Human Teaching’s Prosocial Roots

Abstract

AbstractAn argument is made that our conception of Western human teaching ought to be expanded beyond viewing it mostly through the prism of information transfer. Three ways to expand are suggested. One is that in addition to information (I) that gets transferred, we can add knowledge (K), understanding (U), skills (S) and attitudes (A): IKUSA. A second expansion is to add to teaching what happens prior to IKUSA transfer, i.e., stage-setting that enables transfer. It includes teachers’ and learners’ mutual emotions-motivation- and mind-reading. Part of mind-reading is to detect if there is an IKUSA gap between the teacher and learner. If such a gap exists, the teacher acts to close it by using many strategies which include explanation, demonstration and pointing. These strategies have been thought to be teaching. Nevertheless, it is argued that stage-setting is no less a part of teaching than IKUSA transfer. A third expansion is to show that knowledge gap detection and closure are fundamentally prosocial in nature. The prosocial aspects of teaching are examined in light of evolutionary theory.KeywordsTeachingCognitionInformation transferProsocialityCompassionAltruismEmpathy