O!

Teacher, stop teaching

Mirza Yawar Baig
Our present methods of teaching which are inflicted on by far the vast
majority of children the world over are the single biggest cause for killing the
imagination that every child is born with and making them into square blocks
which fit our own frightened, constrained and slavish worldview. Those who
comply we pass and those who challenge it and refuse to succumb, we fail.
The occasional among those we fail, go on to great fortune. The vast majority
disappear, never to be heard from again. Destroyed by the education system
they didnt deserve or ask for.
I recall the story of young Tommy; one of the stories that do the rounds on the
internet. It is said that Tommys teacher asked the class to write an essay
about their dream. Next day all the children brought their essays to class. The
teacher read them all. But when she came to Tommys essay she was
astounded and even angry. She wrote a big 0 at the top of the essay and
handed Tommy his book. Naturally poor Tommys face fell when he looked at
the teachers notation. He took back his book and silently walked back to his
seat. The teacher saw the look on the little boys face and took pity on him.
She called him back and said, Tommy, your dream is ridiculous. It is fantasy.
It is totally unrealistic. That is why I failed you in the test. However I will give
you another chance. If you re-write this dream and bring it back tomorrow, I
will give you some marks. Tommy listened in silence, nodded agreement and
returned to his seat. The eyes and smirks of all those who had passed were
on his face. They were the ones with realistic dreams which the teacher liked.

O! Teacher, stop teaching

Next day Tommy handed in his essay to the teacher. The teacher scanned
through it and was astonished to see that there was no change. She called
Tommy to her desk in an injured tone and said, Tommy, didnt you
understand what I told you? I said I would give you marks if you changed
your dream. You have done nothing here! So I am sorry I cant give you any
marks.
Tommy looked at her and said, Teacher, I thought about what you said and
decided that I will let you keep your marks and I will keep my dream.
It seems strange to me that if I were asked to define the biggest challenge of
the teacher, I would say, It is to teach children how to deal with a world that
we know nothing about. In such a world, imagination is the key resource that
they will need. Without imagination they would be floundering trying to find
answers in history or facts that they had been taught. But they would never
find those answers because they simply arent there. Yet the thing that most
schools do with amazing efficiency is to kill the childs imagination as quickly
as possible. And sadly they are very successful in doing so.
Take for example how science is taught. It is taught in a way that is no
different from history, for example. It is taught as a fact course. Whereas
science is not about fact at all but about constant discovery. Science is about
constantly discovering how little we know. Science is not about answers but
about learning to ask the right questions, learning to analyze data with a
willingness to be proved wrong, learning to design experiments to disprove
our most dearly loved models, knowing that only if the experiment failed
could we say that our model is actually correct. Not forever, but until we
come to the next discovery.
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O! Teacher, stop teaching

Teaching is not about answering questions but about raising questions

opening doors for them in places that they could not imagine. Teaching is
about teaching them the tools of learning which will enable them to pursue
learning all their lives. Not answer questions end all discussion and pass
exams. That is the reason why the vast majority of children never open a
science book once they finish with school. That is the reason why there is a
serious global shortage of scientists. The whole approach to teaching must
change from teaching solutions and answers to teaching tools to pursue
lifelong learning. Even when we teach what we know the answers we need
to teach them how we arrived at those answers and then ask them , If you
faced this issue, what questions would you ask to find an answer. We need to
focus far more on derivation, problem solving methodology and analytical
skills than on actually arriving at some formula or solution.
The same malaise plagues other subjects as well. In history we concentrate on
dates and places far more than on lessons learnt and ways of applying them in
todays society. When was the last time you heard a history teacher ask
questions like: What did we learn from the history of the Mughals the
reflection of which we can see in todays society? What can we learn from that
period of Indian history which we can apply to our lives today? What can we
learn from that period which will help us to find solutions to our problems
today? Which problem? What is the solution? Instead history question papers
will ask you for the date on which the first Battle of Panipath was fought; who
was fighting whom; not why; not what did that indicate about that society
and its implications in todays society. So children hate history. We dont
relate what we teach to what is happening currently and how learning what
happened then can help people in todays world.
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O! Teacher, stop teaching

Children hate math, algebra even more. But when did we ever hear of a
teacher teaching math as a problem solving tool? Or of teaching algebra as a
tool to plan a party? Math enhances ability in reasoning, intelligence, decision
making and abstract analysis. But we only teach dry numbers. Math enables
budgeting, judging and assessment of business enterprises; it is the basis
behind computer programming, music, art, graphic design, aeronautics and
a million other highly interesting things. But the way we teach math the
majority of students hate it, never use it to any advantage and trash 12 years
of learning it as soon as they complete their final exam. So why should you
study math at all. See the answers of some students to this question which
their professor asked them:
http://www.math.uakron.edu/~norfolk/why223f03.pdf
Another very interesting article which turned up on Google on math is here:
http://drkroiss.com/page21.html

Our education system stinks. It is designed to create mechanics not learned

people. So one can become an engineer without reading any book other than
his course books and without any understanding of anything except the little
machine that he works on as if the rest of the universe doesnt matter. All
the treasure of human thought, ideas, discoveries, experiments, reflections
and imagination are closed to him. He doesnt even know that they exist. He
lives a life of stress, doing his best with his very limited understanding of life,
trying to reinvent the wheel, to discover solutions which others, far more
gifted and learned than he could ever be, have already discovered and written
about. But then how would he know about them when he doesnt read?

