News Teaching Toward the Unknown As part of HGSE's Teaching and Learning Week, Senior Lecturer Junlei Li was one of several faculty members who contributed essays about how we teach and learn. Posted October 15, 2018 By Junlei Li When I was young, my parents awed me with stories about Newton, Curie, and Einstein. I remember asking, “But they discovered all the important stuff already, what is there left to do?” As a child who loved physics, it was hard to picture my place in that science. When I started teaching in both K–12 and college classrooms, I struggled with helping students find a place in subject matters that already had a “mile-wide” knowledge base. Gradually, I looked for ways to teach toward and about the unknown. I tried to show that the unknown outweighed the known, especially in spaces where “the rubber meets the road.” For example, we know much about the science of human development, but we are just beginning to figure out how to communicate and enact it to actually better the world. The same gap applies to areas from improving education to protecting the environment, advocating for justice and promoting peace. One of my favorite teachers is Fred Rogers, the host of the PBS children’s program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1968–2001). He guided everything he produced with the conviction that “each and everyone of us longs to know that there’s something about us that’s worth giving.” In whatever roles the students occupy in the world, I would like them to know that we need them there, desperately. I hope that teaching toward the unknown help students feel welcomed, in addition to being awed, by their profession.Junlei Li is the Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education News The latest research, perspectives, and highlights from the Harvard Graduate School of Education Explore All Articles Related Articles News HGSE Announces Fall 2013 Askwith Forums News Teaching and Learning Week: T-550 in 55 Seconds As part of HGSE’s sixth annual Teaching and Learning Week, Associate Professor Karen Brennan opened the doors of her popular class to the larger community. News Who Is in the Room? As part of HGSE's Teaching and Learning Week, Lecturer Eileen McGowan was one of several faculty members who contributed essays about how we teach and learn.