I am reminded of a statement made by Edward Hall in "Beyond Culture" (my
all time favorite text). Hall talks about the different learning styles,
and in particular the kinestetic learning style, where the learner learns
best through physical motion and activity. Using scientific research as
evidence, he states,
"The frontal part of the brain, the part where synthesis of thoughts and
ideas as well as their expression take place, is concerned in part with
five surprisingly different but apparently related activities-perception,
body movement, performance of planned action, memorizing, problem solving.
Body movement! Who would have thought that body movement was related to
problem solving? Can't you just see old Miss Qunby telling Johnny, who is
having trouble solving a problem in arithmetic, to stop fidgeting!"
Hall goes into much greater depth to similar issues, finding great gaps
between the ways people learn best and the way educational systems are
designed and implemented. This probably explains why Einstein and Edison
failed in public schools, and thrived in different settings.
One thing schools teach better than anything, however, is obedience to
authority.
--"John P. Crutcher" <john.p.crutcher@boeing.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>