Lesson
Becoming a Better Teacher
In and Beyond the Classroom · Pedagogy
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Jawaharlal's talk is energetic and contains several useful prompts for faculty reflection. Its claims are largely autobiographical, so the additional resources connect the examples to established work on active learning, feedback and productive struggle.
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Mariappan Jawaharlal recounts beginning his academic career with a familiar checklist: cover the syllabus, set demanding examinations and earn good student evaluations. Those indicators initially reassured him. Over time, he became less certain that they showed what students could understand or do.
His central question is simple: what is happening in the learner while the teacher is teaching? A polished presentation may make a class feel successful while leaving student thinking largely invisible. Jawaharlal asks teachers to focus on the actions students perform, the explanations they construct and the decisions they make with new knowledge.
Several practical moves follow. Teachers should explain why an idea matters and use language a learner can enter. Students need low-stakes opportunities to attempt difficult work, make errors, receive feedback and try again. When a student asks for help, the prompt 'What do you think?' can uncover the student's current model before the teacher supplies an answer. It also gives the learner a reason to articulate a claim.
Jawaharlal's bus-and-bicycle metaphor captures the shift. A passenger can travel while someone else controls every turn. A cyclist must steer and respond continuously. In teaching, that participation still needs a route, suitable challenge, feedback and deliberate consolidation. The teacher creates the situation, watches what students do and decides where support is needed.
The talk is broad and autobiographical, so its strongest use is as a prompt for course review. Choose one part of a lesson where students currently watch or listen. Ask what they could predict, explain, compare, build or test during that same time, and decide what evidence would show that the activity helped.
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- 1
[02:20] Jawaharlal describes a career initially organised around syllabus coverage, hard exams and evaluations.
- 2
[05:25] He argues that effective teachers can work in different voices and should avoid imitating a single performance style.
- 3
[07:54] The talk redirects attention from the act of presenting to the activity occurring in the learner.
- 4
[10:42] Students need an intelligible reason for learning and an explanation they can enter.
- 5
[12:56] Low-stakes attempts give errors a chance to produce feedback and revision.
- 6
[14:15] Important ideas become more usable when students reconstruct and apply them.
- 7
[16:03] 'What do you think?' elicits a learner's current reasoning before assistance is given.
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Additional resources
Explore this carefully selected material to deepen your understanding of the topic and connect it with your teaching practice.
Carnegie Mellon University Eberly Center
Principles of teaching and learning
Research-based principles covering prior knowledge, motivation, practice, feedback, course climate and self-directed learning.
Carnegie Mellon University Eberly Center
Active learning strategies
Practical guidance for choosing, explaining, facilitating and debriefing active-learning tasks.
Institute of Education Sciences
Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning
An evidence-based practice guide on retrieval, spacing, worked examples, graphics, deep questions and connection-making.
Cognition and Instruction
Productive Failure
Manu Kapur's foundational account of how carefully designed problem attempts can prepare students for later instruction.