Understand First, Then Teach: What The Art of Teaching Changed for Me

The biggest change The Art of Teaching made in me was simple: I now try to understand a person before I try to teach them. The program came from Codebasics, the same people who taught me Python years ago, and it was built around one goal: creating more good teachers.

Where it started

A few years ago, I followed Codebasics on YouTube. I was learning Python and working through Power BI projects, and I liked how practical their teaching was. You didn’t just watch someone explain a concept. You built something.

Then my career moved on. I moved to Kuwait, took on bigger projects, and spent my time building data products and working in business analysis. I kept learning, but I stopped following Codebasics closely.

I didn’t expect to come back to them years later, this time not to learn a technology but to learn how to teach.

Why I needed it

Over the last couple of years, especially with the rise of AI, I attended a lot of sessions, webinars and cohorts. Some were genuinely useful. Many followed the same pattern: big promises at the start, and a countdown timer and special offer at the end. I paid for a few, and sometimes came away with little more than basic prompting. It made me think harder about what good teaching actually looks like.

At the same time, I started teaching myself. I built IlmiTales, a project that teaches AI to children, and I volunteered to teach students at a school summer camp. I wasn’t doing it for money. I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone and share what I had learned.

That experience showed me something I hadn’t fully appreciated. Knowing something and knowing how to teach it are different skills. I could understand the technology, build things and prepare a syllabus. Helping the students in front of me actually understand it was another challenge entirely.

Then my wife came across a program from Codebasics called The Art of Teaching. She filled in the application for me and said, “I’ve done it for you. You should do this.”

It wasn’t a course you could simply join. Seats in the first batch were by invitation, selected from more than 100 applications from professionals at companies like Microsoft, McKinsey and Adobe. When my application was accepted, I knew I would be learning alongside people who took teaching seriously.

Codebasics was no longer the small YouTube channel I remembered. They had built a full academy, and the program was designed and taught by Dhaval Patel, who teaches millions of people across his channels.

The program covered the full teaching craft: simplifying concepts, using analogies, presentation design, voice and delivery, engagement, handling questions and criticism, and the production setup behind teaching. It wasn’t just theory. Each of us recorded a baseline video and two practice videos, all scored on a 12-point teaching rubric, leading up to a live demo where certification is earned. Being on camera, doing retakes and editing my own videos was well outside my comfort zone, which was probably the point.

The lesson that changed how I teach

One idea from the course was simple: don’t just transfer content, transfer clarity. When I volunteered at the summer camp, I was focused on getting through the syllabus. But covering five topics means very little if the learner hasn’t understood them.

The idea that stayed with me most, though, was empathy. They compared a good teacher to a good doctor. When someone comes to you confused, you don’t judge them. You listen, ask questions and find out where they are struggling before you try to help.

They used an analogy I keep coming back to. If someone is drowning, you don’t sell them a swimming course. You help them first. Once they are safe, you can teach them to swim.

This is the biggest change in how I teach now. I try to understand the person first, and only then teach. When people reach out to me about learning data analytics or AI, I no longer start with what I can teach them. I start with what they are actually trying to achieve. Sometimes they need a course. Sometimes they just need direction.

What surprised me most

It wasn’t a teaching technique. It was the openness.

Dhaval Patel and Hemanand Vadivel shared what years of teaching had taught them: what worked, what didn’t, how they approach learners, how they create content and how they handle difficult situations. Someone in the class pointed out that they were essentially training people who could become their competition. That didn’t seem to concern them. Their view was that the world needs more good teachers.

After all the sessions I had seen turn into sales funnels, this felt different. There was no pitch at the end. They simply taught.

Full circle

Years ago, I found Codebasics because I wanted to learn Python and Power BI. After moving countries, building data products and starting to teach others, I ended up back with them. This time I wasn’t there to learn a tool. I was there to learn how to help another person understand something.

That is the lesson I’m taking with me. Teaching isn’t about showing how much you know, finishing every slide or having an answer to every question. It’s about meeting someone where they are confused and helping them move toward clarity, sometimes through an explanation, sometimes through an analogy, and sometimes simply by listening.

Thank you to Dhaval, Hemanand and the Codebasics team for sharing what you have learned so openly. Years ago, you helped me learn. This time, you helped me think about how I can help someone else learn.