--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How to tell students what to look for…" description: "\"How to tell students what to look for without telling them what to see is the dilemma of teaching.\" — Lascelles Abercrombie" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_dilemma_how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-wi_1459736.png" --- # How to tell students what to look for without telling them… ![“How to tell students what to look for without telling them what to see is the dilemma of teaching.” quote by Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_dilemma_how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-wi_1459736.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_dilemma_how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-wi_1459736.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_dilemma_how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-wi_1459736.png) > “How to tell students what to look for without telling them what to see is the dilemma of teaching.” [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching without explicit guidance risks shallow learning; students need frameworks to discover meaning. **In simple terms:** Teaching needs guidance. Key Takeaway Provide learning frameworks. Themes education critical thinking methodology Mood analytical instructive Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - classroom - online courses - self‑study Key Concepts constructivism epistemology curriculum design Questions to Reflect On - How to balance guidance and discovery? - What cues aid insight? A Different Perspective Over‑guidance can stifle creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dilemma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dilemma/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) ## Related quotes > [What I tend to tell my students is, “When you look in the mirror and see a smart, angry girl who wants to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-schulman/what-i-tend-to-tell-my-students-is-when-you-look-in-the-mirror-and/) [Sarah Schulman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-schulman/) > [When people tell you how young you look, they are also telling you how old you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-grant/when-people-tell-you-how-young-you-look-they-are-also-telling-you-how/) [Cary Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-grant/) > [When people tell you how young you look, they are telling you how old you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-grant/when-people-tell-you-how-young-you-look-they-are-telling-you-how-old/) [Cary Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-grant/) > [ Find a way to delight in all students. Look for the best, expect the best, and find something in each child \[you\] can treasure. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-levy/find-a-way-to-delight-in-all-students-look-for-the-best-expect-the/) [Steven Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-levy/) > [It’s a world where high school students look roughly twenty-four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-lynch/it-s-a-world-where-high-school-students-look-roughly-twenty-four/) [Jane Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-lynch/) > [During exams, students look up for inspiration, down in desperation, and left and right for information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/during-exams-students-look-up-for-inspiration-down-in-desperation-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One of the things that I have my students do is to take a look at English-language newspapers from all around the world in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-soetoro-ng/one-of-the-things-that-i-have-my-students-do-is-to-take-a-look-at/) [Maya Soetoro-Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-soetoro-ng/) > [“some students look at the problems that they're facing and they draw global conclusions from them. They say this is not just a professor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shankar-vedantam/some-students-look-at-the-problems-that-they-re-facing-and-they-draw/) Shankar Vedantam > [I spend quite a bit of time thinking about my students. I look at them, at their work, I listen to what they tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-gloeckner/i-spend-quite-a-bit-of-time-thinking-about-my-students-i-look-at-them/) [Phoebe Gloeckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-gloeckner/) > [I tell my students, if you are going to spend days and months and years with someone, you had better like that person!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-nagel/i-tell-my-students-if-you-are-going-to-spend-days-and-months-and/) Susan Nagel > [When I'm teaching, I tell my students: It's all process. Don't even think of product.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-hong-kingston/when-i-m-teaching-i-tell-my-students-it-s-all-process-don-t-even/) [Maxine Hong Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-hong-kingston/) > [I try not to tell students where to shoot, when to shoot, or what to shoot. I feel finding the picture is the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-maisel/i-try-not-to-tell-students-where-to-shoot-when-to-shoot-or-what-to/) [Jay Maisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-maisel/) > [I tell my students, it's got to be warm, dry, and noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-mockbee/i-tell-my-students-it-s-got-to-be-warm-dry-and-noble/) [Samuel Mockbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-mockbee/) > [I always tell my students to go back after a hundred pages and rewrite from the beginning. It's really harder if you've already finished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/i-always-tell-my-students-to-go-back-after-a-hundred-pages-and/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [I tell my students to think of poems as language plus, language with value added beyond its everyday use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-youn/i-tell-my-students-to-think-of-poems-as-language-plus-language-with/) [Monica Youn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-youn/) ## More by Lascelles Abercrombie > [The epic poet has behind him a tradition of matter and a tradition of style; and that is what every other poet has behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-epic-poet-has-behind-him-a-tradition-of-matter-and-a-tradition-of/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [No poet will ever take the written word as a substitute for the spoken word; he knows that it is on the spoken word,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/no-poet-will-ever-take-the-written-word-as-a-substitute-for-the/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [The world knows of a vast stock of epic material scattered up and down the nations; sometimes its artistic value is as extraordinary as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-world-knows-of-a-vast-stock-of-epic-material-scattered-up-and/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [But the development of human society does not go straight forward; and the epic process will therefore be a recurring process, the series a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/but-the-development-of-human-society-does-not-go-straight-forward-and/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [An epic is not made by piecing together a set of heroic lays, adjusting their discrepancies and making them into a continuous narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/an-epic-is-not-made-by-piecing-together-a-set-of-heroic-lays/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/epic-poetry-exhibits-life-in-some-great-symbolic-attitude-it-cannot/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [But the gravest difficulty, and perhaps the most important, in poetry meant solely for recitation, is the difficulty of achieving verbal beauty, or rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/but-the-gravest-difficulty-and-perhaps-the-most-important-in-poetry/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [The reason can only be this: heroic poetry depends on an heroic age, and an age is heroic because of what it is, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-reason-can-only-be-this-heroic-poetry-depends-on-an-heroic-age/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [The balance of private good and general welfare is at the bottom of civilized morals but the morals of the Heroic Age are founded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-balance-of-private-good-and-general-welfare-is-at-the-bottom-of/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [That is to say, epic poetry has been invented many times and independently; but, as the needs which prompted the invention have been broadly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/that-is-to-say-epic-poetry-has-been-invented-many-times-and/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [With several different kinds of poetry to choose from, a man would decide that he would like best to be an epic poet, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/with-several-different-kinds-of-poetry-to-choose-from-a-man-would/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/if-epic-poetry-is-a-definite-species-the-sagas-do-not-fall-within-it/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff of epic material into unity; and that is, an ability to see in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/there-is-only-one-thing-which-can-master-the-perplexed-stuff-of-epic/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [It is more difficult to keep the attention of hearers than of readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/it-is-more-difficult-to-keep-the-attention-of-hearers-than-of-readers/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [For the stage displays the first vigorous expression, as the natural thing and without conspicuous restraint, of private individuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/for-the-stage-displays-the-first-vigorous-expression-as-the-natural/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) [Explore all 23 Lascelles Abercrombie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) ## More Dilemma quotes > [“When in dilemma, pause.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sravani-saha-nakhro/when-in-dilemma-pause/) [Sravani Saha Nakhro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sravani-saha-nakhro/) > [Anyone who will look at my life from the outside won't see the struggles inside. Sometimes, things are not always as we see or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanda-kaushik/anyone-who-will-look-at-my-life-from-the-outside-won-t-see-the/) [Chanda Kaushik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanda-kaushik/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences dont like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-moonves/i-understand-why-creative-people-like-dark-but-american-audiences/) [Leslie Moonves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-moonves/) > [“How can we get what we really want and at the same time deal with the needs of others in our lives? Perhaps no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ury/how-can-we-get-what-we-really-want-and-at-the-same-time-deal-with-the/) [William Ury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ury/) > [Pure, hard-core liberals believe in a superior race. They think they're it. They believe they're more intelligent than the general run of mankind, better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/pure-hard-core-liberals-believe-in-a-superior-race-they-think-they-re/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [On earth where love lives, Also the place where dilemma exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddhachild/on-earth-where-love-lives-also-the-place-where-dilemma-exists/) [BuddhaChild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddhachild/) > [“Such elusive puzzles recall the historian's basic dilemma: the absence of evidence does not always signify evidence of absence. In the end, we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-markel/such-elusive-puzzles-recall-the-historian-s-basic-dilemma-the-absence/) Howard Markel > [This is our problem, our dilemma, yes? We cannot celebrate and declare ourselves to belong to the victorious nations because our brothers and our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manfred-rommel/this-is-our-problem-our-dilemma-yes-we-cannot-celebrate-and-declare/) [Manfred Rommel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manfred-rommel/) > [“It was the dilemma all three of us had. Every choice we made cut us off permanently from someone we loved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyeonseo-lee/it-was-the-dilemma-all-three-of-us-had-every-choice-we-made-cut-us/) [Hyeonseo Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyeonseo-lee/) > [As the Hindu gods are 'immortal' only in a very particular sense - for they had born and they die - they experience most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-the-hindu-gods-are-immortal-only-in-a-very-particular-sense-for-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Science is important, but so is ethics, so is balancing life. To destroy life to save life - it's one of the real ethical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/science-is-important-but-so-is-ethics-so-is-balancing-life-to-destroy/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [The great thing about the dilemma we're in is that we get to re-imagine every single thing we do...There isn't a single thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/the-great-thing-about-the-dilemma-we-re-in-is-that-we-get-to-re/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [Our only goal is to strengthen the opposition and to avoid the dilemma whereby we only have the choice between Bashar Assad and al-Qaeda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-hollande/our-only-goal-is-to-strengthen-the-opposition-and-to-avoid-the/) [Francois Hollande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-hollande/) > [Developed and benefited from the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption which have produced our present dilemma. It is clear that current lifestyles and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-strong/developed-and-benefited-from-the-unsustainable-patterns-of-production/) [Maurice Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-strong/) [Browse all 417 Dilemma quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dilemma/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How to tell students what to look for without telling them what to see is the dilemma of teaching.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lascelles Abercrombie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-without-telling-them-what-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dilemma" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-without-telling-them-what-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_dilemma_how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-wi_1459736.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_dilemma_how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-wi_1459736.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_dilemma_how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-wi_1459736.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How to tell students what to look for without telling them what to see is the dilemma of teaching.” — Lascelles Abercrombie", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lascelles Abercrombie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How to tell students what to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-without-telling-them-what-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-without-telling-them-what-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```