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Comment by emptytheory | Hacker News Reader

"The reason I did not continue on to teach physics was partially due to an insistence that it was teachers who needed to expend more effort to make classes "fit" a student's preferences so that their learning would be a gradual climb."

What's wrong with that?

"You learn material by flailing, not by floating."

Why do you believe that?

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Because in practice it's impossible to do what is being asked. Maybe if your class size was six students, but that's the case basically nowhere. I believe that learning is best achieved when people struggle greatly. If someone is cautiously guided through every problem in life, or in education, they will possess a sense that they know how to do something because they have seen it done by others and they were guided through it a few times. However, when it comes time to actually do the thing they often do not recall it. It's what the article is about. Did you read it?

When I studied physics in college I learned at a much faster rate than I had in the past because I had to often teach myself. I have heard this from others as well. Coddling students and handing them information, letting them climb without falling, seems to yield pretty pathetic results.

"It's what the article is about. Did you read it?"

Arranging a course so that your students never struggle with the material is one thing. Never bending to your students' needs, as a teacher, is another. A teacher can provide a lot of opportunities for the students to struggle with the material. But I think it's ridiculous (and lazy) to teach without any regard for pedagogy, especially with high school students.

I know exactly what the point of the article is. Thanks for asking.

By the way, "cautiously [guiding them] through every problem in life, or in education" communicates a very different thing from "[putting in] more effort to make classes "fit" a student's preferences".

"More" implies that some is already being done, for the most part. I don't want to get into an Internet argument with someone about pedagogy because obviously there's no objectively correct answer. But you can believe what you want to believe and go become a teacher if you'd like. Administrators often want your students to never struggle. This is pushed upon teachers, especially new ones, even in their learning. I was lucky enough not to just have a degree in education so I left pretty quickly, but while I was teaching I was pushed to dumb down my material so that every student could achieve an A. I was told to fit my student's every preference so that they might get an A in the class. Not everyone should get an A in the class.

>I believe that learning is best achieved when people struggle greatly.

I personally find "a bit of struggle" is probably the best way to learn.

There are a few things I have trried to learn, and made it more difficult than need be (Trying to learn JavaScript and Angular together, Spanish classes that were too advanced for my level). I feel like I learned more when I went back and did some more basic JavaScript, and classes that were at the appropriate level for me, rather than taking on too much, and just being overwhelmed.

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