The Relationship between a Student and a Teacher

During my high school, undergraduate, and graduate years, I have been lucky to have teachers with whom I felt a connection and rapport. A successful classroom in my experiences has been a cooperative experience in which the teacher has not presented xyrself (gender-neutral pronoun) as an absolute knowledge source. Similarly, we do not learn in a vacuum in which we have never encountered or learned anything outside of the classroom setting. Students are not blank canvases or ducklings on which we can imprint ourselves and our ideas without taking into consideration what images or ideas are already there.

Looking back to Socrates and his disciples, we see that even he understood that there was still a great deal that he did not know. As such, he learned from his disciples at the same time that they learned from him. This was primarily accomplished through a dialogue in which questions were asked and answered so that individuals could flesh out their beliefs and address any flaws in logic.

Aside from the personal benefits of applying this method in the classroom, it also demonstrates to students that there is no point at which you can just stop learning because you have learned everything. If teachers show they are engaged with and interested in the material and field, then I think that students can detect that interest and are more likely to engage with the material as well.