Teaching with Your Mouth Shut

by Donald L. Finkel

Our traditional "Great Teacher" teaches by telling, inspiring students through eloquent, passionate oration. For Donald Finkel this view is destructively it takes for granted that teachers teach, fundamentally and centrally, by telling students what they are supposed to know. In Teaching with Your Mouth Shut, Finkel proposes an alternative vision of teachingone that is deeply democratic in its implications. Each chapter in this book presents a case study, a story, or a sustained image of a teaching situationa set of "circumstances" that produces significant learning in students. Each makes sense of the title of the book in a particular way. Each enriches its meaning by one increment. The idea of "teaching with your mouth shut" is explored, exemplified, and varied to such an extent that it ultimately specifies a comprehensible approach to teachingalong with a host of concrete teaching possibilities. In the end, not only will your notion of good teaching be transformed, but so too your sense of what may be signified by the word "teaching" itself. Teaching with Your Mouth Shut is not intended as a manual for teachers; it aims to provoke reflection on the many ways teaching can be organized. The book engages its readers in a conversation about education. Thus, its purpose is not so much to reform education as it is to provoke fruitful dialogue about teaching and learning among people who have a stake in education.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Self Help

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2000

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found Finkel's views/ideas to be very interesting, but just not very practical for me as a teacher. Since I teach 9th grade history and the only resource I have a textbook many of the strategies he suggested just aren't realistic. Also, many things he presented require a certain level of maturity and desire to learn, which unfortunately I don't feel most of my students have.

However, he did have one idea in particular that I found really thoughtful and can't wait to try: writing students a letter about their paper instead of comments in the margins. I thought this was such a great idea because my students never read the comments (apparently Finkel experienced the same thing), but he found that writing them a personalized letter which contained all the information the comments would led the students to: a) actually read the information b) take it into consideration c) usually act upon it. I will definitely try that out with my students.

[Geoff Wyss · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the ideas, not so much the writing. (Like most pedagogy books, it's repetitive, condescending, and self-congratulatory, a real slog.) I wish someone had given me this book, or exemplified the approaches in it, 30 years ago when I was a new teacher. I found my own way to all of Finkel's ideas, but it took many years during which I labored under a basic misunderstanding of what teaching is.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever wondered what is meant by the phrase “student-centered classroom,” then this is the book for you. Oh, how I wish this book were available to me at the start of my career. Finkel’s thinking, his articulate explanations, and his lucid application of foundational educational theory (specifically Dewey and Piaget) to practical classroom contexts is like found treasure for both novice and veteran educators. And while Finkel speaks most directly to college-level instructors, there are gems of wisdom and helpful guidance in this book for teachers at all grade levels.

After explaining why the traditional image of teaching as “telling” is a misconception, Finkel describes how he implements the strategy of “teaching with your mouth shut” in his own classroom. Through the use of seminars (and drawing upon examples of Socrates himself), inquiry-based learning, writing, collegial teaching, and experiential education, Finkel offers clear examples of the teaching philosophy that has been most successful for him. The brilliance and clarity of his thinking is quite remarkable, yet he never preaches—he is aware that the specific techniques that work for him and his students using his curriculum may not necessarily work for anyone else. In other words, he’s quite aware of the critical role that context plays in the teaching/learning environment.

He distills his thinking in the book’s final chapter, which is subtitled “Providing Experience, Provoking Reflection.” As he develops Dewey’s notion that no idea can ever be conveyed from one person to another (hence why “telling” is an ineffective pedagogy), he explains that the two required features of any teaching strategy pertain more to the design and intent of the lesson than to any specific content. The successful teacher will guide his/her students through an experience designed to facilitate learning, and he/she will then help students reflect on that experience—in Finkel’s rather convincing opinion, this is the only way that learning occurs. The real work of teaching is planning, designing, curating, inquiring, guiding, and supporting—just about all of which can be done silently. Consistent with a democratic approach to education, students are then empowered to co-construct knowledge among themselves without the authoritarian voice of the teacher to rule their learning. (Finkel’s explanation of the distinction between power and authority is quite astute as well.)

At fewer than 200 pages, this volume is dense with useful insight. I plan to discover ways to apply these strategies to my own teaching, and I’m confident that the ideas in this book will transform my practice. I urge all teachers to devour this text—you’ll be a more thoughtful, strategic, and successful practitioner for having done so.

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

My gym teacher gave this to me so I could read it as a TA assignment. It delved into the different methods of teaching, and how different types of teachers make various impacts on our lives. The author explains how telling is not an effective way of teaching, and that showing is. He references historical events and stories to back up his thesis. It was interesting and proved to be a lot different than I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be very wordy and difficult. It turned out it was neither. It's a pretty interesting book.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts off a bit slow for me. I appreciate the structure and intent of the text itself, but because I am already aware of Finkel's essential arguments, the opening that defines his aims and pedagogy seem more directed at another audience who primarily lectures. As a composition instructor in a fairly progressive writing studies department, I have already worked in collaborative classrooms, fostered student-led inquiry seminars, and discussed issues of power in university settings. Thus, establishing the premise and purpose of the book takes too long for me (to me, the first half is mostly set up). What's more, I skimmed some of the earlier passages, especially those on specific texts that he used in classes. He takes a great deal of time to set up an example that wouldn't prove relevant in my own class. Obviously, evidence helps support claims, but discussing which books he chose (all of which were canonical), for example, seems more pedantic than instructive.

Despite this slower start, overall the book still provides some helpful assignments and pedagogical approaches. It also includes helpful reminders and tips on subjects of inquiry-based learning. Even though I have tried some of these prior, reading more on such approaches further develops these teaching practices.

I particularly enjoy the chapters "Speaking with Your Mouth Shut: The Art of Writing" and "Refusing to 'Teach': Separating Power and Authority in the Classroom." In this latter chapter, I appreciate his goal of a classroom to 'pave the way to democracy' rather than pretending teachers in institutional systems with grades and required assignments could wrest authority fully from themselves. He writes at the close of this chapter, "Teaching with you mouth shut necessitates refusing to 'teach,' that is, refusing to exercise some of the power normally expected of those in the institutional role of teacher...It requires finding a hundred different ways of getting students to assume power for themselves, to take responsibility for themselves and their education... Separating power from authority thus lies at the heart of teaching with your mouth shut" (133).

I have always struggled with silence in classrooms, knowing how much help to give or when to let students figure out more on their own. It's why I picked up the book in the first place. Thus, it was useful to read this book: to not only get a few lesson ideas and commenting tips but to also have reminders about the value and benefit of learning for my students and myself from philosophers like John Dewey: "Education is not an affair of 'telling' and being told, but an active and constructive process."

[Matt Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent read

[Liz Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finkel’s book describes teaching techniques that he has derived from Jean Piaget’s work on cognition and John Dewey’s ideas about education. The ideas of “teaching with your mouth shut” are basically ways to teach without Telling. The author believes that Telling, straight lecturing to students about fact-based information, does not challenge our students to learn to think for themselves, a point that I agree with. The methods of teaching that he describes here focus on making the learner process, question, and draw conclusions from the information they were learning, which I believe will both teach them the information and teach them how to learn. Personally I envision the utopian education experience to be one where students learn how to learn, rather than just learn facts that they may or may not be able to apply to their lives and future occupations. As the author points out though, the methods described won’t fit every teaching situation, so they must be taken as ideas rather than a cook-book for great teaching. As I read it I viewed his thoughts as jumping-off points for thinking about my own creative ways to teach without Telling. Many of the ideas that he suggests remind me of things that I do with my students (such as teaching through writing to and for your students), and some of his ideas have given me “food for thought” for creating positive changes in my classes. I enjoyed reading this book, and I think that any teachers who are interested in pedagogy enhancement will enjoy it as well. His writing style is more conversational than technical, which makes the text enjoyable to read even for someone who may never have taken an education course (i.e., many faculty members). I would like to see some of his suggestions become more commonplace in higher education, so I would highly suggest this book to teachers and anyone interested in improving education.

[DWRL Library]

Finkel challenges the idea of "teaching as telling," and lays out ideas for creating a collaborative learning environment. While there are lots of good ideas here for enhancing classroom discussions, you should be warned that Finkel's teaching environment is one in which grades are not given. So, while lots of interesting ideas, a little lacking in practicality at times.
As indicated by the title, Finkel explores taking the teacher's voice out of the classroom -- letting the texts and the students do the speaking. This would be a good book to read before you set up your 309 course. It has good advice on thinking through what you want out of your course and how to use your texts. Chapter 4, "Let us inquire together," is especially helpful as a way of conceptualizing the classroom environment.
Part II of Chaper 5, "Learning through writing together," offers a blueprint for creating a community of writers rather than a classroom of students, with concrete ideas on encouraging student to student written dialogue. This is a particularly good chapter.
All in all, this book offers an alternative way of thinking about teaching that is well worth reading -- especially at the conceptualization stage of your class. However, if you're looking for practical day-to-day advice on teaching, this book will not be particularly helpful.

[Steve Llano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great, if a bit dated, book about reconsidering the role of the teacher in the classroom. Today, teachers are somewhat overtargeted with ideas of taking attention off of them and putting it onto the students in the class. Finkel's book is not simplistic in this way, but much of what is here struck me as something that I already consider or do in the classroom. Much of what he offers is for the teacher to consider himself or herself as a learner as well as stimulating student interest based around need, or the student being unable to do or accomplish something now due to the lack of ability or knowledge. It reads a lot better than the typical "you'll need this in college" or "you'll need this to do a job" or "you'll need this to be a good citizen" tropes we hear too often from teachers.

[JohnP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donald Finkel has put together a very thought-provoking book which seems quite timely today, even though it was written in 2000.

His premise is simple to understand, yet complex to envision: kids do better when the teacher steps back and lets them direct the course of the learning. While I agree with this approach, Finkel doesn’t address the fact that it takes a particular type of learner to pull off this type of learning.

Some of his chapters and ideas seem to be a bit of a stretch, but I found his chapter on inquiry-centered teaching to be solid and a great place for any teacher to start.

Like any book on educational pedagogy, it’s not for everyone, but I feel like everyone can take something of value away from this.

[Heather Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this 2.5 stars. Maybe for teachers who don't already buy into this philosophy, it would be beneficial. I've never taught by "Telling," so the 100+ pages about why that is important felt repetitive and tedious.

The lesson ideas were useful, however, and I think a lesson planning guide would have proven more handy for my purposes.

[Mark Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this down, as it described for me, just the kind of teacher I hope to become. His ideas are masterful, in engaging students and trusting them to dig out the nuggets for themselves and claim them as their own.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly my teaching philosophy; and he taught at one of my most favorite schools ever--Evergreen State College--I love alternative education, where you actually can learn to think, write, and live better.

[Wags · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book for writing instructor wannabes. I was pleased to find non-lecture theory and practice described in practical terms.

[Mr. W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book for writing instructor wannabes. I was pleased to find non-lecture theory and practice described in practical terms.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas for the classroom.

[Cindel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some thought provoking information for me as a high school math teacher. I think this book would be a must read for high school English/Language Arts teachers or college professors.

[Mrs. G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great principles and motivating sections but not enough concrete suggestions for classroom instruction.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about socratic discussions. I found it very helpful.