EdGrimshaw.com

There can be few who would dispute that Richard Feynman was a great scientist, an interesting character and a true genius as a legendary teacher. Many of the foundations for the wisdom of the man were laid down by Richard's Father Melville. Feynman made this explicit in his writings and in his 1981 interview on the BBC progamme, Horizon. So what can we learn from this exquisite style of teaching.

Lesson 1 - Make time and make sure you enjoy what you are teaching and who you are teaching. Create an interesting discussion with your students. A two way process, not a transmission. Love and Respect for the learner. What do you think?

Lesson 2 - Apply the content to the real world, to the here and now if possible. Move away from an abstract explanation towards  applied examples. So create a sensory experience even if it is an imaginary one. What might be the force of a tidal wave if you were in one?

Lesson 3 - Learn the pattern and process of something. Naming and Labelling is useless as means of development on its own. Knowing that its a virus is not the same as knowing how a virus works.

Lesson 4 - Do not accept infomation or lessons just on the basis of authority. Test for yourself. So just because Richard Feynman or John Grinder says so doesnt make it true. On whose authority has that been concluded? How did you verify that?

Lesson 5 - Go out and explore - Dont leave learning in the classroom or seminar room. If you want to learn probability - test out with a game of cards.

Lesson 6 - Value exploration and experimentation as a key part of learning. Test in different ways. Vary the test. What happens if I do this and what changes when I do that.

Lesson 7 - Take different perspectives on the same subject, apply in different ways. There is not a right way or one set of rules to learn. So for instance if you were studying the UK economic deficit, take a moral perspective, a scientific pesrpective, one of a historian and so on.

Lesson 8 - Learn to observe objectively. Removed from the context and without bias. What position would you take if you were purely descriptive?

Lesson 9 - Learn the value of questions and being able to ask original questions. How do you go beyond existing thinking even in a group?

Lesson 10 - Teach the skills of modelling and an appreciation for different models of thinking.

Lesson 11 - Make sure that you are aware the limits of your current understanding.  Knowing can be limiting if there is not some sense of openess to more. What is not known?