Hidden Assumptions that Undermine Good Teaching

            “When we articulate our assumptions, we can examine and evaluate their implications and decide if they’re aligned with our deeply-held beliefs about teaching and learning,” say veteran international educators William Powell and Ochan Kusuma-Powell in this Kappan article. Drawing on the work of Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, they list some goals embraced by many teachers: 

• I would like to see all my students achieve success.
• I want to better meet the needs of diverse learners in my class. 
• I want to be more student-centered. 
• I want to personalize learning so every student feels included and invited to learn. 

But here are some unconscious tendencies that pull teachers in another direction: 

• I like to feel in control of the classroom. 
• I need to be needed. 
• I want students to feel I am indispensable to their learning. 
• I don’t want to try something new, fail, and look like a fool. 
• I tend to think that the way I learn is the best way. 

And here are some of the ways these tendencies manifest themselves in the classroom: 

• I have a tendency to jump in to “save the day.” I like to be helpful. 
• I look for (or manufacture) situations in which students depend on me for their learning.
• Sometimes I don’t listen well. 
• I have difficulty appreciating that other people may learn differently. 
• I’ve taught this way for many years, and it works for most kids. 

And here are the underlying assumptions that need to be confronted for transformational change to occur: 

• I assume I won’t feel professional satisfaction unless all learning in the class comes from me. 
• I assume that success (mine and students’) is monolithic and defined by outside forces over which I have no control. 
• I assume that failure (mine and students’) is something to be avoided, rather than something to be learned from. 
• I assume that to engage in public learning may be a sign of weakness (that I don’t know everything I’m supposed to know) and may make me look like a fool. 

“Overcoming Resistance to New Ideas” by William Powell and Ochan Kusuma-Powell in Phi Delta Kappan, May 2015 (Vol. 96, #8, p. 66-69), www.kappanmagazine.org; these thoughts are adapted from Immunity to Change by Kegan and Lahey (Harvard Business Press, 2009).

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1088 and #587 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.