What is the biggest under-appreciated factor in education, and where do you learn it?
Biggest factor: Constructivism. People build their own mental models of a system based on action, and home-grown context. Talk doesn't help much. Education theory seems to understand this. Education practice? not so much.
Best way to learn it? Take martial arts for a couple years, and watch how much the Sensei DOESN'T explain...but rather makes you practice until you have an internal representation of the system...then adds 3 words to clarify your mistakes.
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4 comments:
Not only does the instructor "neglect" to explain many details, but when he dutifully does try to explain those details up front, the students can't follow his point, and they perform worse than if they were told less.
After a few minutes of experimentation, each student is then ready for a different piece of advice.
A lot of constructivism as practiced in schools is done without much practice or demonstration.
Reminds me of an article about a martial artist who set up a pressure sensor on a bag so people could get instant FEEDBACK on their strikes.
Most people were able to nearly double the impact pressure from their kicks over a few sessions. Hand strikes went up about 50%.
(I guess kicks are technically more difficult, so people have more room to improve.)
Star,
Well said. No disagreement.
Dr. Pat,
I hadn't heard that. I'd love a link if you can find one.
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