the best teacher is experience essay

• Practice Test
• Useful Tips – Tricks
• Full Writing Review
• General Writing Task
• Writing Task 1
• Writing Task 2
• Writing Exercises
• Writing Sample – Topics
• Writing Vocabulary
• Speaking Vocabulary
• Intro Question
• Speaking Part 1
• Speaking Part 2
• Speaking Part 2 – Audio
• Speaking Part 3
• IELTS Books
• Recent Exams
• IELTS Vocabulary
• Essay from Examiners
• IELTS Ideas

Topic: Experience is the best teacher

1. essay 1: experience is the best teacher.

Books are considered to be the source of all knowledge, but all that one learns through a book is only of theoretical nature in the form of ideas and concepts. It is essential to utilize them in a real environment and experience the knowledge that is learned from books.

Learning is nothing but understanding the world around us. Books, no doubt are a great source of knowledge as it gives us an idea about a particular subject in detail. But all that one could learn from it is limited to the level of knowing how a certain phenomenon occurs, or how a certain concept works. The knowledge gained through books alone cannot help anyone, because what one learns through the books should be put in to use to harvest the benefits. For instance, a person who wants to learn driving can go through various manuals and guides that teach people how to drive, but all this knowledge is useful only when you are actually driving the car on the roads. It would be an utter waste of time if one just reads the books and does not use them for practical purpose.

Learning through experience is always a lot different from learning through books. Let us consider the same example of a person wanting to learn to drive: even if he goes through every book that is available on driving, still it cannot qualify him as an expert driver. This is because of the fact that books about driving can only teach people traffic rules and provide solutions on how to handle certain situations. The situations faced by a driver could be totally different from what he had learnt from a book. Sometimes we find that the real environment is quite different from the one perceived by us through reading books. This is the very reason why, even in educational institutions, all theoretical classes are followed by practical sessions.

Learning through experience can also be more effective than learning through books because one does not envision everything on his own, but is given a chance to experience the reality. The art of driving can be enjoyed only when we are behind the wheels and not when reading it in books. Moreover, any book is actually an account of past experiences, i.e. it is based on the experiences of people who tried to develop a new idea. The books are their experiences, telling us what they already have tried. Thus from their experiences we can correct ourselves and thus save valuable time and resources. It helps us to concentrate on their failures and to correct them, but they alone cannot teach us everything we need to know. The knowledge learned through books alone cannot help us to face all the exigencies that we would face in real life situations; we have to practice on our own.

Books are like a guiding light in one’s pursuit for knowledge. But it is left to everyone of us to experience it first hand and learn new things for the betterment of their lives. So the notion “experience is the best teacher” is perfectly true.

2. Essay 2 : Are books more important than experience?

It is true that “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” A person can learn a lot and retain what he learns through experience. In my opinion life’s valuable lessons are learnt from experience and so the knowledge gained from experience is more important.

Books are a great source of information. A person in his lifetime cannot experience everything, but by reading a book on a particular subject he can gain knowledge over that subject in less time. There are books available on any subject that one needs. However experience seems more important to me.

Suppose a person living in the United States wants to learn about India. He has two options: he could visit India and learn about the people and places there or he could just pick up a book about India and read it. The first option will be expensive and time consuming, but at the same time it gives one first hand information and a sense of satisfaction while the second option is less expensive and saves time.

A person can gain knowledge and learn many valuable lessons through his/her own practical experiences and also the experiences of others. The knowledge learnt from experience is very likely to be retained in our memory for a long period of time. The conclusions that we draw from what we learn would be from our practical experience instead of accepting the conclusion drawn in the book by the author.

So in my opinion knowledge can be gained both by reading books and by experience but the knowledge gained through experience is more important.

3. Essay 3 : Are books more important than experience?

Nowadays, most people appreciate learning at school, where a number of books are the source of knowledge. However, from my point of view, learning from experience is much more important than learning from books since our real lives concern more about knowledge from experience than knowledge from books.

Firstly, knowledge obtained from books is more abstract. As we enthusiastically study in classroom, we have learned several mathematic equations, or a number of science theories. Of course, they all are necessary for some professional occupations, such as scientist, engineer, and doctor, but not for all careers.

In addition, knowledge from books is rather logical and exact. The result of a matter is always follow-concerned theories. For example, a person who has learned science can know how long that an apple falls to the ground takes. Certainly, the answer can be obtained by using Newton’s formula.

Nevertheless, I think that the most significant lessons cannot be taught; they have to be experienced. No one can teach us how we can get along with others well when we have to change to a new society. Books cannot teach us how to adjust behavior to satisfy others, and think optimistically when we confront a trouble.

In contrast to books, knowledge from experience is adjustable; it does not depend on any theory or equation. A solution from experience is always depending on the situation and other factors influencing the problem. This is because living experience is so fine and complex that cannot be determined by theories or equations.

In conclusion, although both books and experience can give us a variety of knowledge, in my view, the knowledge from experience is more important. The reason is that in everyday life we must face with a lot of situations, either extremely hard or easy to cope with, that cannot be handle by just knowledge from books.

4. Essay 4:  Not everything that is learned is contained in books

Learning, as the name indicates has lot many meanings as to which source one would choose to understand things of his own interest. Books have always been an inevitable part of one’s life as they have the ability to make people aware of the different things happening in our world. It is said that not everything that is learned is contained in books. This is in fact true because books can offer us knowledge regarding the things that have happened and sometimes the ways to deal with a situation that one can encounter in his life. I would appreciate the fact that the knowledge gained from experience is much more important than that we receive from books. I would like to further illustrate my reasons as follows:

Everyone would admit the fact that knowledge gained from experience is one that remains in our mind forever. It is correctly said, “Experience is the teacher of man.” Being a science student, I have gone through different books where we come across different reactions and experiments, where the results will be shown in the form of diagrams or may be expressed in a simple language. Unless we conduct that experiment we will not know the problems or the difficulties we will have to overcome during the experiments. Textbook knowledge is merely a description of facts and outcomes, whereas the same knowledge when gained through experience teaches us a lot, right from the start till the end and its a journey through the various aspects of one process which one might not be aware of and might not be described in the books.

During my undergraduate years I had only knowledge from books and I used to wonder how the experiments are designed and how they are carried out. But, during my post graduate days I had to do a two month nutritional trial on fishes where I had to cope up with everything like procuring tubs and fishes, arranging aeration facilities, preparation of food for the fishes, daily water exchange, samplings, analysis and so on. Now, I am confident of carrying out similar works and the experience that I have gained will remain with me as long as I live. When similar instances occur, we will have more self-confidence and when such aspects are passed on to our juniors, they would also feel happy and confident.

Needless to say books are also very important. What I have mentioned is from my viewpoint as a science student. There are many different subjects where the conduct of work is tough and in such circumstances we gain information from books. Some aspects would be time consuming and tedious and performing such a work with a limited period of time would not be feasible. In such cases, books definitely open a person’s eye towards various aspects and give him first hand information about what he wants to know.

A person who has learned from experience never forgets what has happened and if it was proved a bad thing then he would certainly try to avoid that situation in the future. If something good has happened then he will put his best to further improve it; that in turn will enhance his skill and boost his self-esteem. Knowledge gained by experience can be passed over to others who also are supposed to face the same situation and that helps the person to be aware of what he intends to do. He can even avoid those factors that can affect his performance.

In fact I would rather say that knowledge gained from experience lingers in our minds forever and that boosts our confidence when taking up a similar task. On the other hand, the fact that books are knowledge providers cannot be ignored, because books provide us with lot more information about the different things that are very difficult to be experienced. Hence it can be concluded that knowledge gained from books is second hand knowledge whereas knowledge that are gained from experience is firsthand and it takes a person through the different hidden intricacies of the task and makes him learn the knowledge in a practical manner.

5. Essay 5 : Are books more important than experience?

To my opinion, books and real experience are two completely different sources of knowledge. It is really difficult to determine which of the two to be of much greater importance, because normally knowledge gained from experience complements that acquired from books, but not substitutes it. Comparing the features of the two sources, I would stress the following points of differences.

First, the knowledge gained from books is, to a certain extent, of abstract nature. Books are normally the collections of facts and general rules. Books give us the most complete overview of a subject in a more or less structured manner, covering all known details and exceptions. In some way, books are concentrations of knowledge and experiences of many generations of people, given in a concise and comprehensive way. Obtaining such knowledge just from the personal experience would take an immense amount of time or even would not be possible at all. The practical experience, gives us not general knowledge, but particular skills. Without these particular skills, all the knowledge gained from books might be just a useless collection of facts and rules. The best example of the importance of practical experience that comes to my mind is learning a foreign language. One can learn a lot of vocabulary and grammar rules, memorize many exceptions, but without actual applying of all this knowledge in real life conversations, writing letters and listening to real speeches, one can hardly be proficient in the language. The importance of having practical skills is also proved by the fact that most employers appreciate working experience above all grades and diplomas.

Another point of contrast between books and experience is that for some subject, such as economy of sociology, a book may represent a point of view of its author or authors. The conclusions given in the book might be out of date, or might be biased by the personal attitude of the authors. In this case, practical experience helps to build up personal perspective on the matter, to bring the matter up to date.

On the psychological grounds, learning from experience is much more efficient than reading books. Reading books is in most cases a passive action, which can be done without much effort. Despite the fact that there are people who can memorize thousands of papers, for a normal person, such work does not result in a deep, comprehensive knowledge base. On the contrary, doing things in practice, people have to overcome various difficulties, get through unknown areas, and pay attention to small details. The reward for these efforts is much more comprehensive and profound knowledge.

