LEARNING ON THE TOUR

Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 8

LEARNING ON THE TOUR On leaving the lakes we were able to study the sloping down of the volcanic plateau to the coastal plain. As on previous days, many of the children were constantly asking questions about what they saw and what the head teacher told them; a number kept on noticing things on the farms and in the landscape; it became a game to discover something new. This development of curiosity was very exciting because back at Punaruku it was never easy to get the pupils to ask questions. This was accompanied by constant notetaking. There were of course children who took few notes, and these were both among the dullest— who could not—and among the most intelligent— who sought to understand rather than record. But this still left many who noted down every fact and figure that reached their ears. This was fascinating because at school it is often difficult to get these same children to write spontaneously, and at great length, as they did on this tour. Can this unaccustomed outburst of learning activity be ascribed to the rapid flow of experience which enabled their minds to function fully, when at home they almost seemed to atrophy?