Teaching in Conversation

One of the single most helpful pieces of writing advice I received as an undergraduate came from a thin book entitled They Say, I Say. In a nutshell, the book suggested that students view academic writing as a conversation, a simple but oh-so-helpful bit of advice that, at least for me, transformed writing term papers from a terrifying prospect to a doable task. Because this advice was so beneficial for me, I was encouraged to find the same presentation in Ramage, Bean, and Johnson’s discussion of the “problem” of writing.

After reading Boice’s first two chapters, I began to wonder if it might also be helpful to view teaching (and, more specifically, the aspect of teaching which he addresses, preparation) as a conversation. This may seem like a crazy idea—after all, classroom preparation is generally regarded as an individual phenomenon—but I don’t think it has to be, provided we view teaching prep. as an internal conversation rather than an audible one.

Boice’s advice to “wait” forces us to pause both before and in the middle of our preparations to reflect, in effect quieting the babble about subject matter and obscure details rattling around in our heads long enough that we may consider our audience. In addition, his advice to “begin before feeling ready” frees us from the pressures to hurry and to be unfailingly correct. As in a conversation among friends, we may combine our prior knowledge and passions with spontaneity, responding to our immediate environment rather than plowing rigidly ahead with prepared remarks.

If we view teaching—in all its aspects—as a conversation, we must think about what our audience needs to hear as well as about what we have to say, becoming more flexible as we focus on the key to Boice’s nihil nimus approach: working within moderation in order to focus on “the process of teaching in ways that promote involvement and learning” rather than on “the product orientation of getting through all the planned material correctly.”