Chapter 2: Let the Books Do the Talking

In this chapter, Finkel demonstrates the importance of allowing books and parables to speak to learners without interference. He shows how an instructor can introduce a work without impressing their own interpretations upon their learners. Learners can still be pointed in a particular direction through the posing of specific questions that are designed to elicit conversation and not information download.

As a learner, I have more than once interpreted a work differently than my instructor. While I am confident in the validity of my interpretation, the difference between my thoughts and my instructor's usually came at the expense of my grades. Have you experienced such a situation? What happened? Where you able to reconcile your views with your instructors or did this come at the cost of your grades in the class?