tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post5030445849297228518..comments2024-03-28T00:28:06.035+13:00Comments on leading and learning: What do we all need to be life long learners?Bruce Hammondshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-12594919277065521022009-07-09T15:46:33.507+12:002009-07-09T15:46:33.507+12:00Kia ora e Bruce!
It's not that I've been ...Kia ora e Bruce!<br /><br />It's not that I've been away. I'm just catching up with blogging now that term 2 is complete.<br /><br />Thanks for you inspiration on learning. You got me writing <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2009/07/curiosity-and-learning.html" rel="nofollow">a post</a> on our discussion.<br /><br />Catchya laterBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-3385236721480510982009-07-09T13:57:44.727+12:002009-07-09T13:57:44.727+12:00Hi Maria. 'Unlimited' sounds like the scho...Hi Maria. 'Unlimited' sounds like the school to be at. You are lucky.<br /><br />Kia ora 'Blogger in The Middle'.<br /><br />Welcome back!<br /><br />I agree that this 'innate drive to learn' is an evolutionary survival one.<br /><br />Curiosity is an integral <br />part of learning I would think?<br /><br />From what I understand about evolution, is that it includes both a drive to explore ( individuality -'standing ou't) and a desire to work with others ( 'fitting in') - possibly in some sort of creative tension?<br /><br />Curiosity and traditional teaching are at odds with each other but implicit in inquiry learning approaches.<br /><br />Your conclusion seem right to me.Bruce Hammondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-66616157307007130782009-07-09T11:35:52.403+12:002009-07-09T11:35:52.403+12:00My children go to Unlimeted where they focus is on...My children go to Unlimeted where they focus is on self directed learning My kids love going to school.<br />A huge problem for me is in NZ that the government doesn't really recognise learning disabilities I still need to pay a lot of money outside school for a little help<br />There is no proper understanding among staff because at teacher college they spent hardly any time on it.Marjahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17458942200244031009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-50065708909245255122009-07-09T10:33:06.431+12:002009-07-09T10:33:06.431+12:00Tēnā koe e Bruce!
You say, "we are all born ...Tēnā koe e Bruce!<br /><br />You say, "we are all born with an innate need to learn so as to make sense of, and learn from, our experiences." I wonder about this supposition but also thank you for the opportunity to think about it.<br /><br />I'm not so sure that there is an innate need to make sense of experiences in the way you imply. And as for learning from experience, I feel that this innate tendency is less of a drive to find out, more a mechanism originally formed for survival.<br /><br />If you subscribe to evolution, and you may not, one way of rationalising the learning mechanism is that it evolved for survival. Learning what's good to eat and what's not so good would certainly assist in this. Learning to recognise dangerous situations as well as what environments are safe for settling for the night, or for raising offspring, would likewise tend towards a continued existence. I believe that these needs are innate, and it is understandable how they may have arisen through evolution.<br /><br />So where does curiosity sit with all this?<br /><br />That ‘curiosity killed the cat’ is well known. Out of the context of survival, one needs the drive of the explorer in order to seek experience, a curiosity you might associate with a bohemian tendency to stray away from the safety of the pack.<br /><br />Curiosity is not always good for survival. It could be why this trait is not as prevalent in some than in others. Indeed, some of the curiosity that humans display at an early age gets regimented out of them under the guise that it’s not good for survival. <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html" rel="nofollow"> Ken Robinson alludes to the idea</a> that creativity (a curiosity to explore innovative thoughts) is stamped out in many at an early age.<br /><br />And this is where I find the whole thing absorbingly interesting. Curiosity and a keen tendency to learn is what all teachers look for in their students. Yet at first sight, the characteristics of curiosity and learning appear to oppose one another when it comes to survival.<br /><br />Could it be that curiosity arose complementary to the development of the learning mechanism? Curiosity certainly seems to stimulate learning in the young child. Several education principles encourage curiosity rather than suppress it at an early age, permitting the unimpeded development of the mind. <br /><br />I guess the answer lies in getting the right proportion of curiosity together with all other required aptitudes in order to survive and make the best of learning opportunities.<br /><br />Catchya later<br />from Middle-earthBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-33152502792646552892009-07-08T05:32:49.001+12:002009-07-08T05:32:49.001+12:00thanks for sharing such an information with us.thanks for sharing such an information with us.Mathewhttp://www.jenniebourgeois.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-78065849167379067362009-07-07T23:23:20.271+12:002009-07-07T23:23:20.271+12:00No I hadn't Steve but will look into it.Thanks...No I hadn't Steve but will look into it.Thanks.Bruce Hammondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-5546163225920753242009-07-07T18:47:27.140+12:002009-07-07T18:47:27.140+12:00Hi Bruce,
wondered if you've heard of this ini...Hi Bruce,<br />wondered if you've heard of this initiative in Austalia?<br />http://www.schoolsfirst.edu.au/sf-home/index.phps<br /><br />And a video of our chess program.<br />http://vimeo.com/4624269<br /><br />regards<br />Stevestevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-80300143165778700152009-07-07T17:35:43.534+12:002009-07-07T17:35:43.534+12:00I realize that 'my' areas to focus on are ...I realize that 'my' areas to focus on are in line with the needs outlined by William Glasser in his various Quality Schools books and aslo those of Michelle Borba. They are also, in part, Maslow's hierachy of needs. Nothing is original. If implemented they would transform schools.Bruce Hammondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031065790535111400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438349.post-61676707651108821222009-07-07T16:37:01.415+12:002009-07-07T16:37:01.415+12:00The areas you mention are where schools ought to b...The areas you mention are where schools ought to be focussing. Literacy and numeracy is just narrowing the goalposts too much!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com