I have a photograph of my son, when he was six months old, sitting in a bath in the kitchen sink and looking with amazement at a bottle of shampoo firmly clutched in his right hand. No, it was not the shampoo bottle that fascinated him. It was his own hand. He had just discovered that his hand could pick something up. I imagined him thinking, “Oh, so that’s what my hand can do. Cool!” Babies are built to learn. Everyday has new discoveries. The one made days before, perhaps the discovery of mobility by rolling over, is quickly replaced by crawling, then standing, then walking while holding on, then walking independently, then running….. Babies are at the bottom of a steep learning curve, fraught with frustrations, and mistakes and failures and exhilarating triumphant moments that make it all worth while. They are truly engaged all the time. It’s the only way to live.
In the right environments, that sense of curiosity and discovery stays with the child. I once sat next to a four-year-old boy in an airplane. His was the middle seat. By the end of the flight there wasn’t one thing about that seat he hadn’t interacted with and discovered. He had pushed all the buttons on the transom above. He had emptied the pocket of its reading material, removed the seat and discovered the flotation straps, found the button that adjusted the seatback, found that he could fit under the seat. He was thoroughly engaged. I couldn’t help thinking, “How much of this behavior, this intrepid exploration of the environment, innovative manipulation of existing stuff, absorbed contemplation of each discovery, will remain in this boy when he is 17 finishing high school?” There are so many young people who are turned off and dropping out of society. Is it possible that the way we educate our kids is preventing them from truly learning? What is the difference between a rich learning environment and what is happening in our schools? Here are some ideas on the subject:
• Freedom to play: Play is the suspension of rules; trying stuff out just for fun. It is self-generated and creative experimentation. The learning is built into the activity. Today’s kids have very little time for play and rules are constantly imposed on them. Even commercial toys come with a script from popular culture. Most scientists love science because it gives them license to play as adults. Love of play is a childlike trait that remains with creative people.
• Dancing with mystery: Children ask a lot of questions. Sometimes they ask to get the answer because they are curious; sometimes they ask to verify the answer in their heads; sometimes they ask to get adult attention. Adults give answers to make sure the child knows it because it might be on a test; to satisfy the child so that they stop pestering them; it’s quicker and easier than challenging the child to research the answer; they don’t know how to transform a child’s question into a true teachable moment. Many people find not-knowing answers to questions unsettling. But patience can be taught by making a child research and work and wait for answers. That doesn’t happen often enough. Answers can all too often shut down the inquiry and limit curiosity.
• Motivation: The desire to be able to do something—motivation—is the key to learning. An example is in the movie The Karate Kid, where Daniel, a child who had been bullied, wants to learn karate. Mr. Miyagi, a karate master, will teach him only if Daniel promises to do exactly as he says. So Daniel spends hours polishing Mr. Miyagi’s car and unknowingly practicing the rapid clockwise and counter-clockwise hand motions key to mastering the sport. Don Shula, the fabled coach of the Dallas Cowboys defines a coach as, “Someone who makes you do what you don’t want to do so you can be who you want to be.”
• Empowerment: In a very deep way children know how dependent they are on adults. The job of parenting and teaching is to empower children to become independent, in other words, to make their job obsolete. Children revel in being able to do things “all by myself.” They are empowered when they know something that adults don’t know, like the names of dinosaurs. For the child who has been read to and understands that books contain something valuable, reading is a coveted skill that will empower independent access to books. I vividly recall being four years old and wanting nothing more than to be able to read everything I saw. My parents had read to me a great deal, but never as much as I wanted. I couldn’t wait to be able to read everything I saw so that I would not need them to access the world of books.
• Acknowledgement: Children depend on the recognition of adults for their accomplishments. This is especially true early in the learning curve. But I wonder if we praise too much and keep children from experiencing the intrinsic rewards of perseverance, hard work, and the production of excellence. According to Daniel Pink, in his best--selling book Drive, the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, typical external rewards such as recognition, grades and avoidance of failure are not as strong as the intrinsic rewards of the behavior that produces excellent work. Top scholars, athletes, writers and artists ultimately reach a level where acknowledgment by others is icing on the cake—it is not what drives them to achieve. In fact, over-praising can have the opposite effect. Depending on constant acknowledgement of others for every step on the learning curve ultimately sets the bar too low.
Amateurs are people who love what they do for its intrinsic joy. Professionals are paid for excellence (sometimes exorbitantly well) but they would probably do it anyhow. It is up to us educators to revel in children’s amateur status and nurture and foster their intrinsic joy of learning.
Leave a comment