1 Comment
Jul 6·edited Jul 6Liked by Marc Watkins

Great piece - guess that's why I'm bothering with this gratuitous advice ..."If you can't fix it, feature it."

Instead of feeling you need to "hide" what you don't know, you own up to it and invite the team to learn together. (Most likely they have similar doubts)

In 2016, I was asked to come teach the incoming cohort of MAT students at University of Alaska SE. While i was recruited for my edtech skills, I was asked to teach "Alaskan History and Culture." A subject that I knew nothing about. The dean said "don't worry about the history stuff - just do your iBook thing."

The first day I met the class, I said something to effect of " ... and honestly, I don't know about "Alaskan History and Culture" but we’re going to research it together and write a book."

Here's how it turned out: https://peterpappas.com/2016/07/free-multicultural-alaska-history-series.html

PS. Later, I asked my students to reflect on the course. One of them said that he was so nervous about going into teaching - but so relieved (and empowered) when I admitted my shortcomings on day one.

Expand full comment