Summarizing the said above I want to admit that both books and practice is important in the process of learning. While none of the two can be considered as absolute substitute for the other, I would place the practical experience in a little bit advance position in terms of importance.

6. Essay 6 : Are books more important than experience?

We gain our knowledge about the world and our life from two sources: from experience and from books. These two resources are both important, but which of them is more important?

Knowledge from books forms a very important part of our knowledge structure. In schools and colleges, we learn knowledge that is fundamental to our future career. We learn knowledge from books in order to make our contributions to this society in the future. A student learns mathematic equations and other scientific knowledge and become a scientist or engineer. We will be illiterate and ignorant without learning knowledge from books. Moreover, we acquire knowledge about life and the world by reading books, magazines and newspapers. This is also very important, as we cannot experience everything all by ourselves. Therefore books are a very important source of knowledge.

On the other hand, we cannot learn everything from books. “Experience is the best teacher” is an old cliche but I agree with it. The most important, and sometimes the hardest lessons we learn in life come from our participation in situations. We learn how to get along with others or how to gain self-respect from our experience, not from books. We cannot learn emotional feelings, such as love and care, through books; they come from our real life experience. Knowledge from experience is also a very important supplement to knowledge from books.

Needless to say both learning sources, books and experience, are very important to us. But in my opinion knowledge from experience is more important, because without knowledge from experience, it is impossible to get a real understanding of knowledge from books, and how to apply this knowledge to real world situations.

7. Essay 7 : Are books more important than experience?

Upon the question “not everything that is learned is contained in books”, different people have different opinions. From my point of view, I believe knowledge gained from experience is more valuable than knowledge gained out of books. In the following paragraphs I will try to explain my position more clearly.

Firstly, life’s valuable lessons are learned from experience. Can you forget important lessons learned from your childhood years, such as jumping down from a high place and broke your arms? From that accident you knew the importance of self-protection. Knowledge gained from experience is likely to be retained in our memory for a long period of time, although most of the time we have to pay a price for it.

Secondly, knowledge that is gained by doing things can provide you with firsthand information. If you don’t have the chance to experience on your own, you can only obtain second-hand knowledge and you will feel a lack of self-confidence.

Moreover, many skills and knowledge can only be learned through practical experiences. You cannot learn swimming by just reading from books on how to swim. You have to actually get there and jump into the pool. Experience is the best way to develop your personal abilities.

However, just as an English proverb goes “a coin has two sides,” reading books is also helpful. After all, you will not have the chance to experience everything by yourself. For instance, to travel to foreign countries is expensive and time-consuming, while reading a book about different cultures provides you with plenty of valuable information in a short period of time.

To conclude, knowledge gained from experiences is more important. Life requires knowledge, and experience is the key.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Latest posts, discuss essay in 15 sentences, environmental problems : essay from examiners, life expectancy : essay from examiners.

IELTS App - For Mobile

Ready for the IELTS exam with our IELTS app. Over 2 million downloads

Popular Last 24h

Describe a film that made you laugh, describe a person whom you met for the first time and made you happy, list of top 100 synonyms in the ielts test, [ebook] collins for ielts – reading, writing, listening, speaking and vocabulary, ielts writing task 2: sugar-based drinks, [ebook] ielts academic writing task 1 samples pdf, describe an intelligent person.

• IELTS Test/Skills FAQs
• IELTS Scoring in Detail
• Forecast Speaking – 2023
• List IELTS Speaking Part 3
• List IELTS Speaking Part 1
• IELTS Writing 2023 – Actual Test

Our Telegram

Join our community for IELTS preparation and share and download materials.

The information on this site is for informational purposes only. IELTS is a registered trademark of the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, or IDP Education Australia.

Latest Articles

Ielts speaking part 3: topic teamwork, describe a time when someone did well in a team, writing task 2: problem and solution, writing task 2: government| health care vs tax-payers, writing task 1: languages learned by two genders, most popular, describe something difficult you would like to succeed in doing, in many countries，today there are many highly qualified graduates without employment., describe a prize you have won.

ieltspracticeonline All Rights Reserved

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

Student Essays

Essays-Paragraphs-Speeches

Essay on Experience is the Best Teacher

The life is full of challenges and uncertainties. No one comes best prepared naturally to face every difficulty in life. One gains experience while dealing against the dangers of life. Read this essay on experience is the best teacher that talks how the experience in dealing the uncertainties of life hardens a man and prepares him against the worst battles of life.

List of Topics

Essay on Experience is the Best Teacher | Need & Importance of Experience in Life

Experience is the best teacher. We learn from our mistakes and become wiser with each experience. The lessons we learn through life help us to grow as individuals and make better decisions. In this essay, I will discuss the importance of experience as a teacher and share some of the lessons that I have learned through my own experiences.

>>>>> Read Also:   “ Paragraph on Study & Its Importance ”

One of the most important things that we learn from experience is how to make better decisions. With each decision that we make, we learn from our mistakes and become better at making future choices. For example, if we make a bad investment, we learn to be more careful with our money in the future. If we get into a car accident, we learn to drive more safely. We can apply the lessons we learn from experience to all areas of our lives, including our personal relationships, our careers, and even our own health.

Another important thing that we learn from experience is how to deal with difficult situations. When something goes wrong, we learn how to cope with the stress and figure out a way to fix the problem. We also learn how to communicate better and work together as a team to solve problems. This is especially important in our careers, where we often have to work with others to achieve a common goal.

The lessons that we learn from experience are invaluable, and they help us to grow into better individuals. I believe that experience is the best teacher, and I am grateful for all of the lessons that I have learned through my own experiences.

>>> Related Post:   ” Essay on My Inspiration in Life ”

Therefore, experience is the most valuable asset one could have in life. With experience, comes wisdom, and with wisdom, comes a better understanding of the world around us. I believe that experience is the key to a successful life, and I encourage everyone to learn from their own experiences as much as possible.

Experience is the best teacher Explanation:

As the saying goes, experience is the best teacher. This means that there is no better way to learn than through personal experiences. While formal education and learning from others can provide valuable knowledge, there is nothing quite like first-hand experience.

There are many reasons why this phrase holds true. First and foremost, our own experiences are unique to us. No two people will have the exact same experiences, and therefore the lessons learned will also be different. This allows for a personalized learning experience that is tailored to our individual needs and circumstances.

Additionally, experiencing something firsthand allows us to truly understand its impact. We can read about and hear about certain concepts or situations, but until we actually go through it ourselves, we may not fully comprehend its effects. For example, we can read about the importance of time management, but it is not until we have a busy schedule and struggle to balance everything that we truly understand its significance.

Experience also allows us to make mistakes and learn from them. In fact, making mistakes and learning from them is an integral part of the learning process. By experiencing failures and obstacles, we are able to develop problem-solving skills and resilience, which are essential qualities for personal growth and success.

Furthermore, experience provides a deeper level of understanding. When we learn from others or through formal education, we may only scratch the surface of a topic. However, experiencing something firsthand allows us to delve deeper into it, gaining a more comprehensive understanding.

It is also worth noting that experiences can come in different forms. They can be positive or negative, big or small, but each one offers a valuable lesson. Even the smallest experiences, such as trying a new food or visiting a new place, can teach us something about ourselves and the world around us.

Examples How Experience is the Best Teacher:

1. Learning from Mistakes

We all make mistakes, whether big or small. However, it is through these mistakes that we learn valuable lessons and gain experience. Often, we may think we know what the right decision is or how to handle a certain situation, but when things go wrong, we realize that there was a better way to approach it. Experience teaches us to think critically, evaluate our actions, and make wiser choices in the future.

2. Building Resilience

Experience also helps us build resilience. When we face challenges or failures, we learn how to adapt and bounce back. Through these difficult experiences, we become stronger and more resilient, making us better equipped to handle whatever life throws at us. This is especially important in today’s constantly changing and unpredictable world.

3. Developing Skills

Experience is a great way to develop skills, whether it be in a particular field or just general life skills. For example, if you want to become a skilled public speaker, the more experience you have speaking in front of an audience, the better you will become at it. Similarly, through real-life experiences, we learn how to handle different situations and develop important skills such as problem-solving, communication, and leadership.

4. Broadening Perspectives

Experience also allows us to broaden our perspectives. The more experiences we have, the more exposure we get to different cultures, beliefs, and ways of thinking. This helps us become more open-minded and understanding towards others. It also enables us to see things from different angles and find creative solutions to problems.

5. Creating Memories & Finding Passion and Purpose

Lastly, experience is about creating memories. Whether it’s through travel, trying new things, or tackling challenges, these experiences are what make life meaningful and memorable. They shape us into who we are and give us stories to tell. As the saying goes, “We do not remember days; we remember moments”. Experience is the best teacher because it allows us to

Lastly, experience helps us discover our passions and purpose in life. By trying out different things, we learn what we enjoy doing the most and what gives us a sense of fulfillment

Q: How do you write “experience is the best teacher”?

A: You write it as “Experience is the best teacher.”

Q: Why do you think experience is the best teacher?

A: Experience is often considered the best teacher because it provides practical, hands-on learning that is often more impactful than theoretical knowledge alone.

Q: Is “experience is the best teacher” a saying?

A: Yes, “experience is the best teacher” is a well-known saying.

Q: How do you write a teaching experience essay?

