Teachers Meme Well
An Essay by Stephen Geez
www.StephenGeez.com
Art by Dizzy
DizzyArt
Everybody teaches, everybody learns.
It’s what we do. We discover, investigate, understand, and pass along our memes so each generation can benefit from and build upon the collective knowledge.
“Meme” is a concept that first intrigued me in anthropology courses at university. Usually credited to gene-aficionado Richard Dawkins, the term derives from the Greek for “to imitate.” In studying how species increase their chances of survival by passing along the most adaptive of genes, he noted how humans also enhance our ability to thrive by passing along the most effective of our memes.
Our genes have found advantage in giving us the longest of childhoods, an extended period of parental and communal support allowing time enough to learn. While we begin by observing, absorbing, testing, then responding to and manipulating the environment, we simultaneously discover, practice, and master the memes governing our tribe’s means of communicating with one another, culminating in language—the entree to literature, science, and the arts. In many ways, language is our greatest achievement, our means to achieve a complexity of interaction and understanding far exceeding “Don’t eat the red berries” and “Hey, hot stuff, wanna get jiggy?”
As we cultivate language skills, our capacity to learn blossoms exponentially. The combination of language and experience is how we learn what others would teach, knowledge gleaned from our families, members of the community, our everyday peers, and of course those individuals we call “teacher.”
The very concept of teacher is a remarkable meme, a role clearly defined, designated, devoted, compensated, and allocated time and resources to operate in a structured environment. We appreciate the laudable goals of teachers: pass along our collective knowledge; spot, spark, and nurture each individual’s quest for understanding; govern social development to discourage harmful behaviors and promote personal growth; and foster a desire both to learn and to share what we know with others. I agree with the legions who consider this job to be arguably the most important in our society. Just look at what we’ve accomplished with our memes, which is possible only if those very memes include what we know of learning, and what we’ve learned about teaching.
Our educational prowess has advanced us far beyond the days of mere rote memorization. We’ve recognized the value in participatory learning, helping students discover for themselves, providing direct access for seeing the hows and understanding the whys. We have witnessed the dangers in believing everything we’re told, so we teach critical thinking, the ability to evaluate information and its sources to fashion understanding and perspectives that are most relevant. We search for the memes that mean the most to each of us, the memes worth preserving through others.
Great teachers introduce us to possibilities, open new portals to worlds barely imagined, then fan smoldering questions and fuel new interests. They help us discover that we are in charge of our own learning, and they help us develop the habit of always seeking greater understanding.
Great teachers distill umpteen hours of their own learning into the few hours of instruction that most benefit their students, which allows time for each new generation to advance beyond the collective wisdom of their own teachers.
Some teachers earn paychecks and enjoy formal titles; others simply move among us, unrecognized, often unappreciated, yet always available.
As much as the greatest teachers find in us that which we hunger to know, the best students find in teachers that which they hunger to share.
I will always be grateful for my teachers, even those I’ve yet to find; and I try my best to pay forward their efforts, teaching others when I recognize that hunger for the knowledge and skills I humbly believe I might offer.
We should all take a moment every now and then to express our appreciation for those who deemed us worthy of their earnest efforts to play even the smallest part in helping each of us progress toward our limitless potential.
And be grateful for the best ones. They’re still teaching us, even after they’re long gone.
How is that possible? you wonder. Here’s a meme you can pass along:
The greatest teachers teach us how to learn.
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© The Fresh Ink Group, LLC, 2009
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