Teachability
A necessity for life and learning
It is impossible to teach someone who is not teachable. It is difficult to teach if you are yourself unteachable. There is a difference between un-teachability and lack of understanding or immaturity. The latter may be temporary and require time to mature or additional instruction. The former often has its root in arrogance. Here we deal (in no particular order) with some specific roadblocks to teachability.
No desire to learn. Desire to learn is one of the key predicters of learning. If a child has a general desire to learn, but has no desire to study some specific subject (e.g., the Tagalog language), it may be because he sees no relevance. You may need to “salt the oats,” by introducing him to Filipino food and friends so he sees a benefit to learning Tagalog. If a child has no desire to learn anything of importance, you will need to evaluate the reason. He may need to do “real” things for a while, such as gardening, carpentry, mechanic work, welding, sewing, or knitting. He may need to go on a total fast from screens. He may need to eat more nutritious food, so he does not feel so sluggish. He may need more sleep. He may need to be disciplined. As the parent-teacher, you will need to ask God for wisdom to determine what is impeding your child’s natural, God-given desire to learn. It is a major key to teachability.
Know-it-all attitude. This attitude is one of the worst enemies of teachability. The mind will not accept instruction when it believes it already knows what is being taught. I have had young children, with little to no knowledge of a subject (but an inflated idea of what they knew or could do), tell me my information was wrong or I was performing the skill incorrectly. Though I continued to teach them, they learned almost nothing from me. The “I-already-know-all-this” attitude is a destroyer of teachability.
Rebellion. Lack of submission to a God-given authority is a major reason for lack of teachableness. A child in rebellion against proper authority will not be willing to receive instruction from that authority. He has set up himself as the authority in his life. The open rebellion of the 1960’s and 1970’s coincides with a decline in academic scores. Rebellion against God, Biblical morality, and law and order has only increased since then - with a concomitant decline in academic achievement. Rebels are not teachable.
Strained relationship with the teacher. Aside from rebellion, a strained relationship with a teacher could be due to miscommunications, misunderstandings, hurtful words (on either side), guilt, and myriad other barriers. In order to teach, an instructor must win the heart of the student. In order to learn, the pupil must allow the teacher a place in his heart. If you have strained relationship with your child, don’t give up on home education. Set aside the academics for a time, identify the barriers, and focus on winning back your child’s heart. A student with a wall around his heart is not teachable.
Lack of curiosity. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but killed curiosity can also kill learning. A student with a question is primed to learn. Exploration due to curiosity leads to discoveries and learning. Prime a student’s curiosity for the subject you wish to teach. However, be aware that children sometimes become curious about things they should not know, or should not know until they are older. Protect children from themselves by shielding them from places where their curiosity could be inappropriately aroused. Guard against unfiltered internet access, unsupervised peer access, and unvetted adult access. Curiosity is a gift within proper bounds.
Perfectionism. Unless you are willing to fail, you will not be able to reach your full potential in learning. Unless you have failed, you will not be a good teacher. We learn far more from our mistakes and short-falls than we do from our successes. An unwillingness to fail is an impediment to teachability.
Distractions. Distractions about in our modern world. Adults can struggle with maintaining focus, and children, who have not yet developed mental discipline, will struggle even more. Media exacerbates the problem - and just because you turned off the screens does not mean that the mind immediately moves into learning mode. Media saturation leads to stimulation of anti-learning modes in the brain long after the technology is silenced. Some children with large imaginations carry their own mental distractions. Their heads are constantly in the clouds, like Anne of Green Gables. Finally, exhaustion can be a huge distraction from learning. Children can become mentally exhausted much more quickly than a parent or teacher may realize. As a general rule, a child can focus on a learning task for 1-2 minutes for each year of age. With practice and persistence on the part of the parent, this time can be extended. But continue to be aware of a child’s saturation point. Other potential distractions are too numerous to name here, but be alert to what may be distracting your child from learning - both during the task and in his life in general.
Peer dependence. A peer-focused child cares more about what his peers think than about anything else. If his peers shun learning, so will he. Peer-dependent children and teens disregard what adults say in favor of the chatter of their friends. A peer-dependent child is not teachable - whether his peers are present or not. Breaking dependence on same-age friends is difficult. Home education is a good place to start, but you will need to establish a strong parent-child bond before you can instruct. Peer dependence slams the door on teachability.
Teachability is just as important for the parent-teacher as it is for the child. Not only do you set the example for your child by being teachable, but in order to be a good teacher, you must be able to learn yourself! You must learn the subject as well as the student! Don’t make excuses about “old dogs and new tricks” or your own lack of education. Cultivate a teachable attitude and STEP OUT on a learning adventure!