Learning by Teaching

Learning by teaching is not a new phrase in education. Some educators encourage learning by teaching through group work and individual presentations. Most times, students avoid this method of teaching, mostly because they don’t want to be seen as stupid and unintelligent, and I do not blame them. Growing up, we know children can be mean, especially when answering questions in class or simply reading out your essay in front of the class. This behaviour grows with us, sometimes affects our confidence, and it’s difficult to shake off. It’s why, I presume, as adults, we are unable to do a task like public speaking or presenting. We are afraid of being laughed at or saying the wrong things that make us look stupid. We want to have the recipients’ approval to be comfortable.

Learning by teaching is still very relevant and especially important in adult education. As adults with different responsibilities and life’s challenges, getting an education in a formal setting is not a walk in the park. With the executive MBA programme at the Lagos Business School, I realised this to be true over and over again. When doing individual and group assignments, participation is very key, and it helps with learning, even if it’s subconscious learning.

In my previous posts, I spoke about my group dynamics when it comes to assignments and projects. What some people may not realise is that they are depriving themselves of learning not just academically but socially. Taking part in projects and assignments, doing the research, and having to explain to the group what I had done helped me understand the subject matter better.

For our CFA project, I created a mini cheat sheet for some of the technical terms used in our project to help the students remember them. I was also very happy to share with my group, especially with the non-accountants in the group. It wasn’t a perfect sheet because I got a correction privately, which I appreciated. We learn from the little things as well as the big things.

Something similar happened when the group met for a tutorial on our data analytics course. I volunteered to do a tutorial on a part of the course, not because I was perfect at it or well grounded. However, doing the tutorial helped with my revision and also helped me internalise the subject more. Someone else took over the tutorial on another topic, and he wasn’t perfect at it either. But we learned together and did research on a question when we got stuck; it was a good experience. I believe this is another addition to the advantages of assigning groups for the EMB programme.

Learning by teaching is something I have made up my mind to keep doing because it helps with better understanding. I do realise that this position might seem to some people as being overzealous but that is not my priority. My objective is to take in as much learning as I can, in whatever form that takes.