078: The F Word of Teaching and Learning with Tiana Fech

What do you remember most about a meaningful learning experience in your life? If you pause and think about it, it’s often not just what you learned… but how it felt. In this episode of The People Teaching People Podcast, we explore what I’m calling the F word of teaching and learning and no, it’s not what you think. It’s…feelings. This episode is an invitation to shift how we think about learning, from something purely intellectual to something deeply human. Through personal stories, reflections from my time in the classroom, and insights from my work with clients, I explore how feelings shape the learning experience in ways we don’t always name, but always remember. From relevance and discomfort to belonging and connection, this conversation looks at what it really means to design and create learning experiences that people don’t just understand, but carry with them.   Listen in as we talk about: 01:00 The F word of teaching and learning 03:31 My grade 4 diary 05:00 Designing for feelings 06:02 When it feels relevant 06:45 Learning through discomfort  08:43 From transactional to relational 10:54 The feeling you create   Connect with Tiana: Website: https://tianafech.com LinkedIn: Tiana Fech Instagram: @tianafech  Facebook: @tianafech  Book: Online Course Creation 101: A step-by-step guide to creating your first online course    Previous episodes mentioned: Episode 54: But Why? Making Learning Stick with Tiana Fech Episode 70: Learning in the Messy Middle with Tiana Fech   THE F WORD OF TEACHING AND LEARNING We often focus on the visible parts of learning, the structure, the outcomes, what someone will walk away knowing or being able to do. But learning is not just about thinking. It’s about feeling. People don’t just remember the content, they remember how it felt while they were learning it. Whether it’s feeling seen, supported, challenged, or believed in, those emotional experiences are what stay with us long after the details fade. Learning is not just something people think through. It’s something they feel their way through.   MY GRADE 4 DIARY I used to share a grade 4 diary entry with my junior high and high school science students at the start of the school year. In it, I wrote about how much I disliked science and how strongly I connected that feeling to my experience in the classroom at the time. It wasn’t about the subject, it was about the feeling. Then, with a bit of a laugh, I would remind them that I went on to become a science teacher. Not because everything changed overnight, but because something about the experience of learning shifted along the way. When the experience of learning changes, what feels possible can change too.   DESIGNING FOR FEELINGS Designing for feelings has carried into my work through a simple reflection: what might people be feeling as they arrive, what might they experience as they move through the learning, and how do you hope they leave? Those are not always the same. Someone might arrive feeling unsure or overwhelmed, move through moments of confusion or discomfort, and leave feeling more clear, more confident, or more connected. When we start to think about learning this way, it shifts not only how we design, but how we show up alongside people in the process.   WHEN IT FEELS RELEVANT If something doesn’t feel connected to someone’s life, their work, or something they care about, it’s really hard for them to engage. Relevance isn’t just about understanding, it’s about care. When something feels meaningful, people lean in differently. The experience shifts from something they have to get through to something they want to be part of, and that shift changes the depth of learning that’s possible.   LEARNING THROUGH DISCOMFORT Learning doesn’t always feel good. It can feel uncomfortable, uncertain, and even a bit vulnerable. There’s a space in learning where things feel unsettled, where you’re still figuring things out and nothing feels fully clear yet. Sometimes what makes that harder is the feeling that you need to get it right, or that you’re being watched or evaluated. In those moments, learning can start to feel more like performing than actually learning. But that discomfort isn’t something to remove, it’s part of the process. This isn’t about making learning easy or perfectly comfortable. It’s about making it feel possible to stay in it. The feeling we’re working toward is something more like being supported, encouraged, capable, and seen. It’s that sense of not having it yet, but believing you can get there. And that belief is often what helps someone keep going.   SMALL MOMENTS, BIG IMPACT Often, it’s the smallest things that shape the experience of learning. How someone is welcomed into a space, the tone that is used, whether there is room to ask questions or pause and think, and whether not knowing is acknowledged and normalized. These moments create a sense of belonging, where people feel like they are part of the learning rather than being measured by it. And when that shift happens, it changes how people engage.   FROM TRANSACTIONAL TO RELATIONAL “Learning that is felt is learning that lasts.” When we don’t pay attention to how learning feels, it can start to feel heavy or performative, and when that happens, people disengage, sometimes quietly. But when learning feels relational, when people feel connected to what they’re learning, to themselves, and to each other, something changes. It moves from something to complete to something to experience, opening up space for deeper connection and understanding. When learning feels relational, it doesn’t just stay in the moment. It carries forward. It shapes how someone thinks, what they do next, and how they show up. It becomes something they can use in a way that matters to them.   THE FEELING YOU CREATE As you think about your own work, whether you’re teaching, leading, creating, or simply connecting with others, here’s something to reflect on: How do you want people to feel? Because people may forget the exact words or the structure, but they won’t forget how it felt to learn with you.