¶ A pupil and a mentor stood in a garden. The mentor said, "Look, there is a dog."
¶ The pupil looked and confirmed, "Yes, there is a dog," and soon after the two left the garden without anything else having transpired.
¶ The next day the pupil and the mentor stood in another garden. The pupil said, "Look, there is a cat."
¶ The mentor looked and answered that he saw no cat, so the two began searching the garden. Among the plants they each found many birds and squirrels and other animals. Each time they would find one they would point it out to the other, and the mentor would sometimes ask if maybe the pupil had not seen a cat, but had seen this animal here, or that one there. They discussed each animal, to see if it might have been what the pupil had called a cat. After a good day of exploration, discussion, and learning, they found a dog and agreed that it had been what the pupil had called a cat, then left the garden.
¶ The pupil looked and confirmed, "Yes, there is a dog," and soon after the two left the garden without anything else having transpired.
¶ The next day the pupil and the mentor stood in another garden. The pupil said, "Look, there is a cat."
¶ The mentor looked and answered that he saw no cat, so the two began searching the garden. Among the plants they each found many birds and squirrels and other animals. Each time they would find one they would point it out to the other, and the mentor would sometimes ask if maybe the pupil had not seen a cat, but had seen this animal here, or that one there. They discussed each animal, to see if it might have been what the pupil had called a cat. After a good day of exploration, discussion, and learning, they found a dog and agreed that it had been what the pupil had called a cat, then left the garden.
Kind of like teaching the kids to color within the lines, thus limiting creativity. Convince a child they did not see what they did and they will no longer express freely.
ReplyDeleteYes. I wrote this to describe the approach used on this blog.
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