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Instinct
to Learn – April 29, 2004
I believe that people have an instinct to learn, that children are born
with the desire to discover what they need to know about the world
around them. The late Robert White, a developmental psychologist and
Harvard professor, called this instinct to learn, to manipulate, to
master an “urge toward competence.” What he meant is that we are
born with not just a desire, but the need to have an impact on our
surroundings, to control and understand the world in which we live.
Children who are lucky enough to have families who trust that need are
what I call life learners. They don’t need to follow somebody else’s
second-hand curriculum, to be artificially motivated to learn, or to be
tested about to be sure they are learning. They don’t need school.
Unlike
people who have been told to sit down, line up, be quiet and wait, life
learners don’t just sit and wait for the world to come to them. They
actively try to interpret the world, to make sense of it. They are
constantly learning...and also experiencing the pride that comes with
having understood new things and having mastered new skills. As the
adults living with these constantly learning young people, we are most
helpful when we can honor their right to set their own learning agenda,
trust them to learn what they need to know, help them develop in their
own ways, and provide opportunities that will help them to understand
the world and their culture, as well as to interact with it.
Posted: 4/29/2004 4:59
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