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The eclipse of the moon in March got me thinking about how we learn things. We received a call from our three year old grandson who, with some prompting from his mom, told us all about having seen the eclipse and how it was the moon in the shadow of the earth etcetera. I was wondering just how much of all that he could really understand when we mentioned to him that we could not see it very well due to the clouds we had here covering the moon. He adamantly denied that there were clouds over the moon. This part was a bit surprising since we have on many occasions discussed our different weather patterns while he is in the south and I in the north. He seems to have no problem with the idea that it can be snowing at Grandma’s and sunny at his house. But the moon was another matter. He seems to have out grown the idea that the moon is hiding behind the water tower whenever he can’t see it like it was on a night several months ago. But, if his moon did not have clouds over it, neither did ours. Was this not the moon that follows him when they are driving? We chuckled and felt ever so slightly superior in our more advanced knowledge of the heavens and his naivety.
I was looking at images of the eclipse on line the next day, since I did not see the actual event clearly. As I browsed through the pictures from all over the world, a very strange thing happened. I found myself ever so slightly surprised that this image or that was from this place or that. It was the same no matter where one saw it! How amazing! I had ‘known’ since forever of course, but it came home in a new way as I looked at those pictures and remembered my grandson’s insistence that the moon must look the same no matter where you saw it. It makes one wonder how we miniscule beings who share the same moon can be fighting wars and committing crimes against the environment the way we do.
When my son was four, he came to me one day and asked: “What’s the biggest number?” Because of my philosophy of education, I refrained from telling him that there was no such thing and that he would some day understand that. What I did do was tell him that ‘googol’ was a very big number. This was in the days before websites, so it was a new word and he liked the sound of it. He went around for days using ‘googol’ to indicate anything that he could not fathom being able to count. One day, he came back to me and asked if it was the biggest number. I replied no that, ‘googolplex’ was even bigger. That was a great word that satisfied him for a couple more days during which he used it at every opportunity usually accompanied with lots of giggles. Then one day at lunch, while surrounded by his classmates’ raucous conversations, his gaze seemed to drift off into a stare for a bit. Finally, he looked over at me and said: “Hey! There is no biggest number ‘cause you can always add one!” I was feeling so good that the theory of teaching by providing a rich environment was working that it took me a bit to realize what had just happened. My son had just invented the concept of infinity in math and I had had the awesome opportunity to witness it. In the theory of teaching to which I adhere (Piaget), we each create math concepts provided that we are given the tools that those who have gone before us have developed. In other words, I subscribe to the concept of guidance in a rich environment rather than the concept of ‘open up their heads and pour knowledge in’.
I don’t think you can make people learn. You can force them to recite back what you want them to learn, but that does not mean that it has become their own. For years, I got 100% scores on spelling tests while I struggled to spell correctly. “Just sound it out” my teacher would say and I would think “okay, that sounds vary eazy”.
“You learn something new every day.” What a concept. I believe this is true. I also believe that sometimes what we learn is more comfortable or fun on some days than on other days. But whatever we learn will expand us, empower us, or enrich us, if it doesn’t engulf us. Perhaps being aware that we will be learning, whether we want to or not, may help us avoid being overwhelmed by it. Occasionally, I watch TV with a friend whose response to a science program will sometimes be “No. I’m too tired to learn anything tonight!” We live in an era of information overload and I think my friend is attempting to prevent more information from coming his way. There is a difference between a rich environment and a chaotic one. Perhaps we all need to make an effort to modify the amount of input to which we are subjected, in order to enjoy the richness in which we all learn and grow at our best. Maybe we all would be more suited to turning off the TV and spending an evening reading on a more regular basis than most of us do.
At any rate, Be Well and may you enjoy learning something today,
Cheryl Caister,
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