For years I have been debating with myself about the importance of the teacher in the learning process.
My experience at Olivetti Ricerca , initially on how information technology could be applied to training, then led to the use of the knowledge connector network (receivers and transmitters) and finally, on the obsessive emphasis on the exchange of knowledge called Collaborative learning.
All this, although it has led to a redefinition of the teacher's functions, has left spaces for reflection still stuck in the original meaning.
If we were to understand the role of a teacher beyond all the evolutions that have affected it (from the primitive use of the blackboard and chalk to the more sophisticated technologies available today), their inevitable ability to stage a holistic theater of change remains unchanged . The mechanistic vision of measuring induced learning, justified by the need to display the results of a training action, has led to a focus on how students learn (learning processes) rather than on how teachers teach (teaching processes).
It's also true that andragogy in Italy presents disconcerting dichotomies. Professional training (in the private sector), especially when funded by a source, focuses on how students learn , documenting results and justifying the training. By contrast, institutional training (public, such as university education) is completely divorced from the outcome: a very high percentage of students failing an exam doesn't prompt reflection on the training provided. It's almost as if the river of knowledge generated by the institutional source could drown or carry students away, regardless of whether they have a raft or, at least, whether the flow of water is excessive.
In both cases, there's a lack of focus on teaching processes. I still find Shulman's earlier remarks about the teacher's role in their personal understanding of content, in its reorganization " into activities, emotions, metaphors, exercises, examples, and demonstrations, so that it can be understood by students, " relevant.
I remember, many years ago, in my experience as a trainer having to teach a group of students an early version of EXCEL , the metaphor of the naval battle was very useful to me.
Vincenzo Di Prisco
Training center manager.