If You Can’t Do, Teach

I think we’ve all heard the expression – “If you can’t do, teach.” 

I certainly have.  

When I entered teacher’s college, I heard this expression a lot.  

Maybe it’s because I double-majored in music and English. Maybe people thought I wanted to be a performer or a writer and couldn’t make it. They were wrong. 

From the start, I intended to bring my enthusiasm and love for music and English into the high school classroom. Perhaps some people chose teaching because they couldn’t achieve their dream job, but that wasn’t me.  

I also found out, after several years of teaching and several different roles within education, that this expression is completely wrong.  

If you can’t do, you should teach. You learn best by teaching. 

I was never good at math, but when I was expected to help students achieve their grade 9 math credit, I certainly learned. I sat in math classrooms and worked with math teachers to learn how to teach content I didn’t know.   

Science wasn’t my best subject either. Yet, I currently work with science teachers to help them develop lessons. My role is to add research-based instructional practices into the classroom, but I can’t fake my way through a topic. I must learn. So, I read the textbooks and learn the fine details, to fully understand the material I am co-delivering.  

The same holds true outside my profession. I practiced yoga for years and felt proficient. Yet, teaching yoga has forced me to up my game. I now think about the body’s physiology, how to sequence poses and how to provide variations so they are both accessible and challenging. I didn’t before. 

In all these situations, my knowledge has expanded when I taught other people. Teaching forces me to understand a concept at a higher level in order to explain it to someone else. Students also ask questions, questions that can be challenging. A good teacher is prepared and has a deep understanding of the topic to answer them.  

This is something we all can do, and I invite you to give it a try.  

Think of one thing that fits all three of these criteria: 1. something you love, 2. something you’d like to continue to learn about, and 3. something you could potentially teach to someone else. It could be a skill like painting or cooking. Or it could be knowledge around business practices or car mechanics.  

Now, as a challenge this week, consider ways you could share your skill or knowledge with others.  

People want to learn, and by sharing your abilities, you not only help others, but it also provides an opportunity to deepen your own learning.   

Don’t overlook the opportunity that teaching can provide. It can make a big impact on you and others.  

Best wishes, Lauren