It was September or October of 19xx  – I’d rather not be precise – and I was in my first full semester of teaching out of graduate school.  I had been assigned a Differential Equations class, and quite honestly, I was a still a little unsure of myself.  I had not really had any differential equations since my own undergraduate course and back then it had been my “math class from hell”, for several reasons.  I’ll confess to some A’s in my 4 years of undergraduate math, but Diff-E-Q was not one of them.
Anyway, as you can imagine, it felt like I was keeping roughly 20 minutes ahead of my students, and I was struggling with many of the homework problems I felt I ‘should’ assign.   I was a new professor, I was rusty on this topic (at best), and I was frustrated and panicked, just like a student. Indeed, if I’d been a student, I’d have been lucky to be earning a B.
One afternoon, out of the clear blue, I had a revelation which was to me earth-shaking, but I’m not sure I can capture it fully in print.  “Wait a minute, Campbell,” I heard myself saying, “you have a doctorate in mathematics!  That doesn’t necessarily mean you are automatically good at differential equations, but it should mean you have the confidence to relearn this material on your own, grind through any of these homework problems, and then help students learn it.”
For some reason, this change in perspective, this shot of confidence, was exactly what I needed.  From that point on, I was fine teaching the course.  Truth be told, in fact, I think I did a pretty decent job after that.
Not only that, the change of perspective carried over into a lot of my later courses, and certainly into my years of working with future teachers, as we talked about their own learning (especially in a subject they weren’t always crazy about!), and their future teaching of youngsters.
For the lessons from this story aren’t really about my newness as a professor or my rustiness in a particular subject.  They are more about the nature of learning (and therefore teaching) itself.
It simply is true that learning – in academics or in life – can be a struggle.  Sure, it can be easy, and it can be fun, especially if you’re excited about and interested in the ‘topic’ at hand.  But if you’re rusty or unconfident or feel you’re being forced (by outside circumstances) to learn something, it can be a tough and rocky path.
If you’re a teenager wanting to learn to drive a car, it can be easy and fun (sometimes too much so!).  But if you’re an older adult wanting learn to play the saxophone or ride a unicycle, it may not be a quick process, regardless of desire!  Trust me, I know.
Awareness of this fact can make all the difference in perspective and attitude, and therefore in the potential learning itself.
And as teachers – in academics and in life – this has striking implications.  As teachers, we need to be aware that students will learn our subject(s) at different speeds and motivation levels.  And allowing and honoring their lack of confidence can actually help the learning process in the long run.  To succeed with a student when learning isn’t easy is one of a teacher’s greatest satisfactions.
So, here’s to learning and here’s to teaching.  Both can be complicated, but both can make our lives more enriched!