How I Gained a Student's Perspective Through Knitting

"Man arrives as a novice at each age of his life."

-Nicolas Chamfort

I took a knitting class with my sister. Yes, we were the youngest people in the room. No, our instructor was not a sweet little older lady. Yes, she was more reminiscent of a stereotypical Russian ballet teacher, sans being Russian...or teaching ballet. Yes, I wanted to cry at times. No, I did not get up and leave, though the urge to do so was definitely there. I took a knitting class with my sister, and I gained a student's perspective.

Let me back up and provide you with a little context. While cleaning out old boxes a few months ago, my younger sister and I came across a few pairs of knitting needles. Presuming that they belonged to our Grandma, whom we both admire and miss with similar ardor, we decided that we should take up the skill of knitting. I felt a further inspiration from the students I had observed in the Finnish schools who all acquired the knitting skill beginning in 3rd grade. Nostalgia and inspiration were abuzz as my sister and I booked our first knitting class.

Our knitting tutelage began on a Saturday morning...at 8:00. Well, actually at precisely 8:12, as our teacher was running late. Upon her arrival, as if to make up for time lost, her words and actions moved in a flurry around our pre-coffee clouded brains. She began thrusting needles and yarn into our hands and filling our table space with coffee cake. Next, she bombarded us with additional words offering warm beverages and, simultaneously, introducing us to the lexicon of knitting.

This squall of knowledge and pastries continued as our teacher kept repeating the same words (that I still cannot remember). Her words were accompanied by her bare knitting needles moving in the motions required to complete a plain stitch. We were asked to repeat them after her, as we moved our own needles in the same motion. After a few monotonous repetitions, she was pleased enough with our rote mimicry to add yarn to the mix. Yarn now placed on our needles, we were supposed to repeat the motions and vocabulary we had just mimicked. However, with yarn in places that were once bare, the motion was hindered and our voices dwindled and mistakenly created new inaccurate words to replace the foreign-lingo we had just been taught. The instructor's voice tightened as she briskly reminded us to repeat the same words she was saying. As much as we tried, we were unable to meet her demands and incapable of knitting successfully. I attempted to explain that we were slightly confused with the verbiage and the way it connected to our needle movements. To remedy my confusion, our teacher grabbed a pair of knitting needles, stomped back to the front of the table and began repeating the exact same lesson she had just given to us but with a slightly slower and exaggerated tone.

After letting her go through her motions of "re-teaching" us, I clarified that "Yes, I understand the words and motions you showed to us prior to adding the yarn. What I am needing more clarification on is what the words and motions actually mean when applying it to the yarn itself." Her tone slightly softened with this clarification. She was able to show us the connection between the vocabulary she had relentlessly commanded with the actions necessary to complete a knit stitch. As I continued to inquire about the "why" of the motions, the big picture of it all became so much more clear. The vocabulary made sense (even if I STILL do not remember the exact verbiage) and the task at hand, at last, seemed attainable. The next two hours were filled with little successes, little frustrations (that felt a bit magnified by the time of day and our leader's demeanor), and a few laughs in between it all. Ultimately, I left with a basic knowledge of knitting and an even greater reminder of what it is like to be a student.

Yes, I have been a student before. Yes, I was a student as recently as last year, when completing my Masters. Yes, I am continuously learning new things in professional development or informally. However, it has been a long time since I have been a student in a manner that I knew nothing about the subject matter or at least didn't catch onto it fairly quickly. Having this reminder of how it feels to learn something completely foreign was a humbling and important experience.

When teaching something completely new, it is vital to prepare various ways to explain or demonstrate the concept or skill. The theoretical knowledge that "everyone learns differently" is a concept that has been engrained in my head and heart through any educational training I have experienced. Yet, knowing this truth is different than having the first-hand experience of being taught only one way and not understanding it. Even though I have tried, as a teacher, spending many hours planning multiple ways to teach and re-teach a subject, I reflect back now on the fact that it was still difficult for me to understand how a student was still not comprehending a concept from the 5 different ways that I had explained or modeled it. My memory cringes with the thought that any of my students could have ever felt even remotely close to how I felt during my knitting experience. Indeed, we all come with our own biases, implicit or explicit, of what we feel like should be easier to understand or more difficult to understand because of our own learning style. Additionally, when we have tried every way WE can imagine teaching or learning it, we might resort to survival mode of just slowing it down. Yet, slower does not necessarily equal more helpful and definitely does not equate to a different learning style.

When I found myself on the receiving end of that tactic, I felt gut-punched thinking of any students feeling like this in school. My knitting teacher made me feel stupid for not understanding, she made me feel misunderstood because she was not truly listening, Caring, or paying attention to where my confusion was coming from, and she made me feel like quitting because I just "wasn't getting it" rather than Adjusting to help us better understand. Imagine, if I felt that way from a class that was just for FUN, how do those students feel who are struggling to understand more pertinent concepts and skills. Furthermore, as an adult, I have experienced enough to be able to give myself an internal pep talk, be calm enough to express to the teacher what I was not understanding, and collect myself enough to clarify what it was that I was confused about when she was repeating herself. But I am an adult. Most of the time, our students are not yet able to even identify what the emotion is that they are feeling, why they are feeling it, or what part of the concept they are not understanding. Stopping to allow time to process and reflect is vital for both teachers and students when experiencing a new or challenging concept.

Taking this class also made me recognize more fervently that the basic facts or vocabulary that are so prominently focused on during lessons and units mean NOTHING without context or an idea of the big picture. Again, something that I theoretically understood and attempted to adhere to in my lessons but has now gained even greater significance to me since recently being in the actual experience of a novice student. This also made me think about how much theory and philosophy I have learned through various professional development and classes but how it is only as powerful as it can be applied realistically and effectively. The greatest theories in the world are pointless if the application is not manageable to execute.

Through this seemingly mundane activity, I learned a new hobby and found myself inspired to improve in areas of my life unassociated with the skill. My challenge to myself and to other educators (and non-educators!) is to literally put yourself in a student's shoes at least once a year, if not more. Try to learn a new language, a new skill, a greater understanding of a subject that is not your forte...the possibilities are endless! I know, I know...as educators we are CONSTANTLY learning new things and being lifelong learners. BUT, if you are anything like me, these subjects tend to be something that you know a little bit about or are required to learn. For the sake of yourself AND your students... Try to learn something completely new. Enjoy the satisfaction of the hard work you put in, and refresh yourself with being in a student's shoes. Take a class (maybe even knitting!), Open your eyes to a student's perspective, and Never give up on yourself or your students.

***I used the knitting term "CAST ON" to help me remember the bolded concepts***

Care

Adjust

Stop

Try New Things

Open your perspective

Never give up