One
of my favorite courses in grad school was Concept Acquisition – the study of how
we “acquire” or learn the concept of anything: [the concept of] 2, boy/ girl,
tree, math, anything. Now, before you fall asleep, I’ll get to the point:
Key
element: ‘distinctive features’ are the unique elements of how we differentiate
between TREE and 2 and PIZZA, etc. THE
PROBLEM is that, when we’re teaching or coaching or explaining, what seems incredibly
obvious to you or me – they miss or have no clue what you’re talking about! L
YOU
have experienced this yourself every time a young person shows you something on
a computer – and that cursor goes flashing across the screen – and they say – “ya
see?” – and you have NO CLUE what they just showed.
My
point? When you’re teaching or coaching, you need to ASK what they see or thought
– VERSUS what you were trying to point out.
You might believe it was incredibly obvious – and maybe even be poised
to say something sarcastically. DON’T! You need to know what they saw or perceived
or noticed before you can re-direct them.
Example:
[the
concept of] “Mom is a lot like Grandma – except that Mom’s face doesn’t have wrinkles,
and her hair is darker in color, and she’s a little bit thinner than Grandma –
but they look a lot alike, and sometimes they even say the same things – but they’re
NOT the same [concept]. Can you see that? How do YOU think they’re alike AND how
are they different?”
So
the main and major point is to ASK what they perceive or differentiate – and then
work from there, toward whatever you’re trying to teach or explain. In this case, it might be teaching how to
draw faces or such.
Personal
note: I tend to think – and perceive - holistically – so I often see similarities
in people that others with whom I’m talking completely disagree and see NO
similarity! Point made?
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