Stop Blaming Students! Why We Must Teach Students, Not Content

Credit: iStock.com/Nastco
Credit: iStock.com/Nastco
A few years ago, educator Chris Emdin came to our community college campus to give an opening-of-school lecture to faculty. As the author and champion of what he calls “reality pedagogy,” Emdin delivered a passionate, energetic call to faculty to reimagine their teaching as an act of empowering each student in the room. I distinctly remember him pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, holding it above his head, and asking, “When our students have the sum total of human knowledge in their hands, what do they need us for?”

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