Tell To Teach
In his book, Study of Man, Steiner characterizes the learning process in this
way:
Conclusion ----------> Judgment -----------> Concepts
A child needs to first be presented with the facts, with the so-called
conclusions. Out of these conclusions, the child will make use of his moral life,
his feelings, to make a judgment, to find the proper place of the conclusions in
his or her soul. Out of this work, the child is able to finally arrive at concepts,
his or her own digested version, which then becomes a part of his knowledge.
Translated into foreign language teaching, this scheme could look like this:
Perception Making Acquired
of new ------------> sense of them -----------> language
words in our feeling
This means that the introduction of new language needs to go through a
process of digestion before it is assimilated or rather, acquired. This digestion
takes place in the child’s feeling life, in the rhythmic sphere. The new
phrases/structures have to find a subtle place in our soul. They are linked to us
through experiences, feelings, objects, actions; they need to be given a proper
space within. Once they have been processed by the soul, they can be
integrated more easily by the memory, and will be available when the learner
brings forth the images and experiences connected to them.
If instead of allowing the child to acquire language in this way, we teach directly
to the intellect, through grammar rules, drills, vocabulary lists, we are seeing
language as algebra: we are trying to substitute one symbol with another one.
Then these will become concepts that “burden the memory”; they will not be
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spontaneously available and will be easily forgotten. However, when in our
teaching we make use of images, songs, gestures, stories, we are applying the
artistic element to build up the memory, for we will be engaging their whole
being. And finally, after the child has had enough experiential, comprehensible
input, enough language in context, he or she will be able to apply at will that
newly acquired language in different settings.
If the work children are doing is a) comprehensible and b) compelling,
interesting enough, then they will learn effortlessly and effectively. The more
interesting, the more compelling the content can be, the better. In the teaching
of foreign languages, this means it is all about bringing meaningfulness to what
we teach. Not just an utilitarian usefulness, but a semantic meaning that makes
sense to them and engages their mind, so that they can forget about the fact
that they “are learning” and just surrender to the content of the conversation.
That is the best way for any of us to learn: when the meaning is so compelling,
that we feel connected and at ease with it. This is what happens when the
content is directly related to them. If the work we are doing is talking about
Dick and Jane all the time, there is no way a young child (or a teenage student)
will be truly engaged for a sustained time.