Memorised Answers Are Not Enough to Make a Teacher

Memorised Answers Are Not Enough to Make a Teacher

“Learning made up of memorised questions and answers is not enough to make a teacher.” The sentence comes from the Xue Ji in the Book of Rites. “Memorised questions” does not mean memory in general. It refers to preparing miscellaneous answers in advance and pouring them out when teaching. The next words, “one must listen to what is said”, emphasise hearing how the learner asks before responding at the learner's level.

The passage does not dismiss stored knowledge; it distinguishes possession of answers from teaching. Today, too, good teaching cannot be judged only by how quickly someone speaks or how much they know. It also depends on recognising where another person is actually stuck and allowing a pause when an explanation has not yet landed. A teacher's knowledge must become an appropriate explanation within a particular relationship.

https://ctext.org/liji/xue-ji

https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?chapter=7376&if=en


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