Page:SELECTED ESSAYS of Dr. S. S. KALBAG.pdf/115

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Thus, the same teaching by the teacher is more useful if the child has a variety of patterns related to the topic. Example: 2 A child of say 1-2 years is playing with water on the roadside. He is completely absorbed by its 'study' (learning while playing). He tries to catch the water, squeezes it between his fingers, lifts it on its palms, feels the cold when the water has flown away and the wet arm is exposed to the wind. He sees how the water runs away in different directions when the hand is turned differently. Children play like this again and again until the novelty wears off and the experience is fully internalized. The child has now 'learnt' the properties of water, how it is different from a solid. Later, he will see some other liquids, maybe milk, and learn that milk also behaves like water. So gradually he gets the concept of a ʻliquid'. He has thus learnt the properties of liquids and knows many liquids, but he does not have the words to describe the experience. But he has constructed his own knowledge, based on his activities. Years later, a teacher teaches what liquids are. The child recalls his earlier learning. What the teacher says makes sense to the child. He will absorb it. The teacher thinks he has taught the properties of a liquid to the child. But what he taught was really only the articulation of experience the child already had. If he describes what happens when milk is spilt and you wash it with water, maybe the child has learnt something new. But again it depends on his past experiences of activity. Observation, logic and creativity We all agree that these skills are a desirable part of education. But let us see how these are also related to activity. Rural Development Through Education System 102 -- -