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Dr. Johnson on Active Learning and Learning TheoriesCreated by Mark Morton (University of Waterloo) on August 30, 2006
I recently came across a couple of great passages from Boswell's Life of Johnson. (Samuel Johnson, as you probably know, was one of the greatest English authors of the eighteenth century, and had a gift for cranky wit; James Boswell was a friend who followed him around in order to record his pronouncements). In the first passage below, Johnson shows himself to be an early advocate of active learning. In the second passage, he reveals his impatience with "theory!" :) "People have now-a-days got a strange opinion that everything should be taught by lectures. Now, I cannot see that lectures can do so much as reading the books from which the lectures are taken. I know nothing that can be best taught by lectures, except where experiments are to be shewn. You may teach chemistry by lectures -- you might teach the making of shoes by lectures!" We talked of the education of children; and I asked him what he thought was best to teach them first. Johnson: "Sir, it is no matter what you teach them first, any more than what leg you shall put into your breeches first. Sir, you may stand disputing which is best to put in first, but in the mean time your breech is bare. Sir, while you are considering which of the two things you should teach your child first, another boy has learnt them both."
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Neither alternative is active learning - these are just two different passive styles. I don't even agree with the esteemed Dr. Johnson's ordering. A (good) lecture can add to the value of the book(s) by bringing in additional material and viewpoints and also by offering a chance for discussion and feedback.
My guess is that he's espousing the classic tradition that valued books above all other sources of learning. Perhaps he's also unhappy with the classic tradition of the professor reading the text to the class - and labelling that as "lecture"? (I took a course as a freshman where this was the modus operandi!)
Am I just feeling contrary today?
Hi, Henry -- No doubt you're right. I didn't intend to lay too much weight on my tongue-in-cheek claim that Dr. Johnson was actually advocating active learning. I've rectified this by adding a "smiley face" emoticon to the end of my posting! Also, a bit of a tangent: this morning, as I was getting dressed, I took note (vis-a-vis Dr. Johnson's second comment) of which leg of my trousers I put on first, and realized that the left leg is the one that I habitually and unconsciously start with. I then removed that leg, and started donning my trousers again, this time starting with my right leg. It was surprisingly disconcerting. It made me realize (again) how much more disconcerting it must be for an instructor who is used to the lecture format to switch to a more active teaching style (and likewise for students who are used to a passive mode and are suddenly exposed to active learning). -- Mark