Oct 20 - Van Manen article on the tact of teaching

 The first quote that struck me was "But obviously giving praise is not without danger." The author moves on to give an example by Mr. Young who puts down a lot of students and praises only one of them. I believe this is a lack of tact from the teacher as he does not realize the consequences of his actions. If the purpose of his teaching is to make
students do better, then the question he should ask himself is: "is me shaming all these students getting me towards my goal?". From the story provided, with an eye towards psychology, it can be seen that Mr. Young is simply frustrated the class failed so hard, which is a reflection, in this case, of his teaching. Being self-aware goes a long way, and instead of acting like Mr. Young, a possible course of action would be to take responsibility of one's teaching and make adjustments so that the class gets it, instead of blaming the students. Blaming the students has the potential of starting a "blame culture", and it's generally counter-productive.

The next quote it: "Usually, the teacher does not have time to distance himself or herself from the
particular moment in order to deliberate (rationally, morally, or critically) what he
or she should do or say next." I disagree with this and I believe it's possible to detach in real time and observe oneself. Sure, sometimes we need to make quick decisions but most of the time there is no timeline. Simply saying "I'll get back to you" is better than making a hasty decision. The third quote I found is: "What distinguishes practice from theory is not that practice applies thought or concepts technically to some real thing in the world upon which it acts." When it comes to theory, theory is simply a guide. There is that old saying that knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit and wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. I think this saying sums up how theory and experience are intertwined when it comes to building tact.


To answer the question "How might one develop such tact and practical wisdom?" I would say that it's simply experience. This experience by itself can be augmented through the use of reading. Even reading fiction, while paying attention to the interactions between characters, will provide the reader with wisdom. This process of acquiring knowledge from experience takes time and indeed, it will affect the students and the parents in terms of their child's academic experience. But then again, that's how life is, and we can't just have every teacher be a veteran from the start.