Teaching: Art or Science?
It was posited to me recently that a professional development system for teachers designed to foster discussion about teaching and learning fits within the “teaching-as-intellectual-pursuit” model (“science” for short here), as opposed to the “teaching as art” model. To this person’s credit, this suggestion was more a musing than a statement of fact, but it got me thinking – both about whether teaching can be viewed as being solely in one or the other of those frameworks, and then, assuming that were true, where does discussion of teaching and learning fall relative to the two? I’ll save the dichotomous model question for later and assume here that it is, at least in part, valid. Assuming that is so, and assuming the synergy of said professional development model is agreed upon relative to the “teaching as science” model, the question remains: Is there a place for such activity in the “teaching as art” model? Should an educational organization catalyze discussion and sharing among its faculty as a way to help improve teaching and learning?
I will suggest the answer is a strong “yes”.
If teaching is art, then it comes down to the question of how artists hone their craft, and not only that, but how