[Skill] Teaching

[Reihn]

Teaching

To teach is to impart knowledge or skill. Whether formal or informal, the process involves at least one teacher and at least one individual willing to learn. Though most teaching institutions and the structure of formal schools were almost completely destroyed in the Valterrian, several institutions have been built in the aftermath across the lands.
Teaching in one form or another occurs within every region of Mizahar today. Whether it be an apprentice wizard conducting research under the strict guise of her tutor in Sahova, or the captain of a transport vessel vehemently correcting his subordinates on cabin cleanliness on the Suvan Sea; the practice of teaching is a subtle yet vital contribution to the reconstruction of society in Mizahar.

Formal Teaching Institutions (to note a few)

-Valkalah Academy- The majority of instructors are volunteers, though there are a few professor positions. Subjects taught include culture, history, and other courses involved in the general education of Akalak youth. The school is open to all friendly toward Riverfall; guests are not uncommon in these halls. With an extensive library attached, the Valkalah Academy serves to spread a much more abundant wealth of knowledge than many assume.

-Stormhold Castle- Its purpose is to enforce civilization and, hopefully, coexistence across a chaotic land. Maintaining the rigorous training standards of the Syliran Knights is of utmost importance concerning the welfare of the surrounding populace. It is the vital defensive center of Syliras, and a symbol of progress in Mizahar.

-Little Dead Schoolhouse- Located on the ghostly island of Black Rock: a generally feared yet strangely peaceful place of largely unknown inhabitants. Many subjects are taught to the youth of Black Rock here: mathematics, science, and geography to list a few. Higher learning is also taught in the evenings.

-Great Healing Center- Constructed within the shell of a giant snail-like creature, the Great Healing Center is a central structure of the Spires. A staff of 10 talented Jamoura support the head doctor in treating patients using physical, herbal, and magical methods to perform the work of Caihya and Rak’keli meticulously and compassionately. Teaching and instruction are performed by senior staff in the Center’s library and, most importantly, at the patient’s bedside.


Prerequisites and Related Skills

There are no prerequisites to teach, and any skill or lore can be taught to (virtually) everyone in just about any situation.

Notes & Rules

- Teaching is not a lore. It’s a skill that improves with practice.

- Teaching skill progression is not subject-dependent. It does not matter what an individual teaches, whether they teach the longsword skill or the lore of local herbs of the Spires, their teaching skill will progress additively based on their efforts. For example: If James taught Salar'ah the Projection (magic) skill in a total of four separate threads, and increased his teaching skill from 4 to 15 (after Moderator approval, of course), James could later teach the lore of dangerous predators of Falyndar to Trenton in a different thread with a Teaching skill level of 15. No matter what skill or lore James wishes to teach to others, his Teaching skill is at level 15.

- Character(s) can raise the skill level of other character(s) by teaching on that specific skill. But only if the teaching character has a skill level higher than the learning character. For example: James has boxing skill level 8. Salar'ah has boxing skill level 5. John can only raise Salar'ah's boxing skill to 8 in a teaching thread.

- Obviously, a character cannot teach a skill or lore he/she does not already have.

- Teaching characters can simultaneously raise their Teaching skill level and raise the level of the skill taught. For example: If James teaches fishing to Salar'ah, his skill in fishing—at the discretion of a moderator after thread completion—was raised by 2 and his skill in teaching was raised by 3 (and let’s not forget that Salar'ah raised her fishing skill by 3).

- Multiple characters can teach to a single character or a single character can teach to multiple characters (more specifics on this below).

- A character can increase his/her teaching skill through teaching NPC’s (and also possibly simultaneously raise the skill level of the skill being taught).

- A character can increase his/her teaching skill by teaching an NPC a lore.

- If multiple skills and/or pieces of lore are taught within the same thread, generally the skill level increase per skill will not be as high as if one skill or lore was taught (again, this mostly relies on how well the roleplay was conducted and how the assigned Moderator assigns experience points).

- As a general rule of thumb, the higher the teaching skill level, the better the teacher.

- Either creative or obvious application of this skill could lead to fun and highly productive roleplaying!

