"Very often we developed a better grasp of the subjects than the over worked teachers"
About this Quote
Bandura points to a formative scene in which scarcity and strain on educators push learners to become the primary agents of their own development. When teachers are stretched thin, the classroom’s center of gravity shifts: students can no longer rely on authority to structure every step, so they organize, experiment, and teach one another. That shift embodies the core of social learning, knowledge emerging through observation, modeling, collaboration, and feedback loops within a peer group.
There is no contempt in the comparison with “over worked teachers,” but a critique of systems that rely on heroic labor rather than sustainable design. Overload narrows the bandwidth for responsive guidance, while peer networks distribute attention and expertise. In those conditions, students who explain concepts to others rehearse and refine their own understanding; teaching becomes the apex of learning. Mastery is reinforced by social validation and by the tangible success of problem solving together.
The experience cultivates self-efficacy. Each time students set goals, monitor progress, and surmount difficulties without constant oversight, they internalize the belief that they can influence outcomes. That belief is not mere confidence; it is a calibrated sense of capability that propels persistence, strategic effort, and resilience. Through reciprocal determinism, the environment of constraint elicits agentic behavior, which in turn reshapes the environment, study circles form, norms of mutual aid emerge, collective competence grows.
There is also a quiet redefinition of expertise. Formal credentials do not guarantee the deepest grasp of a subject; understanding is earned through active inquiry, elaboration, and application. The ideal role for teachers becomes that of designers of learning ecologies, structuring challenges, curating resources, and coaching metacognition, while students assume ownership of the intellectual work.
The statement anticipates contemporary practices: peer instruction, flipped classrooms, open educational resources, and communities of practice. It is an invitation to build systems where teachers are supported and learners are empowered, so that mastery is not an accident of scarcity but the norm of a participatory culture.
There is no contempt in the comparison with “over worked teachers,” but a critique of systems that rely on heroic labor rather than sustainable design. Overload narrows the bandwidth for responsive guidance, while peer networks distribute attention and expertise. In those conditions, students who explain concepts to others rehearse and refine their own understanding; teaching becomes the apex of learning. Mastery is reinforced by social validation and by the tangible success of problem solving together.
The experience cultivates self-efficacy. Each time students set goals, monitor progress, and surmount difficulties without constant oversight, they internalize the belief that they can influence outcomes. That belief is not mere confidence; it is a calibrated sense of capability that propels persistence, strategic effort, and resilience. Through reciprocal determinism, the environment of constraint elicits agentic behavior, which in turn reshapes the environment, study circles form, norms of mutual aid emerge, collective competence grows.
There is also a quiet redefinition of expertise. Formal credentials do not guarantee the deepest grasp of a subject; understanding is earned through active inquiry, elaboration, and application. The ideal role for teachers becomes that of designers of learning ecologies, structuring challenges, curating resources, and coaching metacognition, while students assume ownership of the intellectual work.
The statement anticipates contemporary practices: peer instruction, flipped classrooms, open educational resources, and communities of practice. It is an invitation to build systems where teachers are supported and learners are empowered, so that mastery is not an accident of scarcity but the norm of a participatory culture.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning |
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