Learning in teaching

You could say teaching is learning in disguise.

The reason is simple: when you teach, you are making effort to transform ideas, particularly those that are ethereal into something more tangible, which makes you looking for great examples, research more or simply involve the class by asking questions. After this, the idea that you knew will have been transformed; in other words, you have learnt even more about that.

Many years ago, I went to a special 15-day course in India. When I arrive there, however, they had a lack in co-facilitators and I was asked to step in… That means, I really didn’t seat much during the course, as I had to help others to learn things that I was learning at the same time! The benefit was visible for me, as I was able to assimilate very difficult concepts because I had to invent new ways to explain them.

That does not mean you will just start teaching anything with the hopes that you will learn; you do need some basics for that and a good methodology, but it would help a lot if you teach more, share more and contribute more to others’ personal development.

Just be aware and at the end of a class, formal or not, check: What did I learn?