Learning and the Movies!
"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." -Plutarch
As a teacher, my days are filled with a storm of questions from students: “Can I go to the nurse?”, “When is this due?”, “Can you explain this again?”, “Will you tell Charlie to stop poking me?”. I rarely stop to ask myself “How do people learn?”. When you are an elementary teacher with 27 students, reflection time is scarce, and thinking deeply about such questions can seem exhausting. But without a deep understanding of learning, and a mastery of our craft, we resign ourselves to mediocre teaching. In order to be a master of our craft (any craft), we must take the time to deeply understand and engage with our subject. For assignment one in CEP 800, Learning in School and Other Settings, we were tasked with doing this.
The assignment began with watching three clips showing people learning. In the clips, I saw learners observe master chess players, expert Kung Fu fighters, and champion dancers. The learners had a desire to learn; a fire within them was ignited and they were fueled to win competitions, be the best, and achieve greatness. As one spelling bee competitor said, “As I go higher, my goals go higher”.
The learners took time to practice skills repeatedly, and exhaustively. Sometimes this practice occurred with the coach, master, parent, or teacher nearby giving feedback and guidance, correcting mistakes promptly and honestly. “Your dancing is ugly!” yelled one harsh dance instructor. Learners also practiced and studied their craft independently. The sequence made me think of the famous learning montag from Dirty Dancing, where Baby makes mistakes and must repeatedly correct, before finally displaying mastery at the end. Similar sequences that show learners progressing in their skill through practice can be seen in many movies, including Rocky (Boxing), and Mr. Holland’s Opus (Clarinet Playing).
Evidence for learning can be seen when the learner performs the activity. Through performance, teachers can evaluate the level of mastery that their student has achieved. In the movies, a final performance or celebration of learning is common; studying, practicing, and training mount to a final spelling bee, dance competition, or climactic fight.
Skilled teachers undoubtedly play a key role in helping to foster learning, but it doesn’t take much to hold someone back. Learning was hindered when the child’s mother pulled him away from a chess game. When learners are not given opportunities to experience the world and engage with others, learning is obstructed. Blazing new trails and being exposed to new things can push us past our comfort zone and into scary places, like when Robin Williams asked his students in The Dead Poet’s Society to rip pages out of the textbook. Even with their instructor telling them to destroy their book, the students were fearful. Fear can hinder learning. New experiences and ideas often make people uncomfortable at first, but learners must have exposure to them in order for that fire to ignite within and learning to occur.
