03-19-15

My life has always been a constant battle between wanting to voice out my ideas and my fear of getting judged by the world. Suffice it to say that I’ve stayed to be just this passive listener and follower for too long. Fortunately, with the help of a lot of encouragement and ‘learning experiences’, I was able to step out of my comfort zone little by little and muster the courage to express myself.

Last Thursday’s three-way teaching was one of these. Here we were asked to divide ourselves into groups of three so that Person A teaches a new skill to Person B, Person C gives feedback to Person A, Person B gives feedback to the feedback of Person C. Interesting feedback-ception right there, huh? This cycle continues until all the members of the group have played all three roles. I’d say that this activity was pretty enriching for me since it gave me yet another opportunity to express myself to others. How?  First is by sharing a skill I have a passion for with someone. Second is by communicating my thoughts and opinions instead of just keeping them to myself.

More realizations have dawned on me when we had a debriefing after the session. One of them is that you should first make sure that you know the skill by heart before actually going out there to teach it. Babbling is quite a turn off especially if you’re a teacher. Another thing is that you should know your learner very well. Take into account the learner’s characteristics, capabilities, and interests first before planning your teaching strategy. You should also make the learning experience as uncomplicated as possible for the learner. This can be done by making sure that the learner can comprehend the terms that you use, by giving clear and concise instructions, and by using as many cues as needed.

Giving feedback hasn’t always been an easy task for me since it involves exposing my thoughts to people. Surprisingly though, it wasn’t much of a struggle for me in this activity. I even learned a couple of things that could help me give better feedback in the future. First, be certain that you know the skill being taught so you’ll be able to distinguish the right from the wrong. Second, criticize in a way that you won’t sound too harsh, judgmental, or condescending. Third, always end up on a positive note.

This three-way teaching made me realize more that I don’t have anything to be afraid of in letting my ideas and skills be expressed to the world. What’s the point in hiding them when I can make use of them to help other people (and my future patients) instead?