We cannot learn (or teach) everything there is to know. Even if we
could, we would probably quickly forget it, because human
beings tend to forget information they don't use (Wickelgren 1979). For
example, during my tenure as a professor at a university, I taught
graduate courses in techniques for reading diagnosis. Although it was a
complex field, I felt I had a certain mastery of the content and even wrote
a textbook on the subject. After not using that information for a decade,
though, I was embarrassed recently when I could not answer a simple
question on the topic. I had to look up the information in the textbook I
had helped write. Acquiring content knowledge is very important, but perhaps it
should not be the most important goal of the education process. Ultimately,
it might be better to help students develop mental habits that
will help them learn on their own whatever they need or want to know.
'Ib explore this idea, let's consider Mr. Nachtigal's class.