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Lets look a bit closer at how we deal with information.
We talked in an earlier article about 'Contacting the Subject'.
In terms of information processing this is perhaps best thought
of as 'Confronting' the information pertaining to a subject.
We live in a world where we are almost constantly bombarded
with information. Almost all this information is useless to
us. To protect our minds from overload we set up filters that
stop most of the information from penetrating further. It's
as though our minds are set on 'Reject this information' by
default.
When we deliberately set about studying a subject, however,
we throw a switch to select: 'Inspect and evaluate this information'.
But, the process of inspection and evaluation is not a simple
one. So the mind will quickly protect itself against being
fed more information than it can easily inspect and evaluate
at one time.
Here is a classic example from real life teaching experience.
To illustrate it I am using parenthesis (brackets) to show
how the student is processing what the tutor is telling him:
Tutor: 'Welcome to your first guitar lesson'
(That's good - he's friendly and he knows this is my first
lesson)
Tutor: 'Ok! Pick up your guitar'
(Great - this is what I've come here for)
Tutor: 'Right, before we start - let me tell you a bit
about the instrument'
(Fair enough, that could be useful)
Tutor: 'Stringed instruments have been around for thousands
of years...
(er .. not sure if i need to know this...)
Tutor: '...in fact there are no less than 4,768 references
to them in the Bible Old Testament ...'
(oh no .. I've come to the wrong place..)
Tutor: '.... and over the years, they have been made from
a variety of different materials such as gourds, tree trunks,
cows intestines...'
(hope i get back home in time to watch 'The Simpsons..)
It's important to understand that it is not the 'Quality'
of the information thats at fault here. Its more a question
of 'pertinence to the student at a given time'. It's their
first lesson - all they want to do is 'play the thing!'. Later
on it may well be interesting to the student to learn a little
more about the instrument's background.
When teaching, it is important to recognise the outward signs
that tell you that your student has gone into 'Information
Overwhelm' mode and that the switch has been tripped back
to its default 'Reject this information' setting. These signs
vary, but they will include: Yawning, fidgetting, looking
out the window, eyes glazing over, slumping in chair, giving
unconvincing automatic acknowledgements (..yeah..yeah..right...ok..yeah
).
The instant you notice any such manifestations you need to
realise that you have triggered 'Information Overwhelm' in
your student and there is then really only one way to get
the lesson back on track: STOP EXPLAINING and START GETTING
THE STUDENT TO DO SOMETHING.
So back to our real-life example:
Let's say that you are halfway through that very interesting
quote about lyres and balalaikas from the book of Psalms when
you can't help noticing that your student's eyes have glazed
over and they're softly whistling the theme tune to 'The Simpsons'
under their breath...
Tutor: Ok! So let's play our first chord
(hello, what? where am I? wassappening?)
Tutor: Okay press down that string with that finger there
..
(hey i'm having a guitar lesson)
Tutor: Ok, now that finger there ...and that one there.
Now strum that with that hand..
(wow! I'm about to play guitar!!!)
Tutor: That's it, press a little harder.. now strum it
again..that's called a G chord..
(cool! that sounds almost musical - wow this is fun.)
...and you're back on track.
Notice you are still giving information, but it is information
that the student instantly evaluates as useful and will therefore
do something with.
So beware of Information overwhelm - stay focussed and stay
oriented to ACTION - not your action, but the students' -
people learn most from DOING not from listening.
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How
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