A childish reflection on two words

Without resorting to scholarly definitions, a quick reflection on the French words “former” and “enseigner” (to train and to teach) reveals something about our understanding of the human nature and our relationship with other human beings.

To train is to transform according to a model seen as a mold coming from outside. It shapes someone according to a vision created by others and ensures that the person applies certain rules. To train is to prepare for a future marked out by others, which leaves an indelible mark.

Teaching means showing, pointing the way to a learner who is receiving knowledge. It means showing him/her a path that they will follow in a given direction. It means letting them choose whether or not to follow this path, depending on their abilities.

This reflects the objective of vocational training, which aims to make a person capable of performing a task, allowing an “I” to join a “We.” The focus of teaching emphasizes the person who points the way, the teacher, who becomes the model: the ‘I’ follows the example of another “I.”

In both cases, an example is provided. Training is based on an external model after immersion in a matrix; teaching is based on the person who shows the way, the master, the one who knows. The quality of the model therefore presupposes the quality of the work, the work symbolizing the one who goes through this process. Invited to fit into a larger structure made up of elements similar to the mold, in the first case; invited to go further and imitate what has been given as an example, in the second case. 

Of course, this is just a childish exercise based on two words... But it raises the question of the future of a human being shaped by a particular vision. This is why John Dewey's words resonate in a very particular way: "The central problem of an education based on experience is to choose the nature of present experiences that will remain fruitful and creative in subsequent experiences. " (Experience and Education, 1968, Armand Colin, p. 70).