Earth Systems Science, Inc.

Teach Backs

What Are They?

The ultimate test of your learning is trying to teach the same lesson to someone else. You can actually learn more when you try to teach. The Teach Back is how ESSI puts this insight into practice. It is a way to share your learning. And it is a way to learn how to become your own best teacher. If you have never tried being a tutor, try it at least once. You may know the subject matter. When trying to convey it to another learner, you are challenged to find other ways to explain the material in order to get the other person to understand it. The words and explanations that worked so clearly for you may not be so clear to them. You need to find other ways to present the material so they can understand. This is the true test of your understanding and mastery of the subject.

How Do Teach Backs Work?

This is also an ESSI “force multiplier”. We start with one “teacher” and a training class of 10 learners (who all pledge to teach to 4 other people). At the end of the first round of training, we now have the original teacher and 10 new “teachers.” You can see how a volunteer organization such as ESSI can make good use of more teachers to train more people.

For the second round, these 10 new teachers each teach 4 students. This means there will be 40 new students in the second round. After completing their training, each is pledged to teach 4 more students. At the end of round two, there are a grand total of 50 trained trainers.

For round three, the 40 new teachers each teach 4 more students. So now there will be 160 new students. After completing their training, each is pledged to teach 4 more students. At the end of round three, the grand total of trained trainers has reached 210.

Round four begins with 160 new teachers each teaching 4 students for a new class size of 640 students. After completing their training, each is pledged to teach 4 more students. Round four gets the grand total of trained trainers up to 850!

By round five, 640 new teachers each teach 4 new students and the new class size is up to 2,560 students. After completing their training, each is pledged to teach 4 more students. Round five gets the grand total of trained trainers up to 3,410!

Round six begins with 2,560 teachers each teaching 4 students yielding a grand program total of 13,650 trained trainers.

[Note: How effective are Teach Backs? Remember, the lessons are Practical, Applied Lessons. The proof of the learning is getting the job done. Everyone can see if the work is done or not. If the learning is incomplete, it is quite apparent because the work is not done. So repetition is important to mastering the lesson to get the work done.]

Teach Back vs. Traditional Institutional Schools

In contrast to traditional institutional schooling, 1 teacher with 6 class periods a year with 40 students in each class, in a year (two semesters), would only teach 480 students. In 6 years, they would teach a total of 2,880 students. Even if Teach Backs had a 50% failure rate, by the end of round six, it is still reached 2.37 times more students than the traditional school system. [Note: In the ESSI Teach Back model, the time frame for each round is considerably less than a semester. In most cases, round five can conceivably occur is much less time than 6 years. Please also note, ESSI does not mean this as a justification to dismantle traditional schools. The point is to show the effectiveness of teach backs. Teachers in traditional school settings can use Teach Backs in their classes.]

Community-based education is job skills focused. Sustainable communities can only exist if people have jobs. Traditional schools (especially academic programs as opposed to vocational – technical programs) are more focused on standardized test performance, not employment. This is one possible explanation for many people in a society being “educated” but unemployed or under-employed.

Community-based education does not have the institutional costs of infrastructure, bureaucracy, real estate holding, salaries / benefits, and administrative costs of traditional school systems. This makes community-based education much more cost effective and potentially more responsive to community needs.

[Note: ESSI community-based education relies on the full integration of the Geographic Systems Model, Y.E.S., P.A.L., Teach Backs, basic study skills, and S.C.A.N.S., all directed to teaching people to become their own best teachers as a means of empowerment to develop and establish sustainable neighborhoods. To learn more about these other ESSI system components, use the hotlinks at the bottom of this page.]

This page last updated: 14 May 2006

© 1990, 2004, 2005 revised 2006, G.K. Lee. All rights reserved.

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Learn More about the ESSI community-based education system

Community-based Education
Community-based Education in Northern Thailand
Geographic Systems Model
Y.E.S.---Youth, Environment, Sustainability
P.A.L. --- Practical, Applied Lessons
S.C.A.N.S.--Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skill
Environmental Awareness and Education