I teach because I want students to make connections between topics and their lives that are meaningful for them.  When I began teaching in the age of the dinosaurs, the teacher’s job was to provide information to students to repeat back on a test.  Even tho I taught lab classes, the activities were carefully structured for the students to get the planned result.

In my own education as an adult, I have come to see that education is like a dance between the learner and the knowledge.  A meaningful course starts with what the students want to learn/be able to do and what activities they think will achieve that.  The teacher helps the student extend their learning in ways that interest them, by providing resources, not just by providing knowledge.  Students come to the class from a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds, which can enrich the class for all the members: students and teachers.

Since the teacher is a participant, not “in charge” of the class, the class decides together what “the rules” will be.