Teach them to fish instead.

January 9, 2022 at 6:30 PM

We can give a hungry person one fish for dinner or a fishing rod, but for them to eat regularly, we need to teach them to fish.

Educators tend to focus on mastery of a skill, rather than the psychological experience of using said skill.

When such skill development is associated with a tool, we assume that skill-set mastery leads directly to tool engagement.  This assumption is reasonable, but does not necessarily happen all the time.

Similarly, we can give a hungry person one fish dinner. For them to eat regularly, however, we could give them a fishing rod to fish with.  But that alone won't suffice.  We also need to teach them how to fish.  Giving a person the end result or a tool without instruction does not yield a sustainable result.