Behind the Craft · Sunday, September 6, 2026
Sue suggests that the optimal use of classroom time involves fostering peer learning and leveraging teachers' ability to inspire students. She argues that traditional lecture-based instruction and repetitive practice are inefficient uses of both student and teacher capabilities. Instead, classrooms should focus on collaborative environments and engaging interactions.
“You have a teacher, you have a lot of peers. And I think a really great use of classroom time is peer learning and interaction with a teacher who can motivate people, inspire everyone in the class to learn, you know, enthusiasm is infectious.”
“The best teachers are creating excellent collaborative learning environments and they are devising ways for peers to learn a lot from each other. And that's really powerful.”
“But in most schools, that is not how classroom time is used the majority of the time. And so, you know, you're spending most of the time delivering lectures and there's a kind of instructional delivery and practice that happens through lectures and the kid just actually practicing that I think is not the best use of classroom time and is not the best use of a human's capabilities.”