Nuggets For The Noggin

TEACHER vs. EDUCATOR

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, December 16, 2019

Throughout my 20-year Coast Guard career and then my 33-year real estate career, I had always considered myself as a teacher using the definition of the term that I understood teacher to mean.  In reading BillWiersma’s book, The Power of Identity  I realized that “teacher” really did not define what or who I was during those years.  Read the following section from his book and you decide if teacher or educator would apply to you or someone you know.

“Helping people reveal their best self is central to my consultancy and essential in other aspects of my life as well. For example, this book is about being better, which is consistent with that. Being a purveyor of information—which is so much of what teachers do—plays only a small part in helping people actually be better.

People have an innate desire to obtain an education. After all, who doesn’t want to be educated? That can come through traditional channels such as schools, life experiences, or by other means. And with education being about the attainment of knowledge and understanding—including knowing who we are—it’s educators who prove to be central in enabling learners to turn information into knowledge and understanding. Want an education? Surround yourself with educators.

For instance, in my view, educators aim for something that is akin to transformational learning. That includes, among other things, helping people discover how to think and lessens the centrality of the teacher in the learning process. Educators don’t tell students what to think. A teacher perceived as all-knowing can create an unhealthy dependence. When appropriate, an educator leverages principles so as to enable students to extend the life of the lesson beyond the educator’s presence. This is known in some circles as principled-centered learning. The educator focuses on the students’ being something as well as doing something. And as we’ve seen, when it works, it’s dramatic. People’s thinking changes and they discover new ways of knowing. As I see it, an educator is a teacher, but a teacher isn’t necessarily an educator. And the difference is significant.”

Those few paragraphs made me stop and think about my careers.  I was NOT a teacher, and giving it a lot of thought, I was also not an educator.  I truly believe I am a “thought provoker” especially during my real estate career.  In fact, as Bill Wiersma would suggest, I believe I am a “thought-provoker, extraordinaire.”  Real estate agents had a tendency to do what others had done because that is what you did in your career.  If you happened to follow the lead of top producers you probably did well for yourself.  But like the 80/20 Rule would suggest, it is much easier to find a member of the 80% of low producers than it is the 20% of top producers.  Others do it so why shouldn’t I do it the same way. 

I taught over 35 different real estate related classes in my 33 years in the business.  During those years I also engaged in recruiting.  In both subjects I looked at what other people were doing.  I read a lot of books and articles, attended a lot of classes.  I would then ask myself if there was a better way to reach the objectives.  In almost every case there was.

Looking at the real estate classes I taught I would present those “different ways of doing business” and would encourage the class to discuss those “different ways.”  In a lot of classes, the agents would suggest that those ideas “wouldn’t work in our area,” as if “our area” was somehow different than other areas of the country.  I would then suggest that we discuss how we could make them work.  In most cases we came up with ways to make them work. In very few cases it was decided that they actually would not work and that was okay.  The subject matter caused everyone to think outside the box.  They “provoked thought.”

This, therefore, is my understanding of being a thought-provoker of all things real estate.  If you look at a doughnut you see a round object with a round hole in the middle.  The middle hole represents what you know – it is critical knowledge to have in order to live and do your business.  The actual doughnut represents the information you don’t know.  If you look at the doughnut, you realize that you don’t know more information than you do know. That is okay unless you permanently reside within the inner circle of what you know and make little to no attempt to expand your knowledge through education both formal and self-education as so many people tend to do.

Looking at what Wiersma said in his book about teachers and educators and my thoughts on being a thought-provoker I wondered what kind of person would you want to engage with if you wanted to expand your inner circle of knowledge? 

“EDUCATION, bridging the gap between your ears!”

A quote taken from a coffee cup I have.

Or how about an original quote from yours truly:

“The rubber meets the road between your ears, not beneath your feet!”

Gymbeaux

Or…

 “You will be the same person in five years as you are today

except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

Charlie “Tremendous” Jones

I believe Jones referred to the “educators you meet” when he referred to “the people you meet”.  After all, everyone is an educator in some way.

There are teachers and there are educators.  The better question becomes are you a student or are you satisfied with the status quo?  If you are not always the consummate student, then Jones’ statement will become a reality for you.  You WILL be the same person in five years that you are today.  Is that what you want?  If not, you must always be a student!  One way to make that happen is to ALWAYS ask yourself one question whenever you meet someone.  WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM THIS PERSON?  One way to make that happen is to imagine the letters, WCILFTP tattooed on the forehead of everyone you meet.  Then you can’t help but learn something from them.  You can then decide if what you have learned is worth knowing.

If you always have that one question in mind, you WILL learn something from everyone, even the people you don’t like and you will always be expanding the inner circle of your donut of knowledge and that is a good thing.  This happens much more rapidly when you find mentors in your life who are also educators or in my way of thinking, thought-provokers! 

In life, you are either a student forever moving forward through formal or self-education or you are a lemming.  If you don't know the definition of "lemming", here it is:

“A person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement,

especially a headlong rush to destruction.”

By “mass movement” in this case it means the majority of people who are apparently happy with the status quo and make no movement forward.  That defines a great many people in 2019 and that is sad!  In fact, if you apply the 80/20 Rule, 20% would be unhappy with the status quo and work to become better and 80% would be satisfied with the status quo and do nothing to advance in life.  Are you part of the 20% or part of the 80%; are you sure?  Keep in mind…

“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile!”

Roger Staubach