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Class Notes
	Teaching kids to teach themselves (Published June 17, 2002) By H. WELLS WULSIN

At the end of the school year, it can be disheartening to look back on a course and realize how much interesting material was never explored. In chemistry this year, we covered only 11 of the 22 chapters.

To a perfectionist who loves science, studying only half of a textbook is a crime. I daydream of all the topics that we missed ... acids and bases, thermodynamics, kinetics, redox reactions, organic chemistry, nuclear decay. How frustrating to be unable to explore such exciting scientific terrain!

A growing thirst for knowledge is one of the central ironies of the learning process. Isaac Newton put it aptly: "As the island of our knowledge expands, so too does the shore of our ignorance." Gains in knowledge are met by a greater number of more narrowly focused questions about the world. I would like all my students to have the opportunity to explore every facet of the subject material, but in only one year, there are many stones that must be left unturned. The fact that there is so much material never addressed in class reaffirms my commitment to what I think should be the primary goal of education: to provide students with the capacity for lifelong independent learning.

As students shift gears from the school year to summer vacation, most rejoice at the freedom from homework, studying and tests. But if we educators have done our job well, students will hold on to their hunger for learning even once they have left the confines of the school building. A former student might decide to learn how to make a Power Point presentation, how to speak conversational French, how to bake baklava or how to tie fly fishing lures. Learning is important for professional development in a career, for personal financial and property management, and for hobbies and recreational interests.

Most importantly, a good education will nurture in a student an eternal love of reading. I made a sign which hangs above the modest collection of books in my classroom. The sign says: "Know more than your teacher. Read!" Every great master hopes to eventually be outshined by his proteges. I try to emphasize to my students that the only way they will be able to accelerate their learning is to become persistent, active, voracious readers. I tell them that class lectures are designed only to highlight the most important topics in a unit, and to clarify confusing or difficult concepts. There is simply not enough time in the classroom to comprehensively address every detail of a topic. A deep, thorough understanding of any subject can come only from reading.

When I graduated from college, our head tutor had one simple message for us seniors: Get a public library card, and use it. Away from an academic environment, it is easy to become deprived of intellectual stimulation. But atrophy of the mind can easily be prevented with books, which are filled with diverse thoughts, emotions, beliefs and explanations. Fiction and non-fiction alike are replete with ideas to stretch and transform the mind. A teacher has achieved the ultimate goal if, after leaving, his students go on to seek out even greater knowledge than they had before.

A famous proverb tells us, "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime." So it is with education. If students fill their minds with facts at school, but are not shown the methods for advancing their knowledge in the future, then we have failed. If students know how to pursue greater understanding but lack passion for the beauty and power of knowledge, then it is unlikely they will take full advantage of their learning opportunities in the future.

To guarantee our children a rich and healthy life, they must know how to maintain a stimulated and active mind on their own. We must educate them to educate themselves.

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