Replying to LO28042 --
Dear Organlearners,
Terri Deems < Tadeems@aol.com > writes:
>There is at least a subtle difference between
>instruere (to put in) and educere (to draw out),
>and I think it's relevant to the LO ideal. An
>LO does not occur via instruction -- putting in --
>but by way of educere -- drawing out.
Greetings dear Terri,
Thank you for this brilliantly clear comment. It is a top quality
"metanoesis" (singular for the plural "metanoia").
Perhaps, and this is by no means criticism on what you wrote above, I can
add for the benefit for fellow leaners the literal etymology of education
and instruction. The prefix "e-"=out and the root "duco"=to_lead. The
prefix "in-"=in and the root "struo"=to_build. Thus "educo"=to_lead_out
while "instruo"=to_build_in.
I cannot read Latin texts of two millenia ago well enough to make sure
whether the Romans prefered education above instruction. But round about
the 17th century this distinction and preferance were very well know in
England. The strange thing for me is not that this distinction and
preferance withered away, but that they were actually allowed to whither
away. Perhaps it was because most educational institutions did not
function as a Learning Organisation.
The "duco" of education reminds me of leadership. We get two extremes in
the spectrum of leadership which I perhaps may articulate by autocratic
and democratic. These two words come from the Greek words "autos"=self,
"demos"=people and "kratos"=strength or "krateo"=to_rule. At the one
extreme the strength and rule come from the leader at top and at the other
extreme the strength and rule come from all the people including the
leaders.
Thus I may say that education is a "democratic construction" (people
strength)+(together build) since the Latin prefix "con-"=together. In
contrast to this I may say that instruction is an "autocratic
solistruction" (self strength)+(single build) since the prefix "soli-" is
derived from the Latin "solus"=alone.
In a LO it has to be "democratic construction" rather than "autocratic
solistruction". To succeed in this "democratic construction" authentic
teaching and authentic learning are needed. The word teaching comes from
the Saxon "teacan"=to_draw (pull) while the word authentic comes from the
Greek "authentes"=actual_author. But to keep up with an "autocratic
solistruction", rote instruction and rote learning have to be enforced.
The word "rote" comes via the Old French in which it meant "mechanical
routine" from the Latin "rota"=wheel.
What I did above was merely to draw out ("educere") from the past of the
English to construct a meaning for the future. I think that every member
in each LO has to take great care in the language used. If not, confusion
will arise and language itself will become a serious drawback in the LO.
Once again, accept my apology for writing English not as it should be
done. English is not my mother tongue and I seldom speak it. Actually, I
get enervated when I have to speak English. For example, in the previous
sentence I had to look up what is the English word for the Afrikaans
"ontsenu" (copying Latin ?) or "verslap" (from Germanic origin). The
"ontsenu"=enervate while the "verslap"=slacken. Looking up an
Afrikaans-English dictionary is possible in writing, but not in speaking
because speaking draws upon experience. I know what I want to say, I can
do it instantly in Afrikaans, but not in English. When I finally have
found the right word when writing in English, my grammer and spelling have
deteriorated, often leaving me unable to correct them.
With care and best wishes
--At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
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