Something I always encourage my learners to do is challenge everything, even what I tell them. I suggest they do not simply accept what people say as being a given but that they should gather enough information to come to a conclusion that THEY are satisfied with for their own conceptualisation, logic and application.

Having been a teacher for 25 years in various forms from delivering exercise classes to teaching PT's and physiotherapists about biomechanics to helping podiatrists understand how to prescribe exercises I know one thing is for sure, we all learn in different ways and at different rates. Communication is key when passing over information, which I know I have written about before, but I cannot stress this point enough.

There seems to be such an emphasis on ‘level’ in the sense that a hierarchy of intelligence exists and I am sure this is correct in some form. However some of the <i>smartest</i> people I know are not naturally ‘academic’ and some cannot even read that well or write grammatically correctly (me for one!), does that stop them, us, me being intelligent? Clearly it comes back to how you measure intelligence.

So with so many educators out there lets say we were looking for who we should be guided by when it comes to intelligence. Let us consider how we are measuring this ‘hierarchy’ of intelligence so to speak.

or

More to the point how SHOULD we measure it?

Well I guess that would depend upon the industry or relevance. So lets take our industry since this is the one that has inspired me to write this article.

Now I meet a lot of people as I travel and many are what would be classed as very intelligent when it comes to qualifications and/or experience.

Yet it stuns me how badly some of these really smart people communicate that intelligence.

Let me give you a couple or simple examples and you tell me..

(This is simply an example to make a point by the way):

Example 1:

The PT with LOADS of qualifications, piles of certificates, loads of books and the ability to cite research papers left right and centre. This guy is often so busy taking courses he barely covers costs with what he makes from his clients. He KNOWS a lot but scrapes by and wonders why.

Compared to;

The PT who is not as well read or so extensively qualified but has AMAZING communication skills and makes ALL their clients feel fantastic in their company. This means they achieve client adherence and this PT is extremely successful commercially.

He is financially doing really well and has a great sense of job satisfaction.

Which PT is the <i>INTELLIGENT</i> one?

Example 2:

The presenter who delivers fantastically complex information of their thoughts and ideas and concepts so mind boggling it <i>‘blows your mind’ </i>but while you’re impressed you are struggling to work out how YOU can apply the awesomeness you just heard.

Compared to;

The presenter who uses economy of words, offers very simple concepts while possibly much less information overall BUT they offer you ideas to allow you to apply what they are sharing with you

My point here is that intelligence can be measured in several ways and is way more influential when it is communicated well. Lack of clarity or specificity is not helpful to others.

<i>“if you cant explain it simply you do not understand it well enough”</i>

Albert Einstein

<i>“simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication”</i>

Leonardo Da Vinci

Is it good enough to simply hear smart people telling us what they know?

Or is it enough simply having loads of knowledge, information packed away in your head if you are unable to apply it, communicate it and utilise it to your advantage?

Of course intelligence can be measured by taking an IQ test or passing exams but TRUE intelligence is surely being able to use it, express it and pass it on right?

Now back to my classroom where I do my very best NOT to answer questions raised by my learners. (Yes it is true, ask them!)

When I qualified with QTLS (Qualified teacher status) one of the primary things I came away with was that a <i>‘Learner lead’</i> classroom should be how we deliver content. The learners take priority over the teacher in the way the content is discussed, facilitated and therefore delivered. Clearly there is a lesson plan but with much scope for tasks and discussion so that the individuals present can facilitate themselves to a level of understanding appropriate to their individual experiences and areas of knowledge. Peer discussions are extremely healthy where opinions are permitted with justifications for those opinions. It would be unfair to tell someone else they are wrong when the subject matter is presented based upon that individuals experiences, opinion and along side a justification for the way they have presented it, don’t you think?

So back to my point;

Surely it is also healthy to accept that we may not agree on certain views or opinions again due to different experiences and back grounds, right?

We form views and attitude from our previous experiences and interactions with others right from being babies through to children and on to adulthood. The amount of variables make us individually complex and this is what makes meeting new people so fascinating and interesting.

In my experience many people in our industry are not necessarily ‘academic’ types, certainly I myself and a lot of my learners are generally more kinaesthetic leaners who process information better through doing, rather than reading or writing. So when faced with technically challenging information we often take a while to develop ways to put information into practice. The skills we require are theory, psychological and practical based to be best placed to help improve clients physicality and health. But in my opinion predominantly practical and psychological for exercise prescription based work.

My learners, the professionals I meet are REALLY intelligent people, who interact smartly, consciously, with care and thought for those they come into contact with. Just because for many of us, our learning style us such that we have to take a clini-band to a skeleton to really understand what muscles do or because we have to get up and move our legs to workout which is the agonist, which is the antagonist and which muscles are synergists doesn’t make us <i>less</i> intelligent people.

Communication is key to success when passing on information. Having some empathy for those listening to us while we deliver information (knowing our audience) is also key for learning and development to occur.

We should accept being challenged as a compliment that someone is seeking our ideas and in put but we should also <i>respect</i> their response when asking for it don’t you agree!?

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