A: To write a teaching experience essay, describe your experiences as an educator, the lessons you’ve learned, and the impact you’ve had on students. Organize it with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Related Posts:

Reader Interactions

August 7, 2022 at 5:33 am

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

‘Experience is the Best Teacher’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples

Did someone tell you that ‘experience is the best teacher’? What does this mean, and where does the saying come from?

‘Experience is the best teacher’ is an old proverb that was first recorded by Julius Caesar. It means that people learn more and gain more wisdom from actual observation and contact with events or facts rather than hearing about these events or facts secondhand. In short, it means that actually doing a task or having an experience will impart deeper lessons than being taught the same thing in a book or in school.

What Does 'Experience is the Best Teacher' Mean?

‘Experience is the best teacher’ is a proverb that means that most wisdom is gained through actual real-life experience rather than through books or school. The word ‘experience’ can be used as a noun or a verb, with the following primary definitions:

• Noun : Practical observation of and contact with facts or events
• Verb : Undergo or encounter (an occurrence or event)

Essentially, this proverb means that life is a more effective communicator of knowledge and wisdom than studying books or attending school. The implication is also that the lessons that we learn from our actual lived experience are more lasting than the lessons we are taught via second-hand accounts.

There’s a good chance that you have experienced this phenomenon yourself. If you’ve ever tried to learn something from a book and struggled to fully grasp its meaning but then later learned the same lesson from you’re actual life experience, that you have learned firsthand that ‘experience is the best teacher!’

Where Does 'Experience is the Best Teacher' Come From?

This proverb has a very long history. According to the book Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner, the earliest known version of the proverb was recorded by none other than Julius Caesar. Caesar was a Roman general and statesman who served as the dictator of Rome until his infamous assassination in 44 BC.

In his account of the war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Roman Senate, Caesar wrote (in Latin) that

“Experience is the teacher of all things.”

The Roman author Pliny the Elder also used this phrase more than one hundred years later in ‘Naturalis Historia.’ In this text, he wrote:

“Experience is the most efficient teacher of all things.”

We find the phrase again in the work of Tacitus , a Roman historian who wrote in his ‘Histories’ that:

“Experience teaches.”

In terms of English renderings of this phrase, the first example appears in ‘Proverbs or Adagies,’ a text by Richard Taverner.

In the Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman, the meaning of this proverb is given as follows:

“One learns more from experience than from books.”

It claims that the phrase comes from the Latin phrase ‘experiential docent’ and first appears in English in Roger Ascham’s ‘The Schoolmaster.’

Vern Law, a former baseball pitcher that played sixteen seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, once inverted the famous proverb by saying:

“Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before presenting the lesson.” – Vern Law

Using the Google Books Ngram Viewer, we can see the usage of this proverb over the past two hundred-plus years.

In the publication The Homeopathic Record: Medical, Social, and Scientific from 1856, we find the following passage:

“”Everyone has been told,” says the authoress, “that experience is the best teacher and although in early days this maxim may have been laughed at, as somewhat old-fashioned and meaningless, it contains a truth which time renders more and more manifest.””

We also see an example of this phrase in use in an issue of Mechanics Magazine from 1825.

“Whatever, Sir, may be the claims of Alpha to knowledge of this subject, and by what means he has acquired that knowledge, I am unacquainted; I am inclined, however, to think that he will ever find that experience is the best teacher .”

For a third example, let’s look at a short selection from A Guide to Floriculture, an 1847 publication by Thomas Winter.

“To tell the amateur to take a certain portion of this soil, and a certain portion of another, and so on, only serves to distract the mind of the young beginner, mystifying their culture when there is no mystery about it. The best plan is to encourage the culture of plants; experience is the best teacher on this head, and of more service than all that could be written by the most experienced gardeners.”

Examples of 'Experience is the Best Teacher' In Sentences

How would you use the phrase ‘experience is the best teacher’ in a sentence? Let’s look at some examples:

• “I’ve been reading about raising rabbits for months now in preparation for our new pet, but now that we actually have them in our care, I realize that experience is the best teacher .”
• “Sally found his behavior frustrating, but she knew that nothing she could say would change the way he was acting. Her words would go one ear and out the other– experience is the best teacher , and he would have to learn the consequences of his actions on his own.”
• “When it comes to cooking, experience is the best teacher . There’s nothing wrong with trying to learn some tips ahead of time, but you really should just hop in the kitchen and get started.”
• “His father was always giving him a hard time for not finishing college and would roll his eyes when John would say that experience is the best teacher . The truth, though, is that he learned more in the few years he’d been running his business than in the decades he was in school.”
• “As a freshman , she had been so eager to attend classes and do her homework. By the time she was a senior, she’d realized that experience is the best teacher and couldn’t wait to get out into the real world and start her life.”
• “Our boss believes that experience is the best teacher , so new hires start working with customers right away.”
• “I know you think that experience is the best teacher , but that doesn’t mean you should deliberately ignore any wisdom that comes to you second-hand.”
• “The protagonist in the story is humbled when he enters the workforce after years of study and realizes that experience is the best teacher , not books.”

‘Live and learn’ and ‘learn the hard way’ are two phrases that convey a similar meaning to ‘experience is the best teacher.’ Both of these expressions are commonly used after someone has learned a lesson by making a mistake or dealing with misfortune.

Final Thoughts About ‘Experience is the Best Teacher’

‘Experience is the best teacher’ is an old proverb that succinctly conveys a fact of life. No matter how much we try and prepare and study for something, we often learn so much more when we actually experience it. Even though we can understand things intellectually, there is something about actual lived experience that helps us learn lessons more effectively. Beyond that, the lessons we learn from experience tend to stick with us longer than those that we learn second-hand.

Are you looking to learn more English proverbs? If so, check out our idioms blog for idioms, proverbs, adages, expressions, and more!

Learn More:

• ‘Check In On You’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Leading Me On’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Molly Whop Someone’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Jeez Louise’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘This Too Shall Pass’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Glow Up’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Sync Up’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘I Feel You’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Friend or Foe’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Runt of the Litter’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Err on the Side of Caution’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• ‘Deepest Sympathy’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• 'As of Now': Definition, Meaning, Examples
• ‘Nice Knowing You’: Definition, Meaning, and Examples

We encourage you to share this article on Twitter and Facebook . Just click those two links - you'll see why.

It's important to share the news to spread the truth. Most people won't.

Add new comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Post Comment

Experience is the best teacher. Some people think life experiences teach people more effectively than books or formal education can. How far do you agree with this statement? Give your reason or provide your personal experience.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Writing9 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Fully explain your ideas

To get an excellent score in the IELTS Task 2 writing section, one of the easiest and most effective tips is structuring your writing in the most solid format. A great argument essay structure may be divided to four paragraphs, in which comprises of four sentences (excluding the conclusion paragraph, which comprises of three sentences).

For we to consider an essay structure a great one, it should be looking like this:

• Paragraph 1 - Introduction
• Sentence 1 - Background statement
• Sentence 2 - Detailed background statement
• Sentence 3 - Thesis
• Sentence 4 - Outline sentence
• Paragraph 2 - First supporting paragraph
• Sentence 1 - Topic sentence
• Sentence 2 - Example
• Sentence 3 - Discussion
• Sentence 4 - Conclusion
• Paragraph 3 - Second supporting paragraph
• Paragraph 4 - Conclusion
• Sentence 1 - Summary
• Sentence 2 - Restatement of thesis
• Sentence 3 - Prediction or recommendation

Our recommended essay structure above comprises of fifteen (15) sentences, which will make your essay approximately 250 to 275 words.

Discover more tips in The Ultimate Guide to Get a Target Band Score of 7+ » — a book that's free for 🚀 Premium users.

• Check your IELTS writing »
• Find writings with the same topic
• View collections of IELTS Writing Samples
• Show IELTS Writing Task 2 Topics

In the future all cars,buses and trucks will be driverless.The only people travelling inside these vehicles will be passengers. Do you think advantages of driverless vehicles outweigh the disadvantagous?

Some people believe that it is responsibility of individual to take care of their own health and diet. others however believe that governments should make sure that their citizens have a healthy diet. discuss both view and give your opinion., you have just returned home from a holiday and have received photographs from a friend who was on holiday with you. write to your frind thanking them for the photographs. you should include: -a description of the photos -the most memorable thing about the holiday -invite them to come and stay with you, nuclear technology should be used for constructive purposes. do you agree or disagree, overpopulation is a big problem today in many major urban centers. what are the causes, and effects.

SoTL Matters

Centre for english language communication national university of singapore, experience is the best teacher.

Experience is the best teacher: Developing teaching philosophy through in- and out-of-classroom experiences

by Rowland Anthony Imperial

Introduction

In higher education (HE), English language teaching (ELT) practitioners often struggle to meet the ever-increasing demand for English language/communication (EL/C) or EMI courses due to the limited availability of teachers. This is often challenging for novice ELT practitioners who have to conduct EL/C courses in area(s) outside of their expertise.

I take the stance that novice ELT practitioners can actively engage in continuing professional development through experiential learning – the active construction of knowledge and meaning from real-life, in- and out-of classroom teaching experiences and social interactions. My perspective has been shaped from both my in- and out-of-classroom teaching experiences throughout the course of my instructorship, which has so far only spanned five semestersI argue that such experiences have been crucial in how my teaching philosophy has evolved within a short time; the changes I have made to my teaching philosophy have been instrumental in developing teaching strategies that are more concrete, clearly defined, and in line with educational practices that focus on student learning.

