"A teacher who is not dogmatic is simply a teacher who is not teaching"
- Gilbert K. Chesterton
About this Quote
This quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton recommends that an instructor who is not dogmatic is not teaching successfully. Dogmatism is specified as the practice of holding strong convictions or beliefs without thinking about other opinions or evidence. A teacher who is not dogmatic is not teaching in the sense that they are not providing their trainees with a strong set of beliefs or convictions. Rather, they are just supplying details with no real assistance or instructions. This can be damaging to students as they may not have the ability to form their own viewpoints or beliefs without the assistance of a teacher who is dogmatic. An instructor who is dogmatic has the ability to supply their trainees with a strong set of beliefs and convictions that can help them form their own opinions and beliefs. For that reason, an instructor who is not dogmatic is not teaching in the sense that they are not supplying their trainees with the guidance and instructions they require to form their own viewpoints and beliefs.
"Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water. Through an active, reciprocal exchange, teaching can strengthen learning how to learn"
"I went to school at this log school house. A white woman was my teacher, I do not remember her name. My father had to pay her one dollar a month for me. Us kids that went to school did not have desks, we used slates and set on the hued down logs for seats"
"I always wanted to go to the Chavez school but I could never afford it when I was growing up so a lot of my learning came from magic books and watching other magicians. I was also very lucky that I had a couple of really good magic teachers"
"We need to redefine the role of the teacher from that of the transmitter of knowledge to that of a researcher, co-learner, and partner in the process of constructing knowledge"
"Art owes its origin to Nature herself... this beautiful creation, the world, supplied the first model, while the original teacher was that divine intelligence which has not only made us superior to the other animals, but like God Himself, if I may venture to say it"
"One can make a case that says that since 85% of children being brought up in single family homes are being brought up by women that about 85% of elementary school teachers should be males to balance out the feminization that the boys and girls receive"
"I am sure it is one's duty as a teacher to try to show boys that no opinions, no tastes, no emotions are worth much unless they are one's own. I suffered acutely as a boy from the lack of being shown this"
