Personal Experience and Books are a PLUS!

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Yes! I certainly agree that reading and studying greatly enhance one's knowledge. And of course Chong'er's advisers played a great part in his success as a ruler. I should have included that in my post...I just got wrapped up in the idea that one's life experiences teaches us as well. There is a perception in our world that suggests only those who are studied are smart and I wanted to express my view that life teaches us many value lessons, and that a piece of paper--a diploma for example--does not dictate a person's intelligence or worth.

[Anonymous]

This is true that a diploma does not dictate ones intelligence, although it does at least at the college level, show that a person has been taught to or has had practice in learning such as studying different points of view and their sources. As historians we learn as well to analyze evidence, their sources, points of view, and bias. This is very important in dealing with politics, the workplace and almost everything. A person may be highly educated from being self taught or had many life experiences, but without a diploma or degree, nobody will know that they have attained these skills.

[Anonymous]

1[Edit by="rtaw on May 12, 1:43:12 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

In comment to my previous post, I feel very strongly that although a diploma or degree is important for the skills and education that they represent, it is also very important for one to see the places being studied. Travel can offer one the opportunity to not only see other places and experience other cultures but also gain further insight into the places being studied by learning first hand such things as geography. This is the reason for the saying "well read and well travelled".

[Anonymous]

When some has mastered a subject area it is only a fool that refuses to acknowledge the expertise that person has just because he/she does not have a higher degree in that subject area. A degree is often times a measure of ones ability to memorize information and jump through hoops to fulfill the requirements.for that peiece of paper.

[Anonymous]

The highest level of integration can be achieved when one studies a subject and then goes out and immerces themself with the topic. culture, language, etc. When we get the dual experience of the verbal understanding and the feeling aspect of it there is an integration that happens in the heart and it more easily can be registered in the long term memory. In a sense, the person now owns that experience/understanding. They can now walk it, talk it, be it...Life loses its superficial nature and any subject can then become a gateway to touching the Godhead...

[Anonymous]

I agree....we must not only get to know about a culture, seperate from ours, but we must also make time to emerse ourselves in it to be able to have a beeter understanding of it. I think that we can all memorize facts & dates but once we experience, the experience becomes a part of us and we tend to hold on to those things (memories & experiences) for a longer time span than reading and seeing pictures.

As teachers I think that it is important to acknowledge our students contributions and experiences and it is our duty to try and understand them more by understanding their culture and validating it.

[Anonymous]

Along that thought... Seeing that hands-on experience is necessary to truly understand a subject / city / culture, our students should have more opportunities to go out and have these chances.

I was lucky enough to spend my junior year of college in Spain, and that experience forever changed me. I truly grew up that year, gained more respect for culture and history, and was much more involved and appreciative of my academics when I returned home. I wish our kids could get that opportunity too.

Students have changed over the years. With technology has brought shorter attention spans, and the traditional "chalk and talk" is no longer completley suitable for our kids. What would be great is if we could take them out of the classroom environent to museums, different cities, even different countries to expose them, broaden their horizons. I know that many schools do this, but with LAUSD there never seems to be money for field trips. How are they supposed to expand their knowledge when they can no longer relate to the way that knowledge is conveyed to them?

[Anonymous]

In discussing the lack of funds for fieldtrips, I believe that a teacher needs to compensate in other ways. If I can't bring my students to a museum, then I will bring the museum to my students. I do this first by decorating my room with statues and decorations from around the world, then throughout the course I bring in original artifacts from the various subjects being taught in order to help illustrate different points in the lessons. For instance, to help the students understand why books were so expensive before the invention of the printing press, I show the students a seven hundred year old leaf from an illuminated manuscript. When the students see up close and first hand the work that went into hand writing and decorating it, including scratched out mistakes, as well as the materials that were used, they understand and grasp the reasons why for so long only the wealthy were able to afford an education and how influential the invention of the printing press was. This can't be done by just telling about it or seeing a picture. Then I show the link to other things, for example, the students magazines for silent reading could not exist without the printing press, and the American Revolution could not have taken place without the pamphlets used to spread revolutionary ideas such as "Common Sense" that were printed on the printing press.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing a wonderful idea. It is important for our students to be able to understand the whole picture instead of parts of it, to make it meaningful to them.
As much as I love attending these seminars and taking in all this knowledge: I know until I am there experiencing and breathing the culture and history does it all come together for me.
The knowledge we acquire from textbooks is wonderful, but when I listen to these professors, who also share their personal experiences, taking ownership of their knowledge as well as photographs; then learning truly takes place.
Being a visual, hands on learner, I need the photographs and experiences to fully comprehend what I am being taught. Consequently to remember this is also how many of my students learn.
Living in California has given me the opportunity to meet different people from parts of the world I would have never met if I remained in Hawaii or Oregon. It is not until you meet them can understand what is happening in their country.

[Author]

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