Lecturers inflict 20 hours of pain on student

20 precious Saturday hours later, I’ve sat through 3 seminars by NIE lecturers. It is remarkable how teachers of teachers can get paid for saying little that is insightful or useful; this is a farce which all teachers should endure to sear into their conscience what they ought not subject students to.It is increasingly difficult to think seminars are worth getting out of bed for. Like many a preacher, trainers seem content to state truths, or at least endeavour to do so. It matters not if those truths are pretty obvious or irrelevant.

A seminar is effective to the extent that it tells me what I don’t know but should know, yet would find it hard to know, in a manner that makes me want to know. Alas, many seminars make very little positive difference and really ought not be permitted to exist (assuming others think similarly of it). To be clear, my complaint is not:

(A) That they are too theoretical. Theories account for phenomena and unless the trainer explains the wrong theories, they help us understand why things are the way they are. I suspect most who lodge this popular complain don’t get what a theory is. The clearest indicator is when they mutter: “Theory is not truth; we all know that.”

(B) That there are too few examples. Examples are typically thrown in to bring the abstract to life. In my experience, trainers usually provide examples with almost religious fervour.

My lament is that trainers don’t appear worried enough that they can be easily out of jobs if people are prepared to be less efficient in learning. Most of what a trainer teaches can be learnt by reading a good book, or through experience. But an effective trainer speeds up the learning significantly in at least 3 ways:

(1) They provide you all the relevant empirical information which you seek, and even those you do not seek but should. (As for the non-empirical, a good trainer can reveal insights which might otherwise entirely elude you.) Typically, their research involves collecting such data, or being aware of it. It is usually very labourious for non-specialists to find these things out and they aren’t obvious enough to be grasped without rigourous study.  It is not quite necessary to invest time to hear someone tell you that students’ attention increase when the classes are interactive, that 21st century folks need to be creative and that adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life. You can’t get paid to say these things, professor.

(2) They provide expert feedback. For instance, a trainer can coach you in acquiring a skill though immediate feedback specific to your wondrous performance. Basically tell you stuff which a book can’t and your friend can but shouldn’t (when not qualified).

(3) Infect you with passion. Of course passion can be generated in other ways, but someone with the related skills, experience and disposition is in a great position to light one’s fire.

If you’re planning to attend a seminar, I strongly suggest having a backup plan to spend your time gainfully should the seminar be poor and you can’t simply leave. A small stock of intellectual puzzles should always be kept in one’s mind for occasions like these.