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| The secret
heart of learning |
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in something you can do well: math, science, cooking, sewing, reading,
karate, playing the piano, sport, singing, dancing - whatever.
But, as Lozanov argues, another aspect is equally
vital: too often we become what others expect. And when those expectations are
telegraphed daily by parents and teachers through word, attitude, atmosphere and body
language, then their expectations become students' limitations.
Sports provide countless examples of the opposite
effect. In the early 1960s three athletes living in one area of Auckland, New Zealand, won
Olympic gold medals or broke the world record in every middle-distance event: 800 yards,
800 meters, 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, one mile, 5,000 meters and three miles. Only one
of them, triple gold medal-winner Peter Snell, was a natural athlete. One of them, Olympic
5,000 meters champion Murray Halberg, had a crippled arm. They succeeded because their
coach, Arthur Lydiard, helped develop their confidence - and provided the training - to
lead the world. "The talent wasn't exceptional," says Lydiard. "Anyone
could do it. Motivation is the key."7
And sure: not every athlete can become a Carl Lewis, a
John Walker or a Michael Jordan. But no one should be programmed to fail. Maybe - just
maybe - society could tolerate such failure-based school systems 50 years ago. Then the
world was a different place. Our schools served a different society.
In most developed countries they did a good job of
preparing the people who would become our future managers and professionals: our
accountants, lawyers, doctors, teachers, administrators, academics - perhaps 20 to 30
percent of the population.
They did a reasonable job of preparing those who would
become the skilled or semiskilled craftsmen and tradesmen, or the generally-female typists
and accounts clerks who would support the mostly-male management teams. Many countries
skimmed several groups off early into "technical education", to become the
apprentice carpenters, plumbers, electricians, printers, engineers and other tradesmen.
At its best, the mid-20th-century elementary school
also trained the rest of its youngsters to cope in the unskilled jobs that were then
required. It taught them the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic - the so-called
three Rs. Our schools were programmed to produce the citizens needed for an industrial
economy. And they produced what they programmed - what they expected. Their examination
systems, too, were designed to produce the right professional-technical-laboring mix.
Contents Page Preface
Introduction
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