Willy Wood

Teachers Must Sometimes Let

Students Learn on Their Own

Introduction

Willy Wood is an educational consultant for Open

Mind Technologies, Inc. in Columbia, MO. At

willywoodteaching.com, Willy Wood discusses

developments in learning research that are

applicable for teachers.

In an article titled The Value of (Strategically)

Letting Students Struggle, Mr. Wood discusses

the pros of guided teaching methods, such as

“scaffolding” instruction, as opposed to the harm

that can be done when the instructor over-

teaches.

Learning A teacher’s innate desire to help a student learn

can lead to the exact opposite of what was intended if the child does not make the necessary connections in his or her mind. When students become too dependent on their teachers, they reach a state of “learned helplessness” where they can’t function without the teacher’s assistance.

Thus it is imperative that the educator discovers that fine line between just enough and not too much. Students must learn to toil with ideas and concepts and eventually think things through for themselves if they are ever to reach a point of real knowledge.