I Hate the Phrase: "Those Who Can't Do, Teach" 😡
I Hate the Phrase: "Those Who Can't Do, Teach" 😡
Why does it bother me so?
"Those who can't do, teach" used to piss me off so much. It’s usually used in a pejorative way, and I made it mean that as a teacher I was incapable of doing something professionally, or that I wasn't good enough so I was stuck being a teacher.
My mom, also a teacher, used to say to 20-something me (teaching English in Japan): "When are you going to get a real job?"
(Why in the world would she denigrate her own profession? I know secretly deep down she enjoys it, spending hours preparing for her Japanese language students.)
But I digress. I’m not here to discuss why the West hates on teachers so much, but merely to enquire as to why this phrase exists. My curiosity got the better of me so I started to do some digging. Turns out it’s a bit complicated…
How it started…
The first published attribution actually comes from playwright George Bernard Shaw:
He who can, does; He who cannot, teaches.
— Man and Superman, 1905
What did GBS have against teachers??
How it’s going…
It's now being misattributed to Aristotle.
Those who can, do. Those that understand, teach.
— Aristotle
But this phrase likely came from Lee Shulman, a professor and scholar in pedagogy (the study of how we teach and learn.)
His paper, which was written in 1986, can be read in full here.
And here's the actual phrase:
With Aristotle we declare that the ultimate test of understanding rests on the ability to transform one's knowledge into teaching.
Those who can, do. Those who understand, teach.
- Lee Shulman
Initially I was disappointed that it didn't originate with Aristotle (why is it important that it is older than GBS, or attributed to an ancient philosopher? 🤔), but Shulman does say that it is Aristotle-adjacent, so I'm happy to attribute this to Shulman and use it instead of GBS’s hogwash.
Jenni says:
Telling people is one thing, teaching them is another.
Teaching creates actual embodied understanding. That feeling in your body and mind where something shifts.
Good teaching MOVES YOU (in more ways than one!)
This all brings me back to Feynman's Razor, which I wrote about in a previous newsletter.
If someone uses a lot of complexity and jargon to explain something to you, they probably don’t understand it.
- Feynman’s Razor
Can you teach it to a 6 year old? No? Then you don’t really understand it.
Teach those who can't do…
…and the circle is complete.
So what makes for a good teacher?
Comfortable learning environment: listens to students, gives clear guidelines
Explains in different ways to reach different types of learners
Encourages curiosity and questions
Celebrates mistakes (they are just data, after all!)
I wrote more about teaching here! 👇
2 Razors 1 Bike
Smart folks learn from their own mistakes; wise folks learn from others' [mistakes]
We love teaching here at LBK. Despite our repairs & servicing workshop being closed now, Silvi and I are still teaching and peachy keen to share with you our past mistakes and triumphs to set you on your cycle path, wherever it’s headed.
UPCOMING CLASSES
How to Pack & Rebuild Your Bike for Travel
Introduction to Maintenance
Emergency Roadside Repairs
Disc Brake Home Maintenance
How to Replace a Spoke & True a Wheel
How to Lace & True a Wheel
How to Replace a Chain & Cassette
Introduction to Indexing Gears
🎶OOOH JUST A LITTLE BIT CLOSER🎶
Support LBK! Donate to our crowdfund.
We are in this weird liminal space between the repair/servicing workshop being closed and reopening the Do-It-Together workshop. Some things are in the works (thank you to those of you who have submitted an interest in volunteering - Amie should be getting in touch with you soon about a clean up day on Weds 26 June.)
We are currently at £10,283 with the goal of £15,000 🐛
Help us inch a little bit closer!
If you can’t give at this time, please please share our page with your friends and networks. Word of mouth is still the best way to spread the word! 📣
GAZA SUNBIRDS UPDATE
The team are looking for help via sponsors - if there are any brands out there that can help with kit or bikes, get in touch with them!!! (Do any brands even read this newsletter?)
BOYCOTTS AT WORK
Bands Boycott Barclays has secured a BDS victory, getting Barclays removed from the big UK festivals. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign schedules tactical closings to make it clear to Barclays that people are closing their bank accounts because of their link to genocide. Their next big push is on the 11th of July. Find out more about it here.
No Tech for Apartheid is another organisation to follow. “Technology should be used to bring people together, not facilitate and entrench violence, occupation, and land grabs.”
Sign their petition to demand Amazon & Google stop doing business with Israeli apartheid & powering the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
That’s all for this week friends. Happy Summer Solstice! It’s all downhill from here 😭
Remember to donate and share our GoFundMe 🙏 We are getting close and just need to keep the momentum going.
I leave you with Adam ruining Patagonia.
Ride on,
Jenni x
Hear, hear! As a writer who teaches writing, I feel this!
I hate that saying, I was once asked by an interviewer, years ago, my thoughts about the saying that "those who can't do, teach". I got mad and said well, "if you are a surgeon learning surgery from someone, who can't perform surgeries, then you're in trouble. What about the airplane pilot learning from someone, who can't fly a plane?"
All his smugness disappeared, I guess he didn't expect me to challenge him. I guess he was not too bad, because I got the job anyway. I had worked very hard to get my Teacher's license and here was someone brushing all that away for something he just heard somewhere. I don't understand why people don't think a little before accepting every "smart" phrase they hear.