Teaching without provoking learning

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday May 18, 2026 06:00

Teaching without provoking learning is a problem in instructional practice in which a determined, serious, and caring teacher totally dominates and owns the process, with little or no input from students.

The teacher carries not only the cognitive load but also the heavy burden of planning, preparing and offloading materials (delivery) without inviting the learners to assist in the process. Teachers who do most of the work are driven by love for the work they do, love for the students, as well as a doubting spirit. They think their mastery of subject matter is everything. They see their role as a little more than inspiring students to be like them. When they go to class, the idea is to showcase the teacher's delivery skills, which would inspire and motivate students. Sometimes it works, but only with a few students.

The rest of the students, while they admire the teacher's extraordinary abilities, cannot learn and retain without participation. Watching the teacher's energy and meticulous manner in which topics are mastered is quite entertaining, but it relegates the students to a role of free passengers in the journey of teaching and learning. In the teaching and learning process, the word that makes classroom interactions count is autonomy. Teachers should never doubt their students. Yes, students can doubt themselves, but a teacher's duty is to help them believe that nothing is impossible. This brings us to the importance of autonomy, allowing students to stand on their feet without necessarily neglecting them. Autonomy was recommended by the 1996 World Bank report on education in Sub-Saharan Africa as one of the multiple factors that make schools effective.

Teaching cannot only be impactful but also count if the students are given room to try things out on their own. Teachers should always remember that they are not on trial; only students are. Teaching is not about proving the teacher's mettle, but about empowering students to stand on their own, building their efficacy and confidence to withstand the hurdles they would encounter in the examination room in the short term and, subsequently, in life in the long term. Teachers should always be mindful of their role in building students' capacity to be independent thinkers and problem solvers. This is why giving students frequent and sufficient homework is paramount. Homework underscores the value of independent study. The role of teaching and learning is to wean students from their teachers, give them wings to fly and freedom to try their wings in the air.

In the classroom theatre, the pressure should be on students, not teachers. Teachers should not come to class to solve all the difficult questions while students watch and clap their hands in admiration of their teacher's teaching prowess. This is a show that would not carry students anywhere. The students will find it hard to recognise their potential and will try to emulate their teachers in similar situations. To end the discussion, I want to share a tale of two teachers I have encountered on my teaching and educational management journey. One was a new entrant, a novice teacher full of energy, ambition, and a desire to make an immediate impact. The other was a veteran teacher, less exuberant and a little indifferent. The two teachers had contrasting pedagogical approaches and fortunes. The young teacher put his best self to the job, thoroughly preparing his lessons with the goal of delivering a master class. Indeed, as a history teacher, he was a marvel to watch. His accuracy with dates, events, and storytelling prowess, and his acting out the drama associated with history, and the eloquence with which he handled the subject matter, were beyond this world.

Students loved him and enjoyed the lessons and his patronising approach. They had little to do except to absorb and try to regurgitate what they learned on paper when confronted with examinations. Teaching next door was an experienced teacher who appeared less concerned, and his students often complained of benign neglect. The experienced teacher left the students on their own devices. He did not overload students with over-explanations. He guided and facilitated students. Feeling somewhat 'neglected' and uncared for, the students took the matter into their own hands. They navigated hurdles on their own and resorted to peer support. Survival instincts forced them to scout additional notes in the neighbourhood to beef up the concise notes their teacher gave them. Their worry about not receiving sufficient care turned them into serious problem solvers. They were hands-on and actively involved in the learning process, and they developed self-efficacy and independence. The two classes had contrasting learning outcomes in the final analysis. Those who were pampered and over-taught struggled and produced poor outcomes, while a class left in the lurch achieved better learning outcomes. The lesson here is that students should have some degree of autonomy in the teaching and learning process. This is not to encourage benign neglect. Loafing is discouraged and condemned in the strongest terms, and so is over-patronising students. Teachers should provide sufficient encouragement and challenge students to tackle difficult learning tasks.

Teachers should assign challenging tasks to learners to solve, rather than patronise them by spoon-feeding. Having high expectations for students motivates them to work hard and become high achievers. Students tend to perform badly when they realise that their teachers have low expectations for them. So the game-changer here is the pedagogical shift from teacher-centred to a situation where the learner is the epicentre of the learning process. Teachers have the power and ability to raise the bar by simply telling students how good they are and how relatively easy it is to navigate the subject matter. Above all, by repeatedly saying that students who relentlessly apply themselves to their studies learn more and better. Surely there can never be any substitute for hard work and serious commitment to the cause of learning. The golden rule is to teach to cause learning, not simply demonstrate teaching prowess. After all, teachers are judged by how well students have learned.