"I Read it, but I don't get it"

"I Read it, but I don't get it" is a statement that is often never conveyed in a straightforward nor convenient way; inconvenient to both the student and the teacher. What exactly does this mean though? Is it a student’s plea for help? Is it a sign of incompetence on behalf of the student? Is it an ill reflection of the teacher’s ability to convey the information in a way the student can comprehend?

It is none of these. The phrase, "I Read it, but I don't get it" is an opportunity! One that is easily overlooked or taken for an indulgence in pessimism. This is a statement of confusion. Confusion is good.  

The concept of confusion is that clarification is needed. An instructor should not be appalled at the instance of this confusion, but overjoyed in that such a rare teaching opportunity may exist! When this confusion is incited by the instructor the student and the teacher opens a dialogue from which it is possible to create connections between the text, its ideas, and concepts and the student’s own interpretation, their reactions and focuses them on an internal reflective perspective on the text. In doing so, questions can be asked, explored and eventually the text can be understood in at least some capacity through association and student familiarity.

This book does an excellent job of addressing this opportunity and provides many inclusive suggestions for how an instructor may meaningfully take advantage of this opportunity to create a better understanding of the core concepts and ideas the text could ever provide on its own.  Not understanding is an invitation for discussion and for discovery. A discovery that encourages the student to be mindful of when and what creates confusion or lack of understanding and provides the tools for which enable them to realize that “Not getting it” is an okay starting point from which a lot of meaningful concepts and ideas can be learned.