Skill Progression

Novice (1-25)
The teacher is capable of explaining things at a slower pace. Key details of the skill or lore may sometimes be overlooked, and can go unmentioned without an engaged student asking clarifying questions. One-on-one instruction is optimal, but the teacher may attempt instructing up to four to six students at one time without much risk of failing utterly. Distractions can prove hazardous to instruction. High interaction between teacher and student greatly increases effectiveness of instruction. The novice teacher may only teach up to two skills, two lores, or one skill and one lore per thread. If teaching of multiple skill(s) and/or lore(s) is attempted, they must directly relate to one another. [Example: writing and forgery]

Competent (26-50)
The pace of instruction is generally greatly improved. Important details of subject matter are hardly ever overlooked, as the teacher is well practiced. One-on-one or one-on-two instruction is preferred, but the competent teacher is usually comfortable instructing to up to 25 students at one time. Distractions and interruptions still effect instruction, but the teacher is often able to adapt and overcome learning obstacles. The competent teacher may attempt to teach up to four skills, four pieces of lore, or a combination of both within the same thread. Once again, the skill(s) and lore(s) must be relatable, but the competent teacher may be more creative in relating instructed skill(s) and or lore(s) (ie: fishing, farming, falconry, and birdkeeping). [Example: James teaches general principles of farming, which includes concepts like product and food storage. He discusses a great way to store spoilable food, like fish, which involves putting the fish several inches beneath certain soils. James then teaches some basics of fishing. He then describes a creative method of fishing which involves the use of a trained falcon by practicing some general principles of falconry. James ends his discussion on a brief introduction to birdkeeping, because falcons are no easy pet to own.]

Expert (50-75)
The art of teaching has become almost effortless in a learning-conducive environment. A teacher at this level often uses the skill on a daily basis as a formal instructor or an influential leader of his/her community. Most of the time, every little detail and aspect of taught skill or lore is covered effectively. Less interaction is required for optimal learning; even the most dull subject matter is taught very effectively, and students often conclude after instruction they’ve learned more than they first realized. The expert teacher really has no limit on the number of students, though over 100 pairs of unblinking eyes may make him/her nervous. The teacher is no longer limited to instructing on a maximum number of skills or pieces of lore in a single thread, though the material must be relatable in some way (be it abstract or straightforward).

Master (76-100)
Almost nothing will distract or break the student-teacher bond. The subject matter is covered so effectively students may have trouble not glossing over the details of the instruction in their sleep. Other teachers may approach the master teacher with requests for advice and instruction on how to improve their teaching ability. The master teacher generally anticipates any questions any student may or may not have, and often addresses them just before a studious hand is raised. Students instructed by a master teacher may learn without much more effort than listening quietly. The influence of a master teacher could potentially be profound, possibly creating new ways of performing or thinking about instructed material. The limit on number of skills or lore taught within a thread is at the discretion of the master teacher; as is the relatability of the material. The master teacher can instruct on whatever, however he/she deems best. Teaching at this level is almost always done so with renowned eloquence and ease.


And that's it . . . for now.

I realize I've made up some pretty interesting rules, but I tried to make them promote the act of teaching, cause it's just too cool!

I'm definitely prepared for the staff to tear this write-up a new one, but that's totally cool with me. I just wrote this assuming this will happen, so I put some pretty overarching rules in here, which I hope won't offend folks. I just figured, "Why not, we'll see how much it gets changed."

I also realize I didn't write much of a background for teaching, but what would be the point of a background to teaching. It's such a basic level of communication I figured, "Why say some random diety 'invented' or 'bestowed upon Mizahar' the art of teaching . . . It just didn't really seem like a tangible enough skill to express that way.

So . . . what's wrong with it (gets a 500 page notebook and pen out)?

[Gossamer]

This is just about perfect in terms of what
I like to see in a write up. Its clear
cut, concise, and easy to read.

The one mistake I did see was in
the rules under the fishing example
where you have Sue earning boxing XP
instead of fishing!

Great job!

[Reihn]

It's actually something I call fish-boxing. It's exhilerating!

lol!

Thanks I'll fix.

*thumbs way up*

*cautiously and slowly begins to put notebook away, eyes darting nervously*

[Charon]

First, thank you for attacking this. I've been giving XP for teaching, but didn't even realize there wasn't a write up for it. Here are some comments:

Though most teaching institutions and the structure of formal schools were almost completely destroyed in the Valterrian, various semblances of teaching occur within every region of Mizahar today.

-- Though this would be true, since the Valterrian cultures have had enough time to create new teaching facilities in various disciplines (whether it be combat, generic schools, academies, etc). I do not think anything should be taken away here, but just added. I would also encourage you to link to or at least mention some of these schools/academies that are found throughout the cities of Mizahar (and that comment goes for the entire article- add lore whenever and where-ever possible).

The novice teacher may only teach one skill or lore per thread.

The competent teacher may teach up to two skills, one skill and one lore, or two pieces of lore within the same thread.

The [expert] teacher is still limited to instructing on up to two skills or lore (or combination of both) in a single thread.

The master teacher may instruct on up to three skills and/or lore in one thread.

