Lecturing Creatively
Lecturing has earned a bad name. It is often used as a comment to stop someone from reprimanding us when we tell our friends, family, colleagues etc. to ‘stop lecturing us’. Students entering the classroom are commonly heard cribbing about the need to attend ‘another boring lecture’.
Yet, Lecturing is an essential component of teaching. It is by far the best way to sometimes introduce certain topics, explain certain complex issues, setting the stage for learning and a lot more. In a world where Dr. google has answers to everything we want to know. It is hard to keep students interested in a class by simply lecturing them about a topic.
Brookfield’s discussion on ‘lecturing creatively’ is a reminder for all of us about the relevance of lecturing. Brookfield says that, ‘Lectures are not by definition oppressive and authoritarian. And lecturers are not, by definition, demagogues. Similarly, discussions are not, by definition, liberating and spontaneous. These two methods should be seen as symbiotic…. The real challenge in lecturing is to make our lectures as helpful, enlivening, and critically stimulating as possible’.
As educators we need to train ourselves in the art of creative lecturing
by learning to involve our students in our lectures,
by pausing in between lectures to ensure, ask and revise what we have covered,
to devise activities that complement our lectures and provide students with an opportunity to practice their learning,
by lecturing in a way that arises the curiosity of students,
by personalizing experiences, accommodating and inviting students to participate
