learn A Lesson Better When You Teach It
ANNIE MURPHY PAUL, THE BRILLIANT BLOG JUL. 6, 2013, 8:11 AM 1,508
Learning, and thinking, are deeply social activities.
This is not the traditional view (Rodin’s iconic sculpture, “The Thinker,” is conspicuously alone in his chin-on-fist musings), but it’s the view that is emerging out of several decades of social science research. Our minds often work best in interaction with other people’s minds, and there are particular kinds of relationships that are especially good at evoking our intelligence. One is the master-apprentice relationship, which I wrote about here. Another, of course, is the teacher-student relationship—but today I want to talk about the benefits of this relationship for the teacher. For thousands of years, people have known that the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else. “While we teach, we learn,” said the Roman philosopher Seneca. Now scientists are bringing this ancient wisdom up to date, documenting exactly why teaching is such a fruitful way to learn — and designing innovative ways for young people to engage in instruction. Read more of this post
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