Swimming Lesson

From the time I was about 5 years old, my Mom had me in swimming lessons.

I hated them.

In fact, for those first lessons, I think I sat on the edge of the pool and cried for 9/10 of them. I got over this little habit by the time my Mom enrolled me in the next ones (to her credit, she kept at it... I kept swimming until I finished Grade six), I actually took part in all of the lessons, and continued to climb the scale of experience until I earned my "Grey" swimming badge.

But I still hated them.

However, speaking to Josh last night I realized that swim lessons offered a very apropos allegory for teaching in general.

There are three ways to teach someone how to swim:

• You can get in the water with them, supporting them and holding them up - letting go for brief moments, but as soon as they struggle, grab them so they know that you're there. You can rest comfortably knowing that they are not going to drown... but at the same time, if they ever learn to do this on their own, it's going to take a long, long time.


• You can throw them in the water and walk away. The top students will learn to swim, and the rest... well, if you're lucky they won't ALL drown.


• Or: you can walk them to the edge, help them get down into the water - and let them know you're around in an emergency. Ultimately, they're supporting themselves in there but with the knowledge that someone is nearby if they get into serious trouble. Over time, they will learn to swim and get out of the water and onto the dock. Hopefully, they'll grab the next person who's terrified of the water and support them the way that they were supported - but they may also just walk off the dock, happy and secure in the knowledge that they can now swim.

Look at the way you've been teaching - are you setting others up to leave knowing how to swim, are you spending an inordinate amount of time in the water and still have a bunch of people hanging off your shoulders... or are the majority of your students drowning?