Experiential learning through educational praxis

Yardley, Teunissen and Dornan (2012, p. 161) define experiential learning as learning that is ‘situated’ in a context relevant to learners’ own future careers. Practitioners of experiential learning today continue to heavily borrow ideas from the works of Kolb (1984), and also from Dewey (1938) and Knowles (1980). Kolb’s works, in particular, have been useful in asserting the importance of experiential learning as a means for facilitating knowledge creation within structured or tutored settings. This serves as one of the crucial bases for the praxis or cyclical theory-practice approach to teacher education. Experiential learning also fits nicely within the Vygotskian sociocultural theory (SCT) paradigm. SCT proponents like Lantolf and Poehner (2014) argue that learning is hardly an individual process; rather, it is essentially situated within its environment. Vygotsky (1978, 1997) terms this the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Here, novice learners enter as ‘legitimate peripheral participants’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991) who receive support from more knowledgeable or experienced members of the community.

Bearing these theoretical concepts in mind, novice ELT practitioners can actively engage in the process of experiential learning from classrooms. They can jumpstart this process this by actively subjecting their curricula and pedagogical knowledge to empirical scrutiny; in other words, planning, designing, and carrying out design interventions to generate theoretical or practical knowledge of EL/C or EMI teaching strategies. Then, they can critically reflect on gained knowledge and experiences and utilise them in subsequent design interventions. Consequently, this evolves into a cyclical process that reinforces the dialectical interconnectedness between theory and practice in their teaching profession.

…novice ELT practitioners can actively engage in the process of experiential learning from classrooms…

Redefining my teaching philosophy through educational praxis

Teaching philosophy statements are an ideal means to evaluate the impact of experiential learning on teacher development, primarily because they critically reflect how teachers conceptualise and rationalise teaching curricula and pedagogies (Beatty, Leigh & Dean, 2009). With regard to developmental education, novice ELT practitioners who are more critical and reflective are more likely to reconstruct and redefine their teaching philosophies based on relevant in- and out-of classroom experiences.

The following sub-sections outline the developmental changes to my teaching philosophy that had taken place in the course of five semesters, from August 2017 to December 2019. This section is organized chronologically to show the diachronic influence of my in- and out-of classroom experiences on the developmental changes in my teaching philosophy, vice-versa.

First and second teaching semesters: A focus on linguistic forms

In 2017, I joined the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC) as a full-time instructor of FAS1101: Writing Academically , an undergraduate-level, critical writing module for the arts, humanities, and social sciences. FAS1101, despite being primarily a content course, also largely assessed writing organisation and clarity, cohesion, and conciseness of language use. I thus viewed the module as a means for student writers to develop their meta-knowledge of academic language. Hence, my teaching style heavily drew from four semesters’ worth of experience as a graduate teaching assistant for a linguistics introductory course. As a FAS1101 instructor, I focused on imparting to my students two key knowledge domains in linguistics and language research:

• Grammaticality – languages have complex grammatical structures that can be empirically observed and learnt through exposure to a variety of texts;
• Variation – language use and linguistic forms display systematic variation even within the same type of source text (e.g., academic essays).

Adopting a form-focused teaching philosophy required using a variety of texts to expose the students to a vast range of citation and writing styles, reporting techniques, and vocabulary and sentence structures. As a trained linguist, I felt that it was important that my students understood the diversity and utility of language options to increase accuracy of meaning and achieve clarity, cohesion, and conciseness in writing.

Third teaching semester: Facilitating knowledge/meaning-making beyond ‘form’

In my second teaching semester, I was invited by several CELC colleagues to join a special interest group (SIG) that would focus on developing ways to cater to special needs students and promote more inclusive HE classrooms. The SIG decided to use the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, developed by the Centre for Applied Special Technology (CAST, 2018), as a basis for developing a standard operating procedure for accommodating/providing assistance to special needs students. My experience of working with the SIG inspired me to reconsider my form-focused teaching philosophy and redefine it along two needs-based principles – inclusivity and equity – which also reflect the guiding principles of the UDL framework:

• Inclusive education – students need learning spaces where they feel a sense of acceptance, belonging, and recognition;
• Equity – students need equitable access to participate in meaningful and challenging learning opportunities.

One of the key assumptions of the framework is that learners perceive and access information through different ways; inequalities may arise when information is presented to all learners through a single form of representation. So, for my third teaching semester, I decided to explore this issue by implementing several changes to the design and content of my classroom materials. For instance, I attempted to reduce inequalities in access to information by presenting the same lesson content to my students and repackaging them in several forms (print, digital, and oral). I also provided various types of embedded support, such as comprehensive housekeeping materials, which I disseminated at the very start of the semester; and weekly supplementary materials, which provided better options for accessing module content, building essay writing and organisation techniques, and internalising such techniques (to maximise learning transfer and generalisation). I also diversified the structure of my lessons through debates and even gamification. These initiatives, in particular, gained positive recognition among students, based on their end-of-semester qualitative feedback.

Fourth teaching semester: Promoting writing-reading competencies

My experience of designing and creating UDL-inspired teaching materials further pushed me to re-evaluate my teaching philosophy. I was very much inspired by Spivey’s (1990, 1997) textual construction framework that I decided to adapt it for a critical reading exercise on the third teaching instruction week. Here, students were taught the following critical reporting techniques: summarizing/paraphrasing , quoting , and use of reporting verbs . In this lesson, I devised two process-oriented classroom activities: (1) identification and internalisation of reporting techniques through a critical reading of academic source texts, and (2) transfer of critical reading and reporting skills through the construction of a new text. This approach felt very effective to me that I immediately decided to redesign my classroom materials for all subsequent lessons. The vast majority of my students seemed to appreciate the changes I had made to the lessons, as evidenced by their qualitative feedback and the significant increase in my student feedback scores.

Fifth teaching semester: Promoting critical thinking skills

My exposure to reading-writing literacy encouraged me to explore another aspect of FAS1101 that I felt could be better taught: critical thinking. I redefined my teaching philosophy and regarded academic writing not as an end-goal, but as a means to develop critical thinking both as a worldview and an intellectual practice. This philosophy drew inspiration from several prominent scholars of critical thinking, such as Jason (2011) and Paul and Elder (2006).

I devised new supplementary materials on critical thinking and disseminated these to my students at the very beginning of the semester. These materials provided the initial means for “encouraging action and expression” (cf. CAST, 2018), i.e., taking on a critical mindset when writing essays and reading from sources. Then, over the course of the semester, classroom activities that discussed linguistic forms and textual construction techniques were explicitly linked to several critical thinking concepts and ideas: deductive/inductive argumentation, truth, validity and soundness (Hughes & Lavery, 2004) ; elements of reasoning, intellectual traits, and their relationship with higher-order thinking processes, i.e., analysis, evaluation, and improvement (Paul & Elder, 2006). These design interventions proved to be effective, evidenced by the improved quality of writing of my students, their overall positive feedback on my teaching, and the additional increase in my student feedback scores.

The development so far: A three-pronged teaching philosophy

My experiences of teaching FAS1101 for two and a half years has helped me developed a three-pronged teaching philosophy based on the following theoretical pillars: linguistics, discourse analysis, and critical theory (see Figure 1). I continue to build on language-based theories on language use, communication, and meaning-making to help students identify and utilise a variety of language forms and writing techniques to construct academic texts; discourse-analytical/constructivist theories to help students develop reading-writing literacy; and critical thinking concepts to help build a worldview that encourages the value of truth and of knowledge in all forms. Ultimately, this teaching philosophy tailors to the needs of students and aspires to promote inclusive education and equity of access to learning opportunities.

Figure 1. Diagrammatic representation of my teaching philosophy for FAS1101: Writing Academically

…teachers must take a proactive stance towards teacher education and continuing professional development…

This reflection paper has emphasised the importance of experiential learning – the dialectical application of both theory and practice – in teacher education and training. Even within a short span of time, exposure to several in- and out-of-classroom experiences can cause positive changes to one’s teaching philosophy and ultimately, to their teaching strategies and classroom management practices.

Adopting an educational praxis approach enables ELT practitioners to find ways to mediate and self-regulate their experiences in the interest of improving classroom teaching and their continuing professional development. This is not to say, however, that department/faculty managers and administrators should leave teacher learning at hands of their academic staff; they must provide a variety of options for experiential learning and build effective communities of teaching practice. Regardless, teachers must take a proactive stance towards teacher education and continuing professional development. Teaching philosophies and pedagogies must be comprehensive enough to cater to diverse or unique classroom learning contexts and malleable enough to sustain through administrative or logistical expediencies.

Beatty, J. E., Leigh, J. S. A., and Dean, K. L. (2009). Philosophy rediscovered: Exploring the connections between teaching philosophies, educational philosophies, and philosophy.  Journal of Management Education,  33 (1), 99-114.

CAST. (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2 [graphic organizer]. Wakefield, MA: Author.

Dewey, J. 1938. Experience and education. New York: Collier Books.

Hughes. W., & Lavery, J. A. (2004). Critical thinking: An introduction to the basic skills. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press.

Jason. G. J. (2011). Critical thinking: Developing an effective worldview. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Knowles MS. 1980. The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lantolf, J. P., & Poehner, M. E. (2014). Sociocultural theory and the pedagogical imperative to L2 education. New York: Routledge.

Lave J, Wenger E. 1991. Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participa- tion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Spivey, N. N. (1990). Transforming texts: Constructive processes in reading and writing. Written Communication, 7 (2), 256-287.

