QuoteProject
A teacher who cannot explain any abstract subject to a child does not himself thoroughly understand his subject; if he does not attempt to break down his knowledge to fit the child's mind, he does not understand teaching.
Fulton J. Sheen
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

A good teacher must be able to simplify complex concepts for their students to demonstrate true understanding.

This quote emphasizes the importance of a teacher's ability to convey complex ideas in a manner that is comprehensible to their students, particularly children. If a teacher struggles to simplify their knowledge, it suggests that they have not fully grasped the subject themselves, and that effective teaching involves breaking down information and adapting it to the learner's level of understanding.

Themes

TeachingUnderstandingEducationCommunicationKnowledge

In practice

Example use cases

In a teacher training workshop to emphasize the need for clarity in instruction.

More from Fulton J. Sheen

Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?
Fulton J. SheenRead
A woman gets angry when a man denies his faults, because she knew them all along. His lying mocks her affection; it is the deceit that angers her more than the faults.
Fulton J. SheenRead
Many married women who have deliberately spurned the "hour" of childbearing are unhappy and frustrated. They never discovered the joys of marriage because they refused to surrender to the obligation of their state. In saving themselves, they lost themselves!
Fulton J. SheenRead
No one has ever laughed at a pun who did not see in the one word a twofold meaning. To materialists this world is opaque like a curtain; nothing can be seen through it. A mountain is just a mountain, a sunset just a sunset; but to poets, artists, and saints, the world is transparent like a window pane - it tells of something beyond....a mountain tells of the Power of God, the sunset of His Beauty, and the snowflake of His Purity.
Fulton J. SheenRead
The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.
Fulton J. SheenRead
Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.
Fulton J. SheenRead

Similar quotes

We wish to learn all the curious, outlandish ways of all the different countries, so that we can "show off" and astonish people when we get home. We wish to excite the envy of our untraveled friends with our strange foreign fashions which we can't shake off.
Mark TwainRead
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things that people do
William ZinsserRead
Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar.
Benjamin FranklinRead
In the real world, the smartest people are people who make mistakes and learn. In school, the smartest people don't make mistakes.
Robert KiyosakiRead
A library doesn't need windows. A library is a window.
Stewart BrandRead
Books are slow, books are quiet. The Internet is fast and loud.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Fulton J. Sheen | QuoteProject