-- I disagree with this concept. Though they may not be proficient at teaching, that fact alone should not limit somebody from trying, right? A thread can be long and teaching opportunities in various lores/skills could occur at different times. Their gain in experience should depend on how well they write/how much effort they put into it (just like anything else) and the experience gained by the student should depend on that AND the experience of the teacher in both teaching and the subject being taught, as you mentioned.

The pace of instruction is generally greatly improved.

-- I believe it should be noted that the pace of instruction also relies heavily on the student's competence and the number of students being taught.

...comfortable instructing to up to 25 students at one time.

...though over 100 pairs of unblinking eyes may make him/her nervous.

-- Where did these numbers come from? Should the number of students a competent/expert teacher takes on be dependent upon the skill being taught and the environment it is being taught in? It may be easy to teach basic, foundational skills to many pupils but advanced skills are more effectively learned/taught one-on-one. If you are in a quiet place it's more beneficial to both student and teacher, but busier environments could alter the number of effective students.

Students instructed by a master teacher may learn without much more effort than listening quietly.

-- Cool, I just think something should be mentioned to the effect that putting more effort and listening to a master teacher would certainly yield much greater learning by the student.


Other random comments:

-- As I mentioned before, try to find some renowned teachers in Mizahar lore and give the write up more character, more Mizahar culture. Add scenarios that are likely to be found in this environment to give it a taste of what the rest of the community is about. Everybody knows what teaching is, so what does it mean here?

-- Maybe flesh out the levels a bit more. Would a master teacher necessarily be teaching a brand new student something they had never seen before? Chances are they would be teaching other teachers or creating new concepts/theories within a subject and teaching that to others. Master teachers are not abundant (or they wouldn't be special) so some may only teach very specific skills that are difficult to find. Included in this would be examples of each level of teacher. A mother teaching the facts of life would be a novice or competent (depending on how you look at it) while I ship captain like you mentioned would probably be an expert.

-- This leads me to want to have a better relationship between the skill being taught and the teaching skill. Would a master teacher be able to teach something they don't know of? Not really, like you mentioned, but they may be able to at least set the environment for them to learn. So, if the taught skill is a 10 and teaching is a 10, they can hardly teach but the very basics... If the skill is a 10 and teaching is a 50, they can easily teach up to what they know in the taught skill. These are just ideas and random numbers- I'd be interested to see what others have to say about this topic.

Overall, again thanks for working on this!! Keep refining it and keep up the welcoming attitude toward constructive criticism (Izurdin knows I've had to!) Of course these are just my thoughts and are, too, free to be up for discussion!!

[Reihn]

*scribbles furiously*

Yeah, I definitely agree that the write-up could use more Mizahar pizazz. It starts off strong with Mizahar references, but then falls pretty flat.

Also, I was definitely making a wild guess with the "hardly any formal schools" thing, I'll definitely do more research in that area.

The limits on simultaneous lore/skill teaching was meant to prevent wierd power-teaching threads in the future. So I guess we'll see what others think of that idea. I'm definitely open to getting rid of it all together. Perhaps a more general rule of: the taught material must be logically relatable within a single thread. Because it really wouldn't make much sense to teach fishing . . . and boxing at the same time (lol).

As for the random numbers, I wanted something tangible between skill levels, yet notice how I was careful to use words like, "may", "can", "hardly ever", "often", etc. I used careful phrasing A LOT to keep this rediculously variable skill as generalized as possible. I wanted to make sure to leave room for the exceptions to the rules, because there always are.

As for the other specifics you mentioned, many of those are still applicable to my generalized wording.

I probably won't be doing anymore work on it yet today.

Thanks a bunch for the criticisms! I guess there is still a fair amount of sharpening to do.

[Reihn]

Sorry to double post, but I want to inform interested parties of recent changes:

- Added new section about formal schools of Mizahar (if you think another should be added for kicks PM me or reply here plz)

- Changed rules regarding number of skills/lore that can be trained within one thread for all four levels of teaching (novice, competent, expert, and master).

- Added new note that says: "teaching one skill or lore per thread is likely to get more xp per skill than doing multiple skills or pieces of lore".

- All existing links have been added (PM or reply if I missed any, provide link as well plz).

Basically, this is the final product unless there's more input, of which I don't doubt . . .

Oh, and thanks Charon for those formal school examples!!

[Gossamer]

How about the Opal Temple in Mura - Healing center as well... in place before the one in spires was developed. And how about the University of Zeltiva?

This puppy is just about ready for approval. Do we have any more comments, suggestions or changes?

[Gossamer]

I'm going to approve this as-is because I think it started out great, and with Charon's critique it has only gotten better. Feel free to add in more teaching institutions as you see fit and over time. You can now add this to the mizahar wiki using the Dummy Skill template. Once you have... you have earned yourself a Mizahar lore medal. Grats and thank you so much for contributing to Mizahar!