Around two thousand years ago, Roman philosopher Seneca wrote about learning through teaching in his Letters to Lucilius. The idea is captured in the phrase: While we teach, we learn.
Teaching can be a useful way to reinforce learning. Research suggests that preparing to explain an idea to somebody else can change how we study and remember it.
Researchers have dubbed this The Protégé Effect.
The Value of Teaching
In a 2014 study, researchers ran two experiments in which students studied a passage either expecting a test or expecting to teach another student. Everyone was then tested; nobody actually taught.
The students expecting to teach generally remembered the material better. In the first experiment, their recall was also better organized. This suggests that preparing to explain something can help us learn it more effectively.
A 2024 meta-analysis of 39 studies adds an important qualification: teaching benefited learning when people had prepared with the expectation of teaching. Teaching without that preparation showed no clear average benefit in that comparison.
The useful takeaway is to study with an explanation in mind, organize the ideas, and then try explaining them. These results support trying that approach; they don’t establish that teaching always works better than every other learning strategy.
The Value of Learning
In today’s world, our ability to constantly be learning is a superskill, one that I believe will be increasingly important as rapid technological change upends the economy, our jobs, and society at large.
Teaching is Learning
Most people make a big mistake when it comes to learning.
They think of themselves only as a student. They think to be a teacher requires a pedigree or some official certification.
In reality, you are both a teacher and a student at all times.
Whatever you’re learning, or wherever you are in your career, there are people behind you and people in front of you.
Those that are behind you are your students. Those in front of you are your teachers.
Even when you think you are a beginner, there are likely people behind you who haven’t even started. You have something to share with them, some experience that could be valuable for them to learn.
Likewise, we always have people in front of us whose knowledge and wisdom can help guide us.
The trick is to digest the wisdom of your teachers, combine it with your experience, then pass it on.
This cyclical nature of learning is obvious, but highly underrated.
By understanding it, you not only unlock major opportunities for learning, but you can also give back and serve others in powerful ways.
This insight is one reason I quit Google to teach workshops on productivity and wellbeing.
It wasn’t because I was finally an “expert” or “had it all figured out.”
It was because I knew that by teaching, I would drastically accelerate my learning while also making an impact on others.
Practical Wisdom
You don’t need to quit your job to put the Protégé Effect into practice. Here are a few simpler ways to test it in your own life.
Share with a friend. Next time you read or learn something interesting, challenge yourself to explain it to a friend. It can help reinforce your understanding, and they may benefit as well.
Write an article. Writing is a useful way to test your understanding. If you find an idea fascinating, try to write it out. It doesn’t have to be a fancy blog, even an email to a few friends can do the trick.
Create a learning community. This will take a bit more upfront effort, but the payoff will be worth it. Find a few likeminded people and create a space where you teach each other new ideas. I’ve done this with my friend Ronald and it’s incredible how it can accelerate your learning.
Adapted from my November 2022 writing archive. Research references updated in October 2026.