O! Teacher, stop teaching

That is why we have idiotic product design because the designer has no
concept of relating his design to the actual user. He is thinking in terms of his
narrow area of knowledge, not of the vast area of application. That is why
Haleem makers in India use washing machines as kitchen mixers. Saves them
a lot of labor stirring the pot when they can have the pot stir itself. Ask the
washing machine designer what he was thinking of when he designed the
machine except dirty clothes? But great opportunity does not lie in customer
demand. It lies in areas that the customer didnt even know he needed.
The biggest problem with teachers is that they teach. That is the root cause of
all ignorance. So I titled this essay, O! Teacher, stop teaching. Start
discovering, learning, enjoying. Start appreciating that the child is the best
thing that happened to you and every single day try to become the best thing
that happens to him or her. Teachers must never teach. They must be like
ushers in a vast museum, walking quietly with their students tiptoeing behind
them, opening one door after another letting them take a peek and then
handing them the key to the door so that they can come back in their own
time and explore in detail. The teacher then takes them to another door for
another peek and another key. See?? Imagine how exciting that is for the
child! The teachers job is to give them the keys.
Teaching is about asking questions and teaching them to ask questions. The
teacher who gives answers has failed. So never do that. Teaching is about
keeping the excitement of learning alive all life long. Teaching is about taking
the hand of a 4 year old and leading the whole group to a tree. Then sit down
under the tree and tell them, Let me see who can get me a perfect leaf of this
tree. Actually do this and see the fun. When they all come back, brimming
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O! Teacher, stop teaching

with joy at their perfect finds ask them if all the leaves are the same, even
though they came from the same tree? Let them marvel at the fact that they
are all leaves from the same tree but each is different. Ask them, Why do you
think this happens? What is Allah saying to us?
Then pull out a seed of the tree you are sitting under from your pocket. No it
didnt grow there, you prepared for the class, remember? Then show them the
seed and let them all (every one of them) hold the seed in his hand and
explore it, texture, shape, color and so on. Give them crayons and paper and
let them draw the seed. Give them a few more so that everyone has his own
seed. When they have drawn the seed, tell them, Now look at this tree. Do
you realise that this tree was inside this seed? Can you draw the tree inside
your seed? Let them do that. Every drawing must be made much of and draw
breaths of amazement from you and indeed, if you have ever taught in this
way, you will realise that being amazed is the default setting. It is only when
we kill the imagination of children that they become like us.
Then tell them about genetics yes to four year olds and explain how the
tree was inside the seed until Allah ordered it to come out. Explain the whole
process of germination and growth. Draw lessons from each step and show
them the glory of Allah. Of course that will make your own role as teacher
much harder but also much more fun. To be on top of the game you have to
read and prepare @ 1:4 one hour of teaching to 4 hours of preparation. The
kids will come back with answers to the questions you planted in their minds.
You will need patience and tact and wisdom to deal with some of them. But
you will have the joy of learning, of having doors opened for you where you
didnt know there were doors. Teaching is about learning.

O! Teacher, stop teaching

I learned some of the best lessons in my life from someone who was knee high
to a jack rabbit (as the Americans put it).
Teaching is not a job. Anyone who considers it a job must do one of two
things: re-think their vocation or become a cigarette salesman. That is a job.
Selling cigarettes to people to hasten their demise. Teaching must be a
passion. A teacher is someone who simply cant imagine doing anything else.
A teacher is someone who will teach not only for free but also if they had to
pay for it. Only then can you light the lamp of the love of learning in the
hearts of others. Teaching is to light the lamp of knowledge and dispel the
darkness of ignorance. Do you, Mr. Teacher, consider what you are doing in
these terms? I often ask people to think of a role model and then ask for how
many of them it is a parent or a teacher. I have never had more than 10% of
the population, across nationalities, races and genders, raising their hands.
That means that for 90% of people their role model is neither a parent nor a
teacher. What a tragedy, seeing that these two roles have the maximum face
time with children. Yet they seem to do their roles in such an uninspiring and
dull way if not in a positively harmful way that most children are glad to
be away from them as much as possible.
I ask teachers to consider this. Every morning a strange thing happens at the
gate of your school. Parents come and hand over their most precious assets to
you without asking for any guarantees for anything; for you to do as you
please with them for the next 6 8 hours. Are you conscious of this
responsibility in quite this way and do you plan for those 6 8 to become the
best 6 8 hours of that child for that day? Do you actively plan this? What
would you say if the teacher, who you send your child to, planned to make

O! Teacher, stop teaching

those hours the best hours of your childs life? Do you believe this is worth
doing? If not, what are you doing here?
So when a child asks a question, Mr. Great Crocodile, what does this mean?
You say, You tell me. And then let him go away and search - watch what he
is doing, give him a hint or two but never make it easy for him. If it looks like
he is getting too close to an easy answer, bowl a googly. Ask a question which
will lead him to dig deeper. Then when he comes to you with his answer,
listen very carefully and be prepared to be astonished. Dont put any limits or
boundaries on what he can or cant say, what he can or cant question. Then
listen very carefully and take notes. That will do wonders for his confidence
as well as for your own learning.
And another thing abolish exams. Or at least have only open book exams.
Exams are the worst evil that ever happened to learning. They are the final
nail in the coffin which ensures that the child hates learning forever.
May you be the one to illuminate the world by igniting minds.
First of all your own.