Comments on: Martial Arts: The Model Classroom?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:13:24 +0000

I agree with your statement that it is better to see a teacher as a human not as a mystical higher power. You have a certain amount of respect for someone who you see struggle as much as you do for something. Terrific write up.

By: The Arts Of Fight

The Arts Of Fight — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:04:17 +0000

When you train, you want to look good. You want to hit hard and perfect every time. You want to throw for ippon every time. You want to score a knock out or submission every time. Every technique you throw must its mark. Just like that parent- you want everything to go smoothly with out any hiccups or mistakes. As in life: “what you want and what you got, aren’t exactly the same thing.”

By: Imani

Imani — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:00:16 +0000

Bill,

It’s interesting that many people see martial arts as fighting; I think I have come to see it more and more as a spiritual discipline. I value the reassurance of hierarchy, the joy of peer teaching, the experience of all of us as learners. I don’t feel the analogy’s a stretch. Perhaps I am showing my non-euro-western colors here. I love the parallels you have drawn. They are clear and push the reader to broaden our mind.

I was confused by this and wondered what you meant:
I’d much rather that my students see me as human, as a person who can’t do anything they’re not capable of doing if they’re willing to train long enough and hard enough to achieve it.

Persistence and mastery are not, I believe, what we currently are training for. I think we tend to teach kids to reach for the next brass ring and once there allow them (and ourselves) to disregard foundation. When you speak of memorization, I would underscore that we do not insist on retention or even help our kids to make connections. Sometimes this may be because we teach things are are irrelevant and not grounded in real life experiences. Sometimes I think it’s because it feels too overwhelming, or no one did this for us.

I have many more thoughts on this subject, but an even greater number of assignments that await grading

Thanks!

By: Sylvia Martinez

Sylvia Martinez — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:05:27 +0000

This doesn’t sound crazy at all!

The classic example of constructivist learning was the Samba School - written about by Seymour Papert in his book Mindstorms. He wrote about finding models of social learning that illustrated a collaborative learning environment that would support children learning programming and doing long-term projects using complex technology.

The schools are traditions in Brazil to prepare for the Carnival. He noted that in the Samba school, the same activities were shared by novices and experts in a social atmosphere. Everyone is learning, it is not a separate “activity”. There are times for serious teaching as veterans share what they know with children, but these times are short and focused on doing something. There is no syllabus or curriculum, what is taught is what is necessary for the whole group to succeed.

You might like this speech Dr. Papert gave in 1975 about this topic.