This tweet from Ali Spittel stood out to me:
Here's the reason I teach:
I am not the traditional dev, and I a lot of the time feel like I don't belong.
Most programming education doesn't follow the science of how people learn.
I want to change both of those things for future programmers.02:34 AM - 20 Jun 2019
I'm curious, if you're a teacher: why do you teach? What's the real reason behind that? For me it's not money.
I teach for almost the same reasons of Ali. I feel joy and pleasure when my students grab some hard concepts because of the way I explain them.
I want to make the field more inclusive, empowering people to learn how to code and make their own projects. I failed a lot of technical interviews, I felt the pain, and I want to change things. The way I can do that is by teaching people and helping to demistify programming, jargon, and technology.
Also I've an addiction to learning. I need to feed my brain every single day with new stuff. And then I need to write, create tutorials, teach other people what I've learned. I can't seem to stop.
And you? Why do you teach?
Top comments (15)
I teach digital signal processing (so, technically not strictly programming) and I like it, although it can be very tiresome: after two hours in the class I feel exhausted, I guess is for staying concentrated all that time.
Actually, in general I like to explain things. If I must be a bit introspective, I say that I like the challenge to put a sophisticated concept in a form that even a non-technically initiated can understand it (if I am talking to a non-technical public, in class it is a different matter).
I also like the feeling of sharing what I know (that brings me sometimes to talk about technical stuff to uninterested people...).
It is very rewarding when I see a student that gets really interested and maybe goes autonomously beyond what I explained.
"put a sophisticated concept in a form that even a non-technically initiated can understand it" I love doing that!
I know, right? :-)
I strongly belive that if you want to help someone give them the information and knowledge, it's like the key for the world opportunities!
And I love it when my students grasp the concept.
I had an experience of teaching kids at the reformatory, and most of the kids at reformatory feel like they will never be able to understand something, due to their circumstances, the way the community look at them, lack of confidence...etc, the look on their faces when they understand something is just so priceless i can't even describe it.
I have always loved teaching, and i feel like am not putting so much effort when i teach, it's like it's one of the things am good at, started it professionally first by teaching in University but then decided to go with the practical world not the academic; however i decided to practice it voluntarily beside my work.
That's fantastic!
I don't really consider myself a teacher, but I do write my blog posts mainly as a way for me to solidify my own knowledge of a subject and to use as a reference to go back to. I always come back to my Pushing WordPress Theme Updates with Git post specifically for the simple script:
It just so happens that other people are also looking for how to do the same thing.
I teach design and branding. I do it because it is an industry full of misconceptions, teaching gives me the opportunity to erase those misconceptions and teach them how to use methodologies instead of becoming a software and trends machine. The salary in private schools is really bad here where I live, but it doesn't matter.
Good job! Keep at it!
Teaching is something that I've always gotten joy from, but I've never really been able to put the "why" into words.
I will say that I love puzzles almost as much as I enjoy making things, and programming (and blogging) really scratches that itch. However, I find programming to often lack the human connection that I get from teaching, so I've sort of gravitated toward education as a result.
I like to share knowledge because everyone has a sightly different way of explaining things that might resonate with someone. Also its one of the fastest ways to see how well i actually understand something and where my knowledge gaps are!
This reasonates well for me too! I love how everyone could have a different view about the same concept!
I don't teach for a living now like i use to but i do teach from time to time by volunteering.
I find that for me teaching is a way to pass on my knowledge and help people to be part of the industry for what we do.
By making something out of nothing and make a living out of it.
My main goal in teaching is learning.
I learn while preparing lessons, articles, books.
I learn while exposing the topics.
I learn while receiving comments and discussing with commenters
and it's a good feeling right!
Awesome!