The nuance of the connection takes many forms – parenting, caretaking, coaching, counseling, mentoring, ministering, to name a few. Each of these relationships is populated with a giver and a receiver and all of them are designed to transfer knowledge, insight, love, perspective, kindness, and a host of protective functions that a power differential assumes. Yet, more often than we realize, roles reverse. The student becomes the teacher.
When I enter the classroom as a college professor, my students expect me to transfer 40+ years of professional experience into brains that, for the most part, haven’t even finished developing. If I remain behind the lectern and pontificate, some of those nuggets might get absorbed. Usually not. However, when I join my students in a circle of sharing, I create a connection based on mutual respect and open exchange. Needless to say, more nuggets are accrued – by everyone in the circle.
When I enter the studio as a music student, I understand that my instructor has a deeper understanding of theory and technique than I possess. That’s partly why I take weekly lessons. The most valuable learning doesn’t result from being shown things. It comes from the partnership and the musical interaction where the theory and technique come alive.
On whichever side of the partnership you reside, be assured that the relationship is the spark that ignites the fire. Each connection creates its own unique chemistry from which unpredictable discoveries are hatched. Sometimes you’re the teacher and other times you are the student. Most of the time, you are both.