LOST IN PERCEPTION

A river scene in the Welsh Valleys, Wales, UK

S

o, there I was having what seemed to be a rather heated discussion with my son, who was confidently putting his position to me and enquiring what was the point I was making. Feeling somewhat baffled and disempowered, as I felt I was eloquently making my point and could not understand how it could have lost its clarity in translation, I tried another tactic; changing the subject matter of the discussion from the specific to the general.

M

y son responded to this approach in what seemed to me a more receptive manner, and we were then able to continue the discussion constructively.

W

hen I asked him what made the difference, my son told me that it was changing from the specific to the general. We went on to debate about whether it is the 'teacher' or the 'pupil' who is responsible for ensuring effective communication, with my son placing the primary responsibility onto the teacher.

Summer in Eastbourne, UK 

I

 am not so sure, as  I take the view that both the teacher and the pupil have to place themselves in a psycho-social environment which enables both teaching, on the part of the teacher, and learning, on the part of the pupil. It was clear to me that both my son and I were making some assumptions - including that that I was talking about the specific as opposed to the general - which presented obstacles to the clarity with which I was putting my position, and the messages he took and conclusions he drew about the relevance of what I was saying, about what he saw as the specific issue being discussed.

I

t seems to me, therefore, that the process of teaching and learning is a complex process in which the 'learner' has to be prepared to listen, hear and learn, and the 'teacher' has to be equipped to observe, see, respond appropriately, and learn from the teaching/learning process how best to communicated and facilitate the teaching of the subject matter.

An inquisitive herd of cattle; but what is motivating them?

OWOHROD