Taught or Told?

Mark Hunt

How many of us were "taught" how to do something, and how many were "told".

What is the difference?

Mark H

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Unknown

Learn - Do - Teach

To learn you must be taught, telling does not teach unless the telling is done with teaching (show and tell). Then you must do the task. The final proof that you know what you are doing is that you perform the task. The ultimate then is too share your knowledge by teaching, that reinforces your knowledge and builds your confidence. Hopefully the right environment for all of this is in place and those learning and those teaching are "Patient but Persistent" that is my motto!!!

Murph'_5

I thought ......

taught was on the left, and told was on the right!!



Murph'

ScottMP

Mark

My mechanical mentor was first my shop teacher.

He would ask me about my project and how I was going to complete it.

He would then smile and say " What if you did this ". Followed by " I don't know, thats one way ".

I would do it my way since he was older and did'nt know all that I knew as a teenager. It would'nt work. Then I would do it his way. It would work. HHhhmmmm.

Guess I was taught. Thanks Bill !

Being told never explains why.

Scott

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Nick Z._2

Told

I must have been "told." Because I remeber my Dad always saying "Don't make me tell you that again."

Mark Hunt

Reason I ask


my partner and I were discussing this yesterday. After all of the classes and seminars we have attended over the years, we always came away with information that was not given to us by those who were supposed to know.

We were taught in those classes, like Dan's seminars, and told by the companies we worked for.

I have also noticed that after you are taught how to do something correctly, the people who told you how to do that thing wrong don't like hearing about it.

Go figure.

Mark H

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Capt.Dan

taught or told

One of my earlier professions was as an outboard boat mecanic for mercury outboards, my brother was my instuctor. They used a 2 point set-up once upon a time. As my brother was demonstrating to me how to set them up, everything was perfect, he then loosened up the screws, gave the armature a spin and then said "now try". I beleive that is being taught.

Mark Hunt

Are you


off your meds again?

Mark H

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Don Walsh

Tis', Tis', and the train is the hole when the water goes down.

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Ball Valve

Taught to learn

Once upon a time I had a trade school instructor that had ways of teaching. Seems that he could tell when you had wired something up properly. Usually that same day after Lunch you could return to find a wire or two swapped or possibly a terminal recrimped without removing the insulation. Used to hate those days because when returning to class the instructor would say "none of this equipment is working its time for a service call". Seemed stupid at the time but really taught me alot about troubleshooting. I would definitely classify his method as "taught". Thank you Mr. Fred Ludwig.

steve_38

Taught or Told hmmm...

I started out as a helper, working for a large Company on long island NY. They did Oil heat, Gas heat, A/C, and Alarms... They put me in the oil tank installation division first as a helper, and then after 6 months of that they put me in service, servicing oil burners with an A mechanic. three months later i quit the job. i was unsure of myself and most of the work seemed overwelming. I went back to work as a bartender. A few months later i felt like i wanted to go back and learn more about Oil Heat. I didn't give myself a fair chance, so i went back to another heating company as a helper, i stuck it out with that company for 3 years and learned a lot working with an
A mechanic. Now i've been in the field for 6 yrs. I've come a long way and i'm not stopping at all. i've worked with guys that i thought were good mechanics, but they were limited with tools and knowledge of the trade, and i've worked with some of the best in the Oil Heat trade. I'm still learning and always will be learning. i'm A scale mechanic. I believe in learning on the job training (hands on)! I've worked with guys that graduated from heating courses and when they begin to service the oil burner, they don't know that much about it. it takes them a 1/2 hour just to replace the strainer in an A pump, cause shool didn't tell them that they'll need a 5/16 nut driver to take the pump cover off to replace the strainer and gasket.
or a 5/8" and 3/4" open end wrench to take the nozzle out of the assembly. some of these guys use water pumps to take out a nozzle assembly, it's amazing, that's why I believe in hands on the job training... ultimately as a helper your told what to do, then comes the part were you'll get taught. It all depends on the person themselves too. "do they really want to learn or are they just there to make a few bucks"? some people stay limited in there trade, they just don't see knowledge as power, and some strive to learn and make themselves very valuable. I remember when i made the decision to go back to learn the trade and it was one of the smartest decisions i've made. So i see it as both ways but first you must be TOLD and then TAUGHT.

J.C.A._3

Steve,

Wish I got everyone that thinks they want to come into the trade as wide eyed and open minded as you are/were.

I've been told that I'm a good teacher, but I'm seeing from the people that have been "learning" from me, I have to take a step back.

Maybe I should REALLY start at the basics,( having the right tools to do the job is a really important thing that I seem to have missed) I'm getting really sick of seeing teeth marks from a "channel lock type wrench", or my biggest peeve, an adjustable wrench" used to round off the edges of BRASS on ANY fitting, when a set of wrenches costs next to nothing.

Pride in doing a job is most important in doing a good job.When I see the obvious rounded or scored points on a nut/bolt/fitting, I get mad. This REALLY ISN'T rocket science. Taking pride in keeping the things you work on in good enough condition so that the next time you go back you're able to fix it(as opposed to having to replace it because it was HACKED the first time) only makes sense.

I've been in the field a long time, and have a pretty good grasp on the folks coming into the trade that will make it , and the ones who will be working for lots of different companies before they figure out that they should be doing something else.(Some need to be TOLD that they should be....7-11 clerks/parking lot attendants and waiters seem to come to mind)

Great to hear from someone who WANTS to be a better tech. Hope you learn lots from our humble board. (there's lots to be LEARNED here!) Chris

Dave DeFord

I hear you about the teeth marks...

I almost shut a "mechanics" hands in the hood of my car one time when he tried to use pliers to remove the battery cable. He said "But their battery pliers!" I told him I didn't care what kind of pliers they were they were still pliers and that he wasn't going to work on my car! Now back to the original question - the difference between being told and being taught is the why part. If you are being told to do something you aren't given the reason why your are simply being told what to do. If you are being taught you are told what to do along with being told why you are doing it and hopefully what the other options are if they exist. Many "teachers" don't have the patience for the why part just the what. When you find one they are as valuable as gold. Just my $.02.

jerry scharf

what makes a good teacher

I have never thought of myself as that good a teacher, but everyone else seems to think so. I often don't know near what I should about the things I show people for me to believe myself qualified to teach.

It took me a long time, but what I figured out was that it wasn't about the knowledge, or even the why. It was all about the energy I brought to the subject and how it caused others to be interested and absorb things. The hallmark of a great teacher is the ability to engage the student in the subject.

There was a chemistry professor who taught introductory chemistry at Cornell. He taught an 1100 person lecture every semester and it was always overflowing, even with people who required no chemistry to graduate. He brought so much to the subject that students would talk about him years later. My favorite story was the lecture that was going through a dry spell and the kids were drifting off. He picks up an ice pick, shouts and stabs it in his leg. Without anther work he continues teaching, with the students riveted. Turns out he had a prosthetic leg!

We all remember the people who don't tell us but rather engage us in their passion for the subject. That's teaching at it's finest.

jerry

Luke Lefever

When I was in high school, we had a service project of building dug-outs for the new baseball fields. So, I figured, cool, get out of class and build dug-outs. Anyway, I was pretty much a smart **** and I asked the instructor what the logic was behind building it square and plumb. I was somewhat serious, in that I wanted to have somebody explain to me that it was done for structural reasons or that it made interior trim fit better or whatever the logic was... he didn't take it that way. He told me I was just being lazy and a smart **** and I should take over the digging of the dirt for the footers. I wasn't suggesting that we shouldn't build it square, level and plumb- I just wanted the logic behind the practice. Anyway, that's an example of being neither taught nor told. Luke

Mark Hunt

AHHHHH!! but you were told!

> When I was in high school, we had a service

> project of building dug-outs for the new baseball

> fields. So, I figured, cool, get out of class

> and build dug-outs. Anyway, I was pretty much a

> smart **** and I asked the instructor what the

> logic was behind building it square and plumb. I

> was somewhat serious, in that I wanted to have

> somebody explain to me that it was done for

> structural reasons or that it made interior trim

> fit better or whatever the logic was... he didn't

> take it that way. He told me I was just being

> lazy and a smart **** and I should take over the

> digging of the dirt for the footers. I wasn't

> suggesting that we shouldn't build it square,

> level and plumb- I just wanted the logic behind

> the practice. Anyway, that's an example of being

> neither taught nor told. Luke





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Mark Hunt

AHHHHH!! but you were told!



You were told to shut up and start digging!

Good responses to this one!

I was lucky enough to work with some good teachers, but there many "tellers" in there as well.

Mark H

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