Cybercoaching

In thinking about the model of cybercoaching, with its emphasis on guidance and support for individual efforts, I am remindered of a concept that I knew more than 30 years ago. Teaching is an ART and not a SCIENCE. We have all had teachers who were considered world class experts in the subject area. They may, however, have been horrible teachers. Just because you are erudite in a particular area of expertise does not automatically mean that you can transmit that knowledge and those competencies to others. Hence teaching becomes an art. If it were a science anyone could merely follow a recipe and be a great teacher. This is not the case. Instead there is an ability to make a real genuine supportive human connection that transcends the art of teaching. Many of the qualities of a cybercoach serve to make those connections. Whether a teacher is in a f2f class or online, the connection can be made. The tools and strategies might need to be varied because of the environment but the objective of the process is the same.

There is a HUGE distinction between a trainer, and instructor, both of which by definition imply the transfer of knowledge on the lower end of Bloom's Taxonomy scale. The difference between these and a teacher and finally an educator are vast. To me an educator deals with the student as a whole person bringing a unique set of prior experiences to the learning environment. An educator seeks to help students develop analytical and critical thinking skills at the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. This is similar to an integrative doctor who deals with mental, emotional,spiritual, and physical elements of a patient. Contrast this to a specialist who might say the patient is fine because one sytem, his specialty, is fine. "This patient has no heart disease and so is healthy." This said despite a cancer eating away the patient's liver. When we wear blinders, not matter our occupation, we miss vital elements and so any true professional seeks to expand his/her vision. This is what an educator does by assessing a student's prior knowledge and then analyzing how to get from there to the class objectives.