On Drawing Owls and Teaching Non-Beginners

On Twitter a few years ago, I remarked that I got more out of teaching at an intermediate level than a beginner level.

I admire people who teach at a beginner level and I was just expressing my own preference but at the time, people almost seemed to take offense and I couldn't really articulate why I preferred more intermediate-level teaching.

A few weeks ago the "how to drawn an owl" meme came up again on Twitter. I suddenly realized that was the reason I'm drawn to intermediate-level teaching. I'm interested in bridging the gap between the basics and the real thing.

Here's the "how to draw an owl" meme in the form I've most seen it:

Note that my interest in intermediate-level teaching often means going back to basics, to the foundation, to the essence, to the key principles.

Starting from first principles isn't necessarily a great approach with beginners. But I love doing it with non-beginners as a means to take them to the next level.

Again, I have the utmost admiration for people who can teach beginners well. I don't think it's a skill I have.

Instead, I'm drawn to helping the person who has the basics, work out what's next: to build a framework on which the next level can be built.

In short, to help fill in the chasm between the circles and the rest of the owl.