Teaching What I Do. Doing What I Teach. Learning as I Go.

Maybe I should adopt Mark Twain’s view on learning, “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” I sometimes get frustrated with myself, as much as, I get frustrated with some, not all of my students, who through no fault of their own are like deer staring into the headlights. Yeah, some days it’s like corralling cats because they all seem to want to go their own direction while, at the same time, looking to me. Like the big ol’ dog in the Looney Tune cartoon they want to know, “Which way did he go? Which way did he go, huh George?” Did this dog have no nose? What is a dog without a sense of smell?

They want me to provide them with the secret “recipe” that alleviates them from thinking the problem I’ve challenged them with through. They want to know how much of this and how many of that? And, most importantly, what is it that I want them to do? How do you want us to do this? I tell them, I want you to do it well. How do we do that? I tell them, by doing it the best way you can using what you’ve learned so far. But we don’t know how you want it. I want it on time and done as well as it could be done. I want to be impressed. But how do we do that? Define the problem, identify possible solutions to the best of your ability and select a course of action that you feel, with the knowledge and experience you’ve accumulated so far; present is as clearly, as confidently and as professionally as you can - how else?

The simple fact is; they’re only driven by the grade goal and how much or how little they need to do in order to achieve that goal. It is a task item. Not, a learning agenda. The acquisition of the grade is more important than the experience of solving the problem and confidently presenting the solution. I’m constantly reminding them that I don’t abide by the 3Rs (Read. Remember. Regurgitate) method of teaching. In my courses, it’s all about experiential learning – learning by doing. If I had to site a methodology, it would have to be the instructional model medical schools use. They teach young doctors to; learn, do and teach. It’s hands-on learning! Listen to the lecture, jump in and solve the problem or challenge as presented and demonstrate to others what you’ve learned.

Another “thing” students don’t get is learner-centered teaching, which offers them the opportunity to invest in their education by taking the responsibility to do what they know needs to be done, as required and as stated on the course schedule. Are they afraid to fail? Yes. Are they unsure of themselves? Yes. Have they been trained to believe that there is only one correct answer to every problem? Yes. But, here, I believe, is the crux of the matter. They refuse to read the instructions. When they do, they fail to fully understand them before they begin the assignment. And finally, they fail to follow the instructions that they say they so desperately need in order to know what is I expect of them!

Look, I teach marketing. It isn’t rocket science. It does require a skill base as does any other discipline. But, most importantly, it can’t be learned solely by rote learning. It must be experienced! I do my best to create real-world situations for them; as real as can be real in a classroom setting. The course is designed to get them involved in discovering how for example, if marketing were such a precise science, then why is the business landscape littered with the wreckage of the idiocy of the New Coke, the Ford Edsel and Sonny’s Betamax, just to name three of way too many – um, screw ups?

Listen, I can’t and I don’t teach out of a textbook. To me it’s like a preacher who only refers to the Bible without thought or reason or human experience. The Bible is a text and a text is a source - a compendium of theories. The message of the Bible however, must be practiced! Theory guides process and practice but it is not a substitute for it. I teach what I do every day. I do what I teach in class. I tell them that. I also remind them that their survival in my class depends on them being “smarter than the av-er-age bear, Boo Boo,” as that cartoon classic bear, Yogi Bear, would say. The goal is snatching the picnic basket. Do you have to read a book to figure it out?

Theory is great. But out there, where they’ll end up trying to earn their pay, the boss will want them to apply practice within the established process of the organization. And, not to forget the other Yogi who said, “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.” As far as I’m concerned, there is a widening gap between marketing subjects taught in classrooms and the actual knowledge of marketing as required in today’s workplace. Alvin Toffler, in his best seller, Future Shock wrote, “Long before the year 2000, the entire antiquated structure of college degrees, majors and credits will be a shambles. No two students will move along exactly the same educational track." He’s only off by a few years since there have been pockets of this new thinking and teaching being practiced but, we’re not totally there yet. We do, however, need to be there as soon as possible.