Shenk talks about a young Japanese
violinist by the name of Shinichi Suzuki who taught men to play the violin
(136). He soon found out that he could even teach someone as young as four to
play a very complex instrument. Heavy parental involvement ended up being very
important in teaching the four year old how to play the violin. He constructed
a method called the Suzuki method that “helped transform our understanding of
young children’s capabilities” (137) and created a lasting impression on