--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My job is to explain stuff you don't know…" description: "\"My job is to explain stuff you don't know or already know and have to unlearn. My job is to teach you stuff you don't know that you need to know, stuff..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/michael-eric-dyson-1424_education_my-job-is-to-explain-stuff-you-don-t-kno_589865.jpg" --- # My job is to explain stuff you don't know or already know… ![“My job is to explain stuff you don't know or already know and have to unlearn. My job is to teach you stuff you don't know that you need to know, stuff you should know. I'm going to take what you already know and re-describe it.” quote by Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/michael-eric-dyson-1424_education_my-job-is-to-explain-stuff-you-don-t-kno_589865.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/michael-eric-dyson-1424_education_my-job-is-to-explain-stuff-you-don-t-kno_589865.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/michael-eric-dyson-1424_education_my-job-is-to-explain-stuff-you-don-t-kno_589865.jpg) > “My job is to explain stuff you don't know or already know and have to unlearn. My job is to teach you stuff you don't know that you need to know, stuff you should know. I'm going to take what you already know and re-describe it.” [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes their role as clarifying both new and familiar concepts, encouraging unlearning of outdated ideas and re‑explaining known material in fresh ways. **In simple terms:** Explain and re‑teach to help unlearn and learn new things. Key Takeaway Embrace unlearning and clear communication. Themes education communication learning Mood thoughtful inspirational Type educational motivational When to use this quote - classroom teaching - corporate training - public speaking - content creation - coaching Key Concepts critical thinking pedagogy cognitive restructuring Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you hold that need unlearning? - How can you reframe familiar ideas to reveal new insights? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper systemic issues while focusing on individual knowledge gaps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Explain Stuff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explain-stuff-4829553/) [Job Explain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-explain-4829551/) [Job Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-teach-741277/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Know Unlearn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-unlearn-4103614/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Stuff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stuff/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Unlearn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlearn/) [Unlearn Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlearn-job-4829552/) ## Related quotes > [“The challenge for a mentee is not only to learn what he doesn't know, but also to unlearn what he thinks he knows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-woodward/the-challenge-for-a-mentee-is-not-only-to-learn-what-he-doesn-t-know/) [Orrin Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-woodward/) > [There will be many people that teach your kids that life can be hard & cruel. Your job is to teach them that their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-will-be-many-people-that-teach-your-kids-that-life-can-be-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/the-biggest-job-we-have-is-to-teach-a-newly-hired-employee-how-to/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [My job is to teach someone something they never knew, but it should not be like you're in a prisoner-of-war camp. I'm supposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-bassler/my-job-is-to-teach-someone-something-they-never-knew-but-it-should/) [Bonnie Bassler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-bassler/) > [“Why are some people mean and some people nice?" "I don't rightly know...But my job is to teach all of you to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-m-draper/why-are-some-people-mean-and-some-people-nice-i-don-t-rightly-know/) [Sharon M. Draper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-m-draper/) > [We often say that the biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee to fail intelligently... to experiment over and over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/we-often-say-that-the-biggest-job-we-have-is-to-teach-a-newly-hired/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [It's not my job at the Institute to teach where people are in the art world - in the world of art historically. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-jordan/it-s-not-my-job-at-the-institute-to-teach-where-people-are-in-the-art/) [Lawrence Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-jordan/) > [The mind is slow to unlearn what it learnt early.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-elder/the-mind-is-slow-to-unlearn-what-it-learnt-early/) [Seneca the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-elder/) > [To Unlearn is as hard as to Learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-unlearn-is-as-hard-as-to-learn/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“the illiterate of the future will not be those that cannot read or write. Rather, they will be those that cannot learn, unlearn and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-woodward/the-illiterate-of-the-future-will-not-be-those-that-cannot-read-or/) [J.R. Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-woodward/) > [“I shall unlearn feeling, unlearn my gift. That is greater and harder than what passes there for life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-shall-unlearn-feeling-unlearn-my-gift-that-is-greater-and-harder/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [They who can no longer unlearn have lost the power to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/they-who-can-no-longer-unlearn-have-lost-the-power-to-learn/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style, Amaze th' unlearn'd and make the learned smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/such-labour-d-nothings-in-so-strange-a-style-amaze-th-unlearn-d-and/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [“As you unlearn the lies that were unconsciously coded when you were a child and free yourself from the fears and emotions that held…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-f-martin/as-you-unlearn-the-lies-that-were-unconsciously-coded-when-you-were-a/) [Brian F. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-f-martin/) > [Any change of government which has to be introduced should be one which men, starting from their existing constitutions, will be both willing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/any-change-of-government-which-has-to-be-introduced-should-be-one/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More by Michael Eric Dyson > [Jeremiah Wright is one of the greatest prophetic preachers that black America has produced. What I find striking is that many white brothers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/jeremiah-wright-is-one-of-the-greatest-prophetic-preachers-that-black/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [ What are you for? 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Michael Jackson had… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/elvis-presley-had-a-stepstool-if-you-will-to-success-because-he-came/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I believe in a God of a second chance and a God of love and mercy, because I need so much more of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-believe-in-a-god-of-a-second-chance-and-a-god-of-love-and-mercy/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing a group of people so poor they didn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/hurricane-katrina-overwhelmed-levees-and-exploded-the-conventional/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I was very struck when Min. Farrakhan said if Jesus and Muhammad were here today, they'd be embracing each other. That's a tremendous message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-was-very-struck-when-min-farrakhan-said-if-jesus-and-muhammad-were/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“O! save us, we pray thee, thou God of Heaven and of earth, from the devouring hands of the white Christians!!! . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/o-save-us-we-pray-thee-thou-god-of-heaven-and-of-earth-from-the/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [We can't exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/we-can-t-exempt-ourselves-from-the-same-moral-calculus-that-we-are/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [New Orleans invented the brown paper bag party - usually at a gathering in a home - where anyone darker than the bag attached…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/new-orleans-invented-the-brown-paper-bag-party-usually-at-a-gathering/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“Whiteness is an advantage and privilege because you have made it so, not because the universe demands it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/whiteness-is-an-advantage-and-privilege-because-you-have-made-it-so/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I'm just challenging white supremacy at its intellectual heart every day. It's a pedagogy that I deploy against some of the most vicious resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-m-just-challenging-white-supremacy-at-its-intellectual-heart-every/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) [Explore all 242 Michael Eric Dyson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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(Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-d-hilda-doolittle/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My job is to explain stuff you don't know or already know and have to unlearn. 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