Back when I was in education I saw some research that suggested teachers tend to teach as they were taught, for good or for bad. While progress in pedagogy continues, teaching as a profession seems to change relatively slowly, and I think this may one of the reasons.
I’m now a pilot and flight instructor and recently had a conversation about this with a colleague. I realized there are several skills I teach completely differently from the way I was taught, while others I’ve retained from my time as a student because I think they work well. I’ve always been the sort who will immediately adopt a new teaching method when I recognize another approach as effective. I find that exciting, but I’ve seen people over the years who avoid it.
So I’m interested in hearing from other teachers similar stories of change in their techniques. Specifically, I’d like to hear about changes that YOU decided on. Not advancements in pedagogy in your field, or pronouncements from your school administration. Rather, what did you decide worked better than they way you were taught?