What Is Learning?
Oct. 10th, 2014 11:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutThe principal at one of my children's schools sends out a little newsletter once a week via email, talking about what the various grades have been doing. It's a nice thing. I hope he continues. However, I do have one observation to make about what he had to say about my son's grade's activities:
"Also, the crayfish have arrived. While we haven’t actually
begun learning about the crayfish, we have been enjoying watching them in
their new habitat in each classroom."
In case you're having difficulty spotting my Issue, I'll point it out. The crayfish are in the classroom. The children are watching the crayfish in their habitat in the classroom. Yet the presumption is (probably because the unit or units on the crayfish have not officially begun) "we haven't actually begun learning about the crayfish".
Oh, but they have. And in the best possible way. As principal of an elementary school, it's a little sad that he either can't communicate that clearly ("what I meant was") -- or worse, hasn't grasped that ("But they really haven't learned until it has been explained to them!"). I don't know which is the problem. I sure hope it is the former, but I fear it is the latter.
"Also, the crayfish have arrived. While we haven’t actually
begun learning about the crayfish, we have been enjoying watching them in
their new habitat in each classroom."
In case you're having difficulty spotting my Issue, I'll point it out. The crayfish are in the classroom. The children are watching the crayfish in their habitat in the classroom. Yet the presumption is (probably because the unit or units on the crayfish have not officially begun) "we haven't actually begun learning about the crayfish".
Oh, but they have. And in the best possible way. As principal of an elementary school, it's a little sad that he either can't communicate that clearly ("what I meant was") -- or worse, hasn't grasped that ("But they really haven't learned until it has been explained to them!"). I don't know which is the problem. I sure hope it is the former, but I fear it is the latter.