By Jake
One of the most rewarding parts of my gap year has been volunteering at an elementary school for students with learning disabilities. At first I viewed this as merely an opportunity to give back – but it transformed into something much greater than that.
While my own experience with school learning appeared to be as simple as a teacher explaining and a student understanding, my experience with students – those whose way of thinking and learning was so different – shattered this idea. There were instances where something I perceived as obvious made no sense to them. My natural instinct was to restate what I was trying to convey, in a clearer fashion, but this rarely helped.
This demanded humility. I was forced to realize that if something was not connecting with them it was not just that the student was unable to comprehend, but it was also an issue of my communication methods.
I was forced to adapt my methods: slow down, listen, and try to understand how they were perceiving the issue.
Over time, I began to redefine progress differently; it was not always about achieving a correct answer. Progress was sometimes marked by perseverance, confidence, and determination to try again; these instances were just as rewarding.
This realization has affected my own method of learning. I am now less concerned with achieving the solution to a problem; rather, I am more interested in how I think about each problem and am more patient when faced with difficulties.
This experience has reshaped how I think about teaching and learning – showing me that understanding often starts with seeing a problem from someone else’s perspective.
