Power to the people who teach the people to code

Speaker: Sheena O'Connell

Track: Teaching and Learning with Python

Type: Talk

Room: Righthand Room (Seminar Room 1)

Time: Oct 03 (Thu): 14:00

Duration: 0:45

Teaching people to code is...tricky.

Software development and teaching are two distinct skill sets, yet people with technical skills are often put into a position where they are meant to teach others, this might be through workplace mentorship, community involvement, or through being hired to teach (for example, in a bootcamp). They are often expected to succeed with very little or no teacher training at all. A lot of common practice is very ineffective.

Many think that when it comes to teaching, you either have it or you don't. I'm happy to inform you that those people are mistaken.

Teaching and learning is something that has been well studied. There are techniques, patterns, and anti-patterns. There are skills that can be learned and practiced.

I've been working in alternative education for a number of years, and the people who graduate from the courses I've put together tend to do really well for themselves.

In this talk, I'd like to share a few of the things I've learned over the years. We'll cover studies, mindsets, mechanisms, patterns, and anti-patterns. The Python community is full of people with teacher's hearts. My goal is to amplify their efforts.