The Skillful Teacher

Maxim 2: Perfection Is an Illusion
Yes grasshopper, the image of the fully formed, omniscient teacher
trained to respond immediately and appropriately to any and all
eventualities is indeed part of the veil of illusion that comprises the
physical world of pedagogic practices. Expecting perfection in one’s
performance as a teacher usually has one of three predictable con-
sequences: you quickly develop an anxiety disorder, you quit the
profession because you are so demoralized at what you perceive to
be your constant failures, or you develop a disconnected cynicism
that holds that your actions don’t matter because nothing works out
how you think it will anyway. So, David Carradine and Kung Fu
aside, I do believe that perfection (at least as defined as never mak-
ing a mistake) is a chimera. You will never achieve it, and in pur-
suing it slavishly you will become so obsessed with your own actions
that you’ll forget the real reason for teaching—to help students
learn.
Seeking perfection in pedagogic performance is as dangerously
narcissistic as seeking perfection in sexual performance. In both
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cases what is really important—what is happening to the other 
person—is forgotten as one becomes obsessed with living out an
idealized version of perfection drawn from manuals, media portray-
als, or one’s own fevered imaginings. In trying to be responsive to
students while covering important content, in trying to build cred-
ibility and authenticity in equal measure, and in trying to use mul-
tiple learning modalities to meet diverse learning styles—in all these
situations you will never achieve a perfect balance. Indeed, the
notion of balance in teaching is itself highly questionable. Perhaps
the most we can hope for is to keep these seeming opposites in a
state of congenial tension.
If you equate the achievement of teaching perfection with only
receiving positive reactions from students, you are really on the road
to nowhere. For every student who embraces change or welcomes
learning, there will be one (or more likely many) who will doggedly
resist your efforts. It is easy to become obsessed with these students
who, stubbornly, seem unable to realize the validity of the learning
you are urging on them. But be ever wary of the trap of conversional
obsession mentioned in Chapter Twelve by which you mistakenly
measure your success as a teacher by the extent to which you turn
the most recalcitrant student into a passionate advocate for your
subject. Remember, no teaching action ever produces universally
felicitous consequences. Every teaching choice is a trade-off involv-
ing pluses and minuses. If the overall advantages of one course of
action outweigh its disadvantages, it is probably worth pursuing.