Studio of Leah Brammer: 12/01/2010

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sensibility and the Holidays

Sensibility is the ability developed through learning by the senses. In Dr. Karen Hagberg's explanation of the term "Sensibility" as translator of Dr. Kataoka's book "Sensibility and Education" she says:

"To Dr. Kataoka "Kansei" (translated as sensibility) is the sum of the five senses, plus the intangible heart and soul, through which children absorb their environment."(1)

When we remember holidays past as adults, it may be the aroma of certain foods or the scent of the Christmas tree that remind us of our feeling/experiences as children. It could be the Christmas lights or the sound of carols. Ultimately it is the "intangible heart and soul" that remembers the feelings of Christmas/the holidays.

Holistic learning is a process of ingesting the environment/concept all at once in an intuitive/senses way rather than only the intellect. Children learn through touch, sound, intuition. Babies and children learn through absorption of the total environment rather than part by part.In holistic learning, the child has a grasp of a concept without necessarily knowing the details or even being able to produce anything. It is this type of learning that enables a person to perceive what is going on without necessarily being able to actually say in words what is happening. In learning language, babies are absorbing the environment and understand long before they are able to articulate. Children in general understand feelings even when they do not know exactly what is being said.

So, "knowledge" in this way is not really measurable. Students who learn primarily this way may not always do well on a test. However, given a practical situation they may be able to cope with the problem solving issues that another student going by the textbook answers would be unable to solve. This is how a person can be in a completely foreign country where they do not speak the language,yet be able to communicate and act appropriately without ever learning the customs or being told the protocol. Contrast this with how a person can grow up to be completely unaware of how other people are thinking/feeling/perceiving, or unable to make good judgments. We see this in real life all the time and wonder how to educate children to make wise judgments in the complexities of day to day reality.

Core education is the development of life ability-or talent at life. The definition of the word core is: " the central, innermost, or most essential part of anything." It is core learning that develops the ability to learn which is the essential part of education. Developing life ability involves preserving and nurturing the natural way children learn from birth through their senses.

How can we preserve and nurture sensibility? Essentially, by having awareness of the child's senses and giving credence to them. Dr. Suzuki said:

"Skillfulness in rearing a child comes from knowing and feeling as he (the child) does in his heart."(2)

So this means taking the time and the presence to experience life directly with our children. This includes not thinking of other things when the children are talking and giving the space for the child to enjoy the moment without rushing to the next thing, In this way the child has the time to discover without extra instruction or thinking. We also preserve sensibility by recognizing that the holidays are full of stimulating activities and therefore balancing these activities with quiet feelings and enough sleep.

Find the place of a calm peaceful happy heart inside yourself and notice how your child responds to you. As Dr. Suzuki said:

"The mother's smile is the child's smile."(3)

In music study, the child who learns holistically can play freely without the burden of too much thinking or worrying in the way. Music then becomes a form of direct communication. There are two important things you can do over the holidays:

1. Continue to play the Suzuki recordings. In this way even if the child practices less, they will not forget their pieces, and will be internally memorizing the new pieces to be learned in the coming months. Additionally this provides a consistent environment and motivates them to go to the piano and play their review pieces.

2. Let your child share their music with friends and family. When children can give their music as a gift to others they can learn the joy of giving. You can do this informally, or organize a concert. Also, you can use the video recordings and send to relatives and friends far away with a personal holiday message.

Have a wonderful holiday!
Leah Brammer

Bibliography
1. Sensibility and Education, Dr. Haruko Kataoka, p. xii
2. Ability Development from Age Zero, Dr. Suzuki, p. 23
3. Words for the Day, #2-A collection of 31 sayings by Dr. Suzuki written on shikishi. (See right side of the blog for picture)

Core Education Principles

1. Life Ability
Core Education develops life ability- the ability to live life optimally.

2. Natural Learning
Core Education utilizes and preserves natural learning, which is direct learning from the environment.

3. Whole Learning
Children learn through absorption of the total environment rather than part by part. This is sometimes called ”right-brain learning” Whole learning is a better way to describe this absorption as it involves both the right brain (learning through the senses/intuition and left brain (analytical) types of learning working together.

4. Ability Development
Pattern recognition and the forming of relationships between these patterns can be developed through repetition for optimum learning. This then includes physical ability, mental/memory, emotional balance and spiritual development as well. This is the balancing concept of whole learning and involves understanding of learning in relationship to sequencing and the development of ability through the acquisition of foundation skills

5. Integral Learning
Core learning involves recognition and support for the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of development in combination with mental/cognitive learning to form life abilities.

6. The core focus principle of nurturing:
This principle is that the most fundamental aspect in a child’s learning must always be addressed rather than focusing on the content of what is being learned. It is finding the core aspect of the process that will produce the easiest and quickest way to learn. It is closely connected to Ability Development.

7. Positive affirmation
Core education involves affirmation as a critical component of feedback for the child. Using verbal acknowledgment of that which is correct will accelerate learning. It is not a judgment such as good or bad, but is a positive statement of fact to the child about how they are learning.

Through understanding and applying these principles teachers and parents can recreate the concept of education from the learning of facts to the development of ability.