This video came across my screen this morning. I couldn’t help but think how it offers a glimpse into how teaching and learning is more than just talking at students. It demonstrates in about 2.5 minutes, how learning is a social and emotional process and how collaborative teaching can help.
Today’s objective: Teach a puppy to navigate down the stairs for the first time…
In the video, the “teacher” begins as many teachers would, placing himself in front of the puppy student and guiding him with his words. The teacher quickly realizes, though, with empathy for the pup’s fears, that verbal guidance and encouragement is not enough to help the puppy take the first step down the stairs. So he gets down on his hands and knees, right next to the puppy, to model what he wants to see the canine learner do.
As the teacher is laser-focused on the needs of the student, the videographer keeps her eyes on the big picture and points to something in the the teacher misses. Whispering as to not break the student’s focus, she offers important suggestions: “Move him to the other side! It’s dangerous where he is!” The teacher quickly adjusts the puppy’s position in response.
He continues to focus on his “student,” gently guiding him in the little, subtle things such as where to put his paws and how to navigate the stairs. He accompanies the student along the learning journey as a co-learner (I bet this is the first time the teacher is himself crawling down the stairs on all fours), and allows for mistakes, coaching the puppy as he takes the stairs down for the first time.
Meanwhile, the co-teacher/ videographer showers the puppy with praise and encouragement, and together, all three of them make it down the stairs, with the videographer doing everything backwards and sideways (I imagine).
This little video captures in a snapshot how how teaching is much more complex than telling students what to do and how it involves navigating simultaneously the social, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. It involves focusing not just on the student, but on the environment and context as well.
Most teachers do this kind of multi-modal thinking, feeling, acting, reflecting, and responding with 150 different students every day, without a co-teacher and certainly no videographer. No wonder the best of them are ready to pass out by Friday afternoon…. 
If I were to run a professional development workshop to show what teaching might entail, this little video might be a gem of a one to use.
Image from: http://dogequipmentexpert.com/most-important-things-to-teach-a-puppy/
Connie K Chung, EdD 