"Learn before you teach" - Nielson Mandela

Okay, so a few weeks ago, I got in a huge argument with my Swedish co-year Stella, because she told me "You must learn before you can teach!" I proposed that this was a load male bovine of excrements, and in her defense she said that it was so smart that it actually sounded like Nielson Mandela could have said it. This heated discussion went on for about half an hour. Interestingly, it was not going to be long before I would have the chance to test her hypothesis in real life. This week was Project Based Learning Week and I have been teaching all those lively little first years in the annual 12-hour first aid course.

The 12-hour course is an expanded version of the standard Norwegian course from the Red Cross. I did the curse last year and then went on to join first aid team for higher qualifications. Our team splits into two main groups during the course: the group leaders and the workshop instructors. Group leaders give the basic training and then follow group around as they progress through 10 different workshops. Workshop instructors instruct workshops. I went for the latter, which meant that I would be assisting a group leader on the first day and then having a workshop on a specific topic. The workshop that I requested was not a classically popular one amongst instructors: Diabetes - not enough screaming and blood, I guess. But to me it seemed like an interesting challenge to convey something that can be quite theoretical and dry in a practical and interesting way.

My workshop lasted for 25 minutes and had three goals: To teach the participants to understand what diabetes is, to teach them to recognize when a diabetic is having problems and to teach them what to do in order to help. That is not so little, and my presentation was quite high pace. However, I was extremely impressed by the first years and their ability to pay attention and absorb during the information packed lesson. I first explained a bit about why learning about diabetes is important (because you may end up saving the life of a friend - 5% of the world population suffers from some form of diabetes) and then I taught the role of insulin in the body; type I and type II diabetes; hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia with causes, symptoms and how to help; and in the end I showed how to use testers an insulin pens. The most important lesson about the last thing is that you are never - NEVER - allowed to inject someone with insulin. However, you can assist quite a lot if you recognize how to use all the stuff.

Teaching is a learning experience (except in Russia, where there is just one word for the two). I learned a lot of new stuff about diabetes, and I think that I am even more prepared to deal with hyper/hypoglycemia now than I was before. But I also learned a lot about the process of teaching in general. I taught my workshop to more than a hounded people during a day and then graded exams the next. I discovered that teaching requires a great amount of energy. I had to constantly keep my energy up to not loose the hard earned attention of my students, which is probably why I drank five cups of coffee that day. Saying sharp is crucial, even when you teach the same material again and again. New questions will arise, so you constantly have to think about what you are saying. Even if you thank that you know it all by heart. With that in mind, I think it is time that I propose my own fake quote: "You must teach before you can learn... Take that Stella!" - Nielson Mandela

By the way, you should all learn how to do CPR: