I often imagine that at some point I’ll
go back into paid teaching in some capacity but before I do, I want to have a
different perspective on learning and of teaching than the one I came away with
after my teacher training. There are a few people out there who are doing it
differently...
I recently read about Taiwanese ShaoLan’s
new Chinese language book, Chineasy. The basic Chinese characters are incorporated
into large, colourful and imaginative yet simple graphics, each illustrating
its own meaning. These characters form the building blocks for more words and
phrases, for example, the pictogram for woman, repeated twice, means
‘argument’. Fascinating culturally, as well as linguistically.
I’ve already mentioned him, but there’s
no harm in doing it again; writer and educator, Daniel Tammet explores role of
the imagination in perception and learning in his TED talk on ‘Different ways of knowing’. Daniel, who identifies himself as an autistic savant, gives a
fascinating insight into how he uses leaps of the imagination to perform
complex mathematical calculations. As he says ‘different kinds of perceiving
create different kinds of knowing and understanding’ and ‘our personal
perceptions are at the heart of how we acquire knowledge’.
Finally,
Benny Lewis, National Geographic’s Traveller of the Year, spent 11 years on the
road, picking up various short-cuts and unconventional learning techniques and
claims that it’s possible to become fluent in a new language within three
months. A self-confessed mediocre school student, he attributes his success in
learning languages to swapping coursework for conversation. Describing language
books as ‘generally written by people with PhDs in linguistics’ and not
transferrable to the real world, he is full of practical tips to aid the memory
such as using obscure associations, for example ‘gare’ (French for station) reminds
him of Garfield the cat, so he pictures the cartoon character running for a
train.
Proof
that whatever you’re learning, from maths, Cantonese to a new language,
imagination goes a long way to helping you get there.