Spivey, N. (1997). The constructivist metaphor: Reading, writing, and the making of meaning. New York: Academic Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky, Vol. III: Problems of the theory and history of psychology. New York: Plenum.

Yardley, S., Teunissen, P. W., & Dornan, T. (2012). Experiential learning: Transforming theory into practice. Medical Teacher, 34 (2), 161-164.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Essay Sample on Experience is the Best Teacher

The saying that goes ‘Experience is the best teacher’ has been one I heard since my childhood and even as a young adult, I still find myself in situations where I agree very strongly with the saying. Every experience gained at any age is valuable but some have lasting effects than others.

The mind of a child as Plato said and I am paraphrasing is like a blank slate, to be written on by experiences. As a ‘Blank slate’ every experience, from the first time at the beach to the first road trip all seem larger than life experiences that the child will carry into adulthood. This child may develop a strong affinity to the beach and may even find solace at the beach when the challenges of adulthood seem overwhelming. 

The friends made as children leave us with memories we long for and cherish for the rest of our lives that even as adults we still have this strong desire for those ‘Perfect times’ like on the playground when we had no worries and our biggest headaches were if our friends would still remain our friends after the long holidays. 

As teenagers, we begin to see the world a little clearer, it’s almost as if the rose-colored glasses of our childhood are taken off and we see things a little clearer. Friendships aren’t as simple anymore and our worries are now seemingly more complicated. We need to navigate the world equipped with nothing but trust in ourselves as young adults. The decisions we make during this time may shape our future because at this age we decide our first boyfriend who may set the precedent for future boys we will date. At this age we will decide whether we will go to college or not, where we will go to study, maybe in our local community or we will go interstate. These decisions as well as the experiences that come along with it, may eventually play a huge role in what type of an adult we grow up to be. 

I personally think the experiences gained as teenagers have a much bigger influence on who we turn out to become in the future. The stakes are much higher as a young adult, the wide array of experiences and the consequences therein are much more than the ones gained as a child so much so that they remain with us and guide our actions as we navigate adulthood. The challenges we face as teenagers are more or less the same as adults and the experiences gained during those formative years shine a light on our path as we journey into the future.

Related Samples

• Importance Of Animal Conservation Essay Example
• Experience Essay: Career as a Lawyer
• My Leadership Experience Essay
• Reflective Essay about Love
• Personal Narrative Essay: The Rosary Walk
• Advantages And Disadvantages Of Teamwork
• Importance of Setting Goals Essay Example
• Life Philosophy Essay Sample
• Essay Sample: Should Robots Replace Human Workers
• Balancing School and Work Personal Essay Example

Didn't find the perfect sample?

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Essay on “Experiences Is the Best Teacher” for School, College Students, Long and Short English Essay, Speech for Class 10, 12, College and Competitive Exams.

Experiences Is the Best Teacher

In several respects, the information gained from books and other sources is not always perfect. Sometimes it appears dull and much of it is not really grasped. Unless it is added and changed by the wisdom grown from experience, it is misleading and sometimes dangerous. However, nobody’s experience can ever be regarded as complete.

One cannot overlook or underestimate the importance of books. The knowledge contained in books is based on endless experience. We must constantly revise bookish knowledge in the light of practical experience.

If we visit a historical place, what we have learnt about the places in the books on history will take on life and colour. There can be no better way of learning the geography of different countries by actually visiting them and understanding them. To take examples, we prefer an experienced doctor or lawyer compared to a beginner. In certain spheres of life like politics, experience is very necessary. Thus, a lazy politician is incompetent and good for nothing to society.

Many occupations demand more experience, than theoretical knowledge. The sales representative goes to shops and house to house with a good theoretical knowledge about the product but experience teaches him to make friendly relations with the customers and to avoid ‘any problem. Many jobs depend wholly on practice and experience. People like shoemakers, goldsmiths, tailors, etc. learns their skills by practice, by trial and error and often serves a long training in their respective trades.

Experience is no doubt a best teacher, but it is unwise to disrespect the classroom studies. The lessons learnt from experience will not be forgotten. If we speak untruth or hide something and are trapped in a tight spot due to it, we are not likely to repeat the same mistake in future. Therefore, certain unpleasant experiences, failures and sufferings make us realize our errors and weaknesses and thus, teach us how to improve ourselves for the coming future.

Related Posts

Absolute-Study

Hindi Essay, English Essay, Punjabi Essay, Biography, General Knowledge, Ielts Essay, Social Issues Essay, Letter Writing in Hindi, English and Punjabi, Moral Stories in Hindi, English and Punjabi.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Essay On Experience is The Best Teacher

• Post category: Essay
• Reading time: 4 mins read

In several respects, the information gained from books and other sources is not always perfect. Sometimes it appears dull and much of it is not really grasped. Unless it is added and changed by the wisdom grown from experience, it is misleading and sometimes dangerous. However, nobody’s experience can ever be regarded as complete.

One cannot overlook or underestimate the importance of books. The knowledge contained in books is based on endless experience. We must constantly revise bookish knowledge in the light of practical experience.

If we visit a historical place, what we have learnt about the places in the books on history will take on life and colour. There can be no better way of learning the geography of different countries by actually visiting them and understanding them. To take examples, we prefer an experienced doctor or lawyer compared to a beginner. In certain spheres of life like politics, experience is very necessary. Thus, a lazy politician is incompetent and good for nothing to society.

Many occupations demand more experience, than theoretical knowledge. The sales representative goes to shops and house to house with a good theoretical knowledge about the product but experience teaches him to make friendly relations with the customers and to avoid any problem. Many jobs depend wholly on practice and experience. People like shoemakers, goldsmiths, tailors, etc. learns their skills by practice, by trial and error and often serves a long training in their respective trades.

Experience is no doubt a best teacher, but it is unwise to disrespect the classroom studies. The lessons learnt from experience will not be forgotten. If we speak untruth or hide something and are trapped in a tight spot due to it, we are not likely to repeat the same mistake in future. Therefore, certain unpleasant experiences, failures and sufferings make us realise our errors and weaknesses and thus, teach us how to improve ourselves for the coming future.

• Essay On Eradicator Of Slavery In America – Abraham Lincoln
• Essay On Environmental Pollution
• Essay On Environmental Hazards on Human Health
• Essay On Emperor Akbar And His Nine Gems
• Essay On Effect of Prayer
• Essay On Edwin Lutyens And Rashtrapati Bhavan
• Essay On Educational Value of Travelling
• Essay On Education of Woman and Her Position
• Essay On Effect of Poverty on Character
• Essay On Education And Its Aims

Please Share This Share this content

• Opens in a new window

You Might Also Like

Essay on my ride in a vintage car, essay on a circus show, essay on sarojini naidu, essay on are we happier than our forefathers.

Essay on Kalpana Chawla

Essay on hostel life, leave a reply cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

StudyRankers Test

Preparation starts here, descriptive essay on experience is the best teacher, experience is the best teacher: descriptive essay writing.

Books are considered to be the source of all knowledge, but all that one learns through a book is only of theoretical nature in the form of ideas and concepts. It is essential to utilize them in a real environment and experience the knowledge that is learned from books.

Learning is nothing but understanding the world around us. Books, no doubt are a great source of knowledge as it gives us an idea about a particular subject in detail. But all that one could learn from it is limited to the level of knowing how a certain phenomenon occurs, or how a certain concept works. The knowledge gained through books alone cannot help anyone, because what one learns through the books should be put in to use to harvest the benefits. For instance, a person who wants to learn driving can go through various manuals and guides that teach people how to drive, but all this knowledge is useful only when you are actually driving the car on the roads. It would be an utter waste of time if one just reads the books and does not use them for practical purpose.

Learning through experience is always a lot different from learning through books. Let us consider the same example of a person wanting to learn to drive: even if he goes through every book that is available on driving, still it cannot qualify him as an expert driver. This is because of the fact that books about driving can only teach people traffic rules and provide solutions on how to handle certain situations. The situations faced by a driver could be totally different from what he had learnt from a book. Sometimes we find that the real environment is quite different from the one perceived by us through reading books. This is the very reason why, even in educational institutions, all theoretical classes are followed by practical sessions.

Learning through experience can also be more effective than learning through books because one does not envision everything on his own, but is given a chance to experience the reality. The art of driving can be enjoyed only when we are behind the wheels and not when reading it in books. Moreover, any book is actually an account of past experiences, i.e. it is based on the experiences of people who tried to develop a new idea. The books are their experiences, telling us what they already have tried. Thus from their experiences we can correct ourselves and thus save valuable time and resources. It helps us to concentrate on their failures and to correct them, but they alone cannot teach us everything we need to know. The knowledge learned through books alone cannot help us to face all the exigencies that we would face in real life situations; we have to practice on our own.

Books are like a guiding light in one’s pursuit for knowledge. But it is left to everyone of us to experience it first hand and learn new things for the betterment of their lives. So the notion “experience is the best teacher” is perfectly true.

Law and Crime

Why experience isn’t always the best teacher, beliefs developed over time can prompt errors in crime labs and other arenas..

Posted August 11, 2022 | Reviewed by Vanessa Lancaster

• Forensic scientists, security agents, and doctors often make visual judgments of whether a certain outcome is present.
• Prevalence effects occur when experience teaches us that a given outcome is rare, which makes us poorer at noticing when it happens.
• Prevalence also affects judgments of forensic evidence in ways that can produce miscarriages of justice.
• Crime labs can use blind proficiency testing to periodically “retrain” forensic analysts and thus reduce mistakes.

Many jobs require people to make frequent and important visual judgments. Take airport security officers, for example. On any given day, they inspect thousands of suitcases through an X-ray machine, looking for weapons or other dangerous contraband–and while the vast majority of luggage does not contain such items, failing to notice a weapon can have devastating consequences.

Surely these trained professionals are diligent, and research suggests that they are quite skilled at detecting weapons in controlled settings–but in 2017, the Department of Homeland Security conducted undercover tests in which actors tried to sneak weapons into real-world airports. TSA agents failed to detect these weapons over 70 percent of the time. Why might these mistakes happen?

What Are Prevalence Effects?

Performance on a task generally improves with experience. In cognitive psychology, however, the phenomenon of prevalence effects shows how experience can backfire and create errors like these. In essence, if we learn through experience that a given outcome is rare, we unconsciously become complacent when looking for that outcome, which makes us less likely to notice it when it does happen.

As our hypothetical airport security officer learns over time that suitcases seldom contain weapons, they come to approach any given suitcase with the expectation that it will not contain a weapon, which then impairs their ability to detect a weapon when one is actually there.

Prevalence Effects in Forensic Science

My colleagues and I recently found that this phenomenon can affect forensic evidence judgments. In our first study , each participant viewed 100 pairs of fingerprints one at a time. For each pair, they decided whether the two fingerprints came from the same person (“matched”) and then learned whether their answer was correct before viewing the next pair. But here’s the twist:

While some participants saw equal numbers of matching and non-matching pairs, others saw 90 pairs that actually matched (and only 10 that didn’t), and another group saw only 10 pairs that matched (and 90 that didn’t). Participants in the latter two groups would learn over time that the pairs usually did (or usually didn’t) match.

As we expected, the ratio of matching to non-matching pairs affected the types of mistakes that participants made: People who saw mostly matching pairs grew more likely to misjudge non-matches as matches—i.e., errors that wrongly implicate innocent criminal suspects—and conversely, people who saw mostly non-matching pairs grew more likely to misjudge matches as non-matches—i.e., errors that might allow criminal offenders to remain free to re-offend.

Other studies have found similar results among people screening for fake IDs , radiologists searching for cancerous tumors , and, sure enough, airport security officers inspecting luggage for weapons . In each case, stimuli that appeared less frequently were more likely to go undetected.

Can We Avoid Prevalence Effects?

Unfortunately, prevalence effects are also difficult to correct. In our second study , published just this week, we first replicated the above findings with a sample of forensic science trainees. In addition, we tested whether requiring individuals to compare the fingerprints in a more structured and nuanced way would alleviate the problem–but it did not. Previous studies had tried other approaches to correct prevalence effects–such as forewarning people about the effect, forcing them to work more slowly , or giving them the opportunity to correct their answers –which were likewise ineffective.

If we can’t correct the effect, perhaps we can correct the prevalence–that is to say, avoid the effect by changing how often the outcomes occur in the first place. In some domains, this is impossible; for example, doctors cannot control how many of their patients’ X-rays show cancerous tumors. But in other domains, like the undercover airport tests described above, we can artificially and covertly increase the frequency of certain outcomes, like weapons.

In forensic laboratories, agencies such as the National Academy of Sciences and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology have similarly advocated for the use of blind proficiency testing, wherein scientists are periodically and unknowingly asked to test samples that do not actually come from a crime scene but are instead covert tests of their ability.

While many labs continue to resist blind proficiency testing for various reasons , others have published firsthand accounts suggesting that the practice is feasible and reaps substantial benefits . Our research suggests that blind proficiency testing can also combat errors due to prevalence effects; for example, if examiners in a given lab judge most evidence as “matching,” supervisors can introduce more “non-matches” as blind proficiency tests to balance out the ratio. Baggage screening studies had already found that prevalence effects decreased when participants were periodically “retrained” –i.e., mainly showed suitcases containing weapons and feedback on their performance.

They say that “experience is the best teacher,” which is often true–but research on the prevalence effect shows how experience can be a double-edged sword. In domains such as forensic science, even infrequent errors in visual tasks can have tremendous consequences, yet we also have some control over how exactly those tasks are structured. Thus, rather than learning from experience per se, we may be able to create an even better teacher by optimizing the type of experience that professionals receive.

Jeff Kukucka, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Towson University. His research examines the causes and consequences of wrongful convictions, with an emphasis on forensic science errors and life after exoneration.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Teletherapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Therapy Center NEW
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

Understanding what emotional intelligence looks like and the steps needed to improve it could light a path to a more emotionally adept world.

• Coronavirus Disease 2019
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

• Website Inauguration Function.
• Vocational Placement Cell Inauguration
• Media Coverage.
• Certificate & Recommendations
• Privacy Policy
• Science Project Metric
• Social Studies 8 Class
• Computer Fundamentals
• Introduction to C++
• Programming Methodology
• Programming in C++
• Data structures
• Boolean Algebra
• Object Oriented Concepts
• Database Management Systems
• Open Source Software
• Operating System
• PHP Tutorials
• Earth Science
• Physical Science
• Sets & Functions
• Coordinate Geometry
• Mathematical Reasoning
• Statics and Probability
• Accountancy
• Business Studies
• Political Science
• English (Sr. Secondary)

Hindi (Sr. Secondary)

• Punjab (Sr. Secondary)
• Accountancy and Auditing
• Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology
• Automobile Technology
• Electrical Technology
• Electronics Technology
• Hotel Management and Catering Technology
• IT Application
• Marketing and Salesmanship
• Office Secretaryship
• Stenography
• Hindi Essays
• English Essays

Letter Writing

• Shorthand Dictation

Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “Experience is The Best Teacher” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Experience is The Best Teacher

Essay No. 01

Are you prepared to be operated on by a surgeon who has read all about it in books but has never done it before? Have you had your car repaired by someone reading from a manual but who has never been an apprentice? No! We define experience as direct personal participation. We define best as most excellent and we define teacher as someone or something that teaches others.

The first example about why experience is the best teacher is because you may be trained extremely well but without experience you .are likely to do worse than a person with less training but a lot of experience. The second example is about our law system. The final example is about some real-life experiences.

 If a child touched an iron and was burnt by it, he or she is more likely to remember not to do such a thing in future than another who is told time and time again not to touch it. Many times, as teachers would know, when you teach a pupil something on one day and he nods his head and says “yes I know”, and ask him the next day, there is a high chance that he has forgotten. However if he has learned it by an experiment or by experience, he is likely to remember for a very long time, sometimes even to adulthood. There is nothing better than experience -experience is the best teacher.

We gain this through our lives and by putting ourselves in different live situations to get it. We can read about how to debate but it is never as adequate as the experience of it, standing in front of an attentive audience, conscious of saying the right thing, even feeling self-conscious and embarrassed but having done this several times, gaining the experience to deal with it and to improve from it. We try saying the debate to ourselves, to our colleagues and family before coming here today just to get the experience! Practice makes man perfect.

 A second example our law system is based upon experience through punishment. Take for example a criminal being sentenced to five years imprisonment. He will be less likely to commit such a crime in future because of this. This is only possible if the lawyer or prosecutor is an experienced person.

A third and final example of why experience is the best teacher is you cannot be a barrister, a doctor or an engineer as soon as you finish University. You have to become an articles clerk and work under an experienced advocate to gain that kind of knowledge, an intern or an apprentice in a recognized hospital or medical institute to get sufficient experience first. You have to get an L or P driver’s license before you gain sufficient experience to obtain a full license.

Practical experience in a field or subject is the final step in mastering it, because certain tasks cannot be done effectively without practice and hands-on experience.

Experience is most definitely the best teacher.

Essay No. 02

Experience is the Best Teacher

Experience is the best teacher. Her great subject is the Art of Living. No one can teach us this as well as she can. She is a stern schoolmistress. She sets up hard lessons, severely punishes inattention and stupidity, and charges very high fees. But what she teaches, she teaches thoroughly. We never forget her lessons. The worst of it is that we sometimes learn her lessons too late. The man who breaks all the rules of health in his youth by self-indulgence and vice, learns at last, when his health is wrecked for life, the right way of living ; but too late to be of any use to him.

One might think that we should be glad to learn how to live a right from the experience of our fathers, as recorded in books or as taught by the advice of our elders. But somehow many young people do not. They scoff at warnings and advice, and go their own way. You may warn a child again and again against playing with matches; but he does not believe you, until he scorches his hands. After that “the burnt child dreads the fire”. You may tell a boy not to meddle with stray dogs; but he does not listen, till he gets a nasty bite from one. After that “once bitten, twice shy”. He has to learn from experience; and her lessons he will not forget.

In the same way older people have to learn for them-selves, often by bitter experience, such old truths as, “Honesty is the best policy”, “All is not gold that glitters”, “A rolling stone gathers no moss”, “He who touches pitch is defiled”, “No pains no gains”, “Waste not, want not”, “Cut your coat according to your cloth”, “A fool and his money are soon parted”, “Look before you leap”, and “The way of transgressors is hard”. In such old proverbs much wisdom gained by experience has been preserved. It is by suffering that we learn patience; by facing danger we learn courage; by sorrow we learn sympathy; by mistakes we learn wisdom.

But all the lessons taught by experience are not unpleasant. Whether they are pleasant or unpleasant depends on ourselves. For we can just as easily learn from experience that honesty pays in the long run, as that dishonesty does not; that temperance maintains health, as that excess ruins body and soul; that kindness to others brings us joy, as that selfishness breeds unhappiness; and that hard work brings success, as that idleness spells failure.

Essay No. 03

Outline: Bookish knowledge is imperfect — some examples of the value of experience — in the school of experience we learn the truth of familiar proverbs —experience – a means of moral improvement — conclusion.

The knowledge obtained from books and teachers is imperfect in several respects. It is dull and much of it is not really digested. Unless it is supplemented and modified by the wisdom gained from experience, it is misleading and sometimes dangerous. This is not to underestimate the importance of books. After all, the knowledge contained in books is based on experience. But experience is endless and we must constantly modify bookish knowledge in the light of practical experience.

If we visit historical places like Agra, Bijapur, the ruins at Hampi and the caves of Ajanta and Ellora, what we have learnt about these places from the text books on history will take on life, colour, and vividness. There can be no better way of learning the geography of different countries than actually visiting them and understanding them at first hand. To take examples of a different kind, do we not prefer an experienced doctor or lawyer to a novice, however highly qualified he may be? In certain spheres of life like politics, experience is a must. An arm chair politician is ineffectual and cuts a poor figure.

We know the meanings of several phrases and proverbs in a vague, general manner. Then we personally experience the truth contained in them, we discover their meaning afresh, and they cease to be stale and commonplace. I knew, for example, that the phrase ‘fish-market’ figuratively meant an extremely noisy, disorderly place. But it was only when I happened to visit a fish-market for the first time and observed the tremendous bustle and noise that prevailed there that the real meaning of the phrase flashed across my mind with the vividness and freshness of a discovery. How often do we repeat the familiar proverb ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed?’ We really understand its truth only when we are deserted by our so – called friends in times of adversity.

The lessons learnt from experience will not be forgotten. If you tell a lie and consequently find yourself in a tight corner, you are not likely to repeat your mistake in the future. Certain bitter experiences – failure and suffering make us realise our errors and shortcomings and thus teach us how to improve ourselves.

About evirtualguru_ajaygour

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Quick Links

Popular Tags

Visitors question & answer.

• Gangadhar Singh on Essay on “A Journey in a Crowded Train” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.
• Hemashree on Hindi Essay on “Charitra Bal”, “चरित्र बल” Complete Hindi Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 Students.
• S.J Roy on Letter to the editor of a daily newspaper, about the misuse and poor maintenance of a public park in your area.
• ashutosh jaju on Essay on “If there were No Sun” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.
• Unknown on Essay on “A Visit to A Hill Station” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Download Our Educational Android Apps

Latest Desk

• Role of the Indian Youth | Social Issue Essay, Article, Paragraph for Class 12, Graduation and Competitive Examination.
• Students and Politics | Social Issue Essay, Article, Paragraph for Class 12, Graduation and Competitive Examination.
• Menace of Drug Addiction | Social Issue Essay, Article, Paragraph for Class 12, Graduation and Competitive Examination.
• How to Contain Terrorism | Social Issue Essay, Article, Paragraph for Class 12, Graduation and Competitive Examination.
• Sanskrit Diwas “संस्कृत दिवस” Hindi Nibandh, Essay for Class 9, 10 and 12 Students.
• Nagrik Suraksha Diwas – 6 December “नागरिक सुरक्षा दिवस – 6 दिसम्बर” Hindi Nibandh, Essay for Class 9, 10 and 12 Students.
• Jhanda Diwas – 25 November “झण्डा दिवस – 25 नवम्बर” Hindi Nibandh, Essay for Class 9, 10 and 12 Students.
• NCC Diwas – 28 November “एन.सी.सी. दिवस – 28 नवम्बर” Hindi Nibandh, Essay for Class 9, 10 and 12 Students.
• Example Letter regarding election victory.
• Example Letter regarding the award of a Ph.D.
• Example Letter regarding the birth of a child.
• Example Letter regarding going abroad.
• Letter regarding the publishing of a Novel.

Vocational Edu.

• English Shorthand Dictation “East and Dwellings” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines.
• English Shorthand Dictation “Haryana General Sales Tax Act” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines meaning.
• English Shorthand Dictation “Deal with Export of Goods” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines meaning.
• English Shorthand Dictation “Interpreting a State Law” 80 and 100 wpm Legal Matters Dictation 500 Words with Outlines meaning.

Rethinking Schools

Non-Restricted Content

“The Best Teacher I’ve Ever Had”

by Patrick Esty

Ms. Johnson was the name, or at least that’s what I think it was. It was such a long time ago—fourth grade, I think—but I still remember her because she had such a powerful influence on my life. When I started school, I was an average person with just enough enthusiasm as everyone else on the block, but after the fourth grade, I was full of energy. Ms. Johnson want you to succeed and supported you as an individual person to be the best you would be. I remember the very first week of the school year. It is so vivid in my mind.

“You better GET in that chair right away!” she yelled, and I sat down as if I were mounting a horse. She went on and pointed me out with her pencil while taking attendance. “Do you know how to sit BOY! You better GET UP and TRY again!” 

After taking attendance, she gave one of the most important speeches I have ever listened to in my life. “Hello, my  name is Ms. Johnson – not ‘Miss,’ not ‘Johnson,’ ‘John,’ ‘teacher,’ or ‘son,’ — Ms. Johnson. You raise your hand when you want to talk and ask me if you want to move, and when i say ‘Jump,’ you better ask me, ‘How high?’” She sure knew how to discipline her pupils, but she had another side to her that was more civilized and controlled. THis side was much stronger than her first. 

“… But there’s one thing you all have to learn before the year starts. It’s a thing you were born with, ‘common sense.’ Everybody has it, because if you don’t have it, you weren’t born!”

Then someone in the class asked her why she walked on a crutch. She answered in a low voice. “I broke my left leg trying to stop a fight. That’s what happens when people don’t use their common sense. They injure others as well as themselves.”

I think Ms. Johnson was the most powerful force in Engleberg Elementary School. Everyone who went through the school could tell you bout her. She taught everyone self-control. It is rare if you ever see someone from Engleberg start a fight or be involved in a crime. In fact, if it weren’t for her, many people I know wouldn’t be in school any more. She was not only a good teacher who taught discipline, but she was a great teacher who knew math, reading and writing skills. Being taught by Ms. Johnson is an experience no one forgets. 

One day, she got all of the students to enter a writing contest. I, being a lazy person since kindergarten, didn’t do it until the very last day it was due. You should have seen it! I scribbled together some really interesting stuff in those 24-hours, and knowing Ms. Johnson, I thought she wouldn’t like it at all. Boy, was I surprised.

“Patrick,” she said to me in private as I came to school one morning, “that was a  very good essay you wrote.” My mouth hung wide open. “Really!” I said with a  excited voice. “I thought it was terrible.” “No. 1 think you have some talent and I’m going to enter it in the city-level for competition.”

She did. Three months later, a gold medal came into my hands and she congratulated me. “You never know how good you are until you try. You are more than you think you are, Patrick. I want to see you do more…”

When I brought that gold medal home with me that night, my parents were “proud, proud, PROUD!” I could almost cry. I could almost laugh. I could hug Ms. Johnson, the one-legged lady, and only thank her for her tremendous support to raise my ego.

Today, I have received two good citizenship awards, hundreds of class achievements and perfect attendance certificates, and will graduate as class valedictorian in high school. Just think. Without her, I would be just an average guy. She helped me in my life tremendously.

by Renate Gray

Wanda Raven, Ms. Raven to those of us who are her students, is who I call the “Best Teacher” I’ve ever had. Her teaching style, personality and her desire to help me to succeed are the three qualities that l admire most about her.

Teaching styles vary greatly among teachers of different subjects as well as teachers of different grade levels. I was first introduced to Ms. Raven my sophomore year of high school when I became a student in her biology class. In the beginning she was like any other teacher, same grading scale, same class objectives. Yet after the first couple of days I could tell that she was different. When teaching she did her best to make us understand, not help us understand. If she felt you needed help she would allow time in her schedule to fit you in. being in a school where there is a lot of competition among the students made me seek her out even for the smallest problems. She was always there to help me and make me learn. 

When you picture how many people you come in contact with and how many teachers you’ve had, still have and will have in the future you realize how impersonal the relationships are. Ms. Raven’s intent seemed to be that she wanted to get to know each student so she could help with school or personal problems. I happened to stop to talk to her one day and that’s when I discovered what a nice personality she had. She greets me every time I see her and shares a few words. It was that sophomore year that I began having problems that I needed to talk about. I decided to seek some advice and help. Ms. Raven was always around to talk to listen. Her ability to listen is one part of her personality that stands out the most. She always found time to listen and no matter what was said she took it all to heart’, even the smallest, silliest problem. She never repeated what was said. Giving good, sound advice and helping to make me talk things out are two more qualities that I admire. Though most teachers would stop there, she didn’t. When she needed to talk she sought me out and confided a lot in me. Some might take that as a burden, I didn’t. I felt that if she could listen to me then I could do the same. Never have I had a teacher like that. 

When the school year ends, I usually have no further contact with my teachers. Ms. Raven came to me again my year of high school and asked if I needed help. I shared a few of my career goals with her and found out that she had a lot of knowledge from past experience about one of my future goals. Whenever I had a question or a doubt about something relating to school or college I could always find her and discuss it with her. Whenever she’d come across an article or literature pertaining to a career she would make sure I received a copy of it. These types of things express a desire to help me succeed and I’m grateful for that.

I’d like to finish by saying that I’ve never before come across a person like Ms. Raven. Her personality outshines those of most teachers. Her desire for my success in life seems only surpassed by my parents, family and the staff of Upward Bound. Her ability to teach and her process of teaching is a great help to me and to others. To me Ms. Raven is the Best Teacher” I’ve ever had.

by Dwight Thomas

During all the years of my education to date, there have been many teachers that have got me to the level of education I’ve reached today. I’m going to tell you about the best teacher I think I will ever have. Mr. Birmingham was the greatest influence on me because the way he taught the class was at a level where everybody could catch the topic of discussion. He would help you out with problems in and out of school. He also would tell you his feelings straight from the heart. Mr. Birmingham’s teachings were in a “class” all by themselves.

When you entered seventh hour history, you knew everything that was going on. “Mr. Birm,” as we would call him, refused to let a person get behind the rest of the class.

He went by the motto, “If the ship is hit, everyone on board goes down.” Mr. Birm would go back to items to help that unfortunate student catch on. If that didn’t work, we would read the chapter over until everyone caught on. Mr. Birm not only cared about studies, but he would be there for you when it was a problem out of school.

If a student ever had a problem and had no one to turn to, you could always turn to room 337. Mr. Birm would be there to discuss even the most delicate problem in a mature and understanding manner. If you needed to borrow money, he would give it to you with absolutely no complaints. I know he’s helped me out a number of times. You may think because he was nice he was a push-over, I doubt it highly. 

If there is one thing I remember very well about Mr. Birm, it was that he was never afraid to express his feelings. If he saw something done he didn’t like, he’d tell you. He couldn’t stand for horsing around. I don’t think he ever felt sorry for a student he told off either. This shows me he not only has the utmost respect for the students, but he respected himself. These are the characteristics of a great teacher. 

I will remember Mr. Birmingham for the rest of my life, for he has taught me many things. Respect for not only others but myself. To help others as I would want them to help me. He also did a good job of teaching history, too. Mr. Birmingham is definitely my all-time best teacher. 

Included in:

Volume 2, No.1

• NAEYC Login
• Member Profile
• Hello Community
• Accreditation Portal
• Online Learning
• Online Store

Popular Searches:   DAP ;  Coping with COVID-19 ;  E-books ;  Anti-Bias Education ;  Online Store

Becoming a Teacher: What I Learned about Myself During the Pandemic

You are here

Introduction to the Article by Andrew Stremmel

Now, more than ever, we need to hear the voices of preservice teachers as well as in-service teachers during this pandemic. How has the pandemic affected them? In what ways has the pandemic enabled them to think about the need to really focus on what matters, what’s important? What were the gains and losses? These are very important questions for our time.  In this essay, Alyssa Smith, a senior studying early childhood education, attempts to address the lessons learned from her junior year, focusing on the positive aspects of her coursework and demonstrating an imaginative, growth mindset. This essay highlights the power of students’ reflection on their own learning. But I think it does so much more meaningful contemplation than we might expect of our students in “normal” times. Alyssa gains a new appreciation for this kind of active reflection—the opportunity to think more critically; to be more thoughtful; to stop, step back, catch her breath, and rethink things. As a teacher educator and her mentor, I believe this essay represents how the gift of time to stop and reflect can open space to digest what has been experienced, and how the gift of reflective writing can create a deeper level of thinking about how experiences integrate with one’s larger narrative as a person.

About the Author

Andrew Stremmel, PhD, is professor in early childhood education at South Dakota State University. His research is in teacher action research and Reggio Emilia-inspired, inquiry-based approaches to early childhood teacher education. He is an executive editor of  Voices of Practitioners .  

I’ve always known I was meant to be a teacher. I could feel my passion guide my work and lead my heart through my classes. So why did I still feel as if something was missing? During the fall of my junior year, the semester right before student teaching, I began to doubt my ability to be a great teacher, as I did not feel completely satisfied in my work. What I did not expect was a global pandemic that would shut down school and move all coursework online. I broke down. I wanted to do more than simply be a good student. I wanted to learn to be a great teacher. How was I supposed to discover my purpose and find what I was missing when I couldn’t even attend my classes? I began to fret that I would never become the capable and inspirational educator that I strived to be, when I was missing the firsthand experience of being in classrooms, interacting with children, and collaborating with peers.

It wasn’t until my first full semester being an online student that I realized the pandemic wasn’t entirely detrimental to my learning. Two of my early childhood education courses, Play and Inquiry and Pedagogy and Curriculum, allowed limited yet meaningful participation in a university lab school as well as engagement with problems of substance that require more intense thinking, discussion, analysis, and thoughtful action. These problems, which I briefly discuss below, presented challenges, provocations, possibilities, and dilemmas to be pondered, and not necessarily resolved. Specifically, they pushed me to realize that the educational question for our time is not, “What do I need to know about how to teach?” Rather, it is, “What do I need to know about myself in the context of this current pandemic?” I was therefore challenged to think more deeply about who I wanted to be as a teacher and who I was becoming, what I care about and value, and how I will conduct myself in the classroom with my students.

These three foundations of teaching practice (who I want to be, what I value, and how I will conduct myself) were illuminated by a question that was presented to us students in one of the very first classes of the fall 2020 semester: “What’s happening right now in your experience that will help you to learn more about yourself and who you are becoming?” This provocation led me to discover that, while the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light (and at times magnified) many fears and insecurities I had as a prospective teacher, it also provided me with unique opportunities, time to reflect, and surprising courage that I feel would not otherwise have been afforded and appreciated.

Although I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I had never deliberately pondered the idea of what kind of teacher I wanted to be. I held the core values of being an advocate for children and helping them grow as confident individuals, but I still had no idea what teaching style I was to present. Fortunately, the pandemic enabled me to view my courses on play and curriculum as a big “look into the mirror” to discern what matters and what was important about becoming a teacher.

As I worked through the rest of the course, I realized that this project pushed me to think about my identity as an educator in relation to my students rather than simply helping me understand my students, as I initially thought. Instead, a teacher’s identity is formed in relation to or in relationship with our students: We take what we know about our students and use it to shape ourselves and how we teach. I found that I had to take a step back and evaluate my own perceptions and beliefs about children and who I am in relation to them. Consequently, this motivated me to think about myself as a classroom teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic. What did I know about children that would influence the way I would teach them?

I thought about how children were resilient, strong, and adaptable, possessing an innate ability to learn in nearly any setting. While there were so many uncertainties and fear surrounding them, they adapted to mask-wearing, limited children in the classroom, and differentiated tasks to limit cross-contamination. Throughout, the children embodied being an engaged learner. They did not seem to focus on what they were missing; their limitless curiosity could not keep them from learning. Yet, because young children learn primarily through relationships, they need some place of learning that helps them to have a connection with someone who truly knows, understands, and cares about them. Thus, perhaps more than any lesson, I recognized my relationship with children as more crucial. By having more time to think about children from this critical perspective, I felt in my heart the deeper meaning children held to me.

My compassion for children grew, and a greater respect for them took shape, which overall is what pushed me to see my greater purpose for who I want to be as an educator. The pandemic provided time to develop this stronger vision of children, a clearer understanding of how they learn, and how my identity as a teacher is formed in relationship with children. I don’t think I would have been able to develop such a rich picture of how I view children without an in-depth exploration of my identity, beliefs, and values.

In my curriculum course, I was presented a different problem that helped me reflect on who I am becoming as an educator. This was presented as a case study where we as students were asked the question, “Should schools reopen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic?” This was a question that stumped school districts around the nation, making me doubt that I would be able to come up with anything that would be remotely practical. I now was experiencing another significant consequence of the pandemic: a need for new, innovative thinking on how to address state-wide academic issues. My lack of confidence, paired with the unknowns presented by the pandemic, made me feel inadequate to take on this problem of meaning.

To address this problem, I considered more intentionally and reflectively what I knew about how children learn; issues of equity and inequality that have led to a perceived achievement gap; the voices of both teachers and families; a broader notion of what school might look like in the “new normal”; and the role of the community in the education of young children. Suddenly, I was thinking in a more critical way about how to address this problem from the mindset of an actual and more experienced teacher, one who had never faced such a conundrum before. I knew that I had to design a way to allow children to come back into a classroom setting, and ultimately find inspiration for learning in this new normal. I created this graphic (above) to inform families and teachers why it is vital to have students return to school. As a result, I became an educator. I was now thinking, feeling, and acting as a teacher. This case study made me think about myself and who I am becoming as a teacher in a way that was incredibly real and relevant to what teachers were facing. I now found inspiration in the COVID-19 pandemic, as it unlocked elements of myself that I did not know existed.

John Dewey (1916) has been attributed to stating, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Learning may begin in the classroom, but it does not end there. Likewise, teaching is not a role, but a way of being. The ability to connect with children and to engage them meaningfully depends less on the methods we use than on the degree to which we know and trust ourselves and are willing to share that knowledge with them. That comes through continually reflecting on who we are in relation to children and their families, and what we do in the classroom to create more meaningful understanding of our experiences. By embodying the role of being an educator, I grew in ways that classroom curriculum couldn't prepare me for. Had it not been for the pandemic, this might not have been possible.

Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education . New York: MacMillan.

Alyssa Marie Smith  is currently an early childhood education student studying at South Dakota State University. She has been a student teacher in the preschool lab on campus, and now works as a kindergarten out of school time teacher in this same lab school. In the fall, she plans to student teach in an elementary setting, and then go on to teach in her own elementary classroom.

Print this article