I know that learning is social
I teach. I know that people learn dramatically more when they feel part of a common venture.
We understand a little about social learning
Social learning has barely been researched but we know a little.
- We know we can stop people learning very effectively by excluding them – even inadvertently ~by loss of eye contact and they way we tell stories.
- We know the Pymaglion effect is a powerful self-fulfilling prophecy. My students will be as good as I think they are.
But the process of learnin begins when I show deep respect for who my students are and what they bring to my life.
E E Cummings on recognition
American poet E. E. Cummings puts it well:
“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
To be an effective teacher, to be an effective manager, to be an effective psychologist ~ I must believe in you, 100%, without reservation.