Editor cools off, muses on the wonders of teaching

By Connor de Bruler

Opinion editor

Connor de BrulerTeaching and learning can be therapeutic. The sharing of knowledge, as I have come to find, is one of the most powerful social tools. 

I often see Hispanic construction workers on sidewalks and building fronts when I take walks. Most of these young men are looked at with prejudice in today’s financial climate for many complicated reasons. They don’t have an easy time here having to deal with adversity. 

When I ask them questions about the Spanish language, however, they are always delighted to give me an impromptu lesson. I have yet to receive “false information” from them. They have never tried to trick me and substitute a curse for a noun or friendly phrase. Trust me, I’ve verified the Spanish I’ve learned on construction sites. They truly enjoy teaching me. 

I can only imagine that they get a lot of flack for having limited English skills. I can only imagine what it’s like to read over-zealous white people’s bumper stickers saying things like, “Welcome to America. We speak English. Learn it or leave.” 

When I ask them to teach me Spanish words, it’s almost as though I’m making a concession on behalf of my country. 

I also love teaching people things. My friends have grown accustomed to my frequently unprovoked outbursts of fairly useless, banal or otherwise unwanted information.  

It naturally boosts people’s ego to become a temporary professor, especially when the information is wanted or needed by the recipient. It allows us to feel useful. Feeling useful is one of the greatest, honest pleasures life has to offer. 

It seems to me that the bedrock of 19th and 20th century diplomacy was the sharing of information between nations. Of course, governments spend more time hiding info then they do sharing it, presumably. 

Many of my columns are structured as follows: I tell you something. I give you more background. I make my case, then I tell you to go do something. I’ve asked you to stop talking to your parents. I’ve asked you to cross-dress. I’ve asked you to realize how beautiful life is. I’ve even asked you to think about shooting heroin. 

This time, I’m not asking you to do anything. 

I just want to muse on the significance of teaching and learning within the social structures of our world. We all go to this college and spend a lot of time learning here, but we can all be teachers, too. 

I think in order to be a well-rounded human being you have to assume the position of being an educator and a student simultaneously. This principle lends itself to our academic surroundings and our lives in general. It’s also a good idea to humble ourselves and say once a day, “Gee, I sure don’t know everything” even if you are a well-regarded, widely-published professor. 

This column might not be as cerebral as others I’ve written, and you might have found yourself mumbling under your breath, “Duh, I knew that.” 

Well, guess what? 

I didn’t. I didn’t give any of this a shred of thought until now, and it’s beautiful. It’s absolutely beautiful because I just learned something.