What
Do We Mean ByEnchanted
Learning Experiences? We
have used this term to describe that state of consciousness
described by notedUniversity
of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyias
the 'flow' state. When children
attain this state they literally lose themselves in
the pleasure producing absorption of the experiences.
This
is the optimum state for learning -
an enchanted learning experience.
It is possible
for children and athletes to attain this state more
easily than adults. Csikszentmihalyi
says the furmulae for attaining this state is simple
- "When
challenges are greater than your skills, that's anxiety.
When your skills exceed the challenge, that's boredom." What
we must do as educators, whether as parents or teachers,
is simply match up the challenge to the skill levels. Our
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Your Child Succeeds At Mathis
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Enchanted Learning Experiences -Why
They Should Be
The Norm For Our Children.
Brain Based Research And Your
Child
"Walk upstairs, open the door gently, and look in the crib. What do you
see?
Most of us see a picture of innocence and helplessness , a clean slate.
But, in fact, what we see in the crib is the greatest mind that has ever
existed, the most powerful learning machine in the
universe."
From "The Scientist in theCrib"
(Alison
Gobnik, Ph.D., Andrew N. Meltzoff, Ph.D., Patricia K..Kuhl, Ph.
D.)
Such
minds should be exposed to enchanted learning
experiences where learning becomes the magical
natural process nature intended it to be.
The
more we discover about the universe around us the more we realize how little we
really know.
What is true of outer space is
also true of inner space.
Our minds.
At
birth we stand like Lucy before the magic
Wardrobe prepared to enter a world where
enchanted learning experiences become the air
we breathe.
The
latter part of the twentieth century has seen more discoveries about the human
brain than in all previous history of mankind.
It is as though we have been
paddling in the shallows of a vast ocean hitherto unaware of its
existence.
Enchanted
learning experiences beckon us out into
the deep oceans of discovery and no ocean
is more wondrous or mysterious than our brains.
The
brain contains a vast number of cells or neurons.
It is connections made between
these neurons that constitute learning.
Robert Ornstein has estimated that there
are more possible links between
the neurons in our brains than there are atoms in the known
universe.
"We are only now on the threshold of knowing the range of the
educability of man . . . We have never addressed ourselves to this
problembefore."
Dr
Jerome Bruner, Harvard University
"We will by conscious command evolve cerebral centers which will
permit us to use powers that we are now not even capable of
imagining.”
Dr
Fredric Tilney - leading French brain specialist.
The
implications for our children are staggering and have focused the attention of
many educationalists around the world on the early years of child development.
In this context, enchanted learning experiences are not an optional extra.
We nowbelieve that we only use around 4%
of our brain's potential.Jack
Schwartz, psychophysical trainer, believes:
"We are hoarding potentials so great that they are just about
unimaginable."
Given
these revelations enchanted learning experiences
should be the norm for our children.
Yet,
despite
this knowledge, educational systems world-wide still insist on devising ways and
means of classifying children in terms of their intellectual capacity, often
using very narrow criteria and limited learning styles. As far removed from
enchanted learning experiences as you can
imagine.
While
these systems work well for certain types of learners they disadvantage the
majority in a manner akin to self-fulfilling prophecies.
This is
particularly true when we consider the structure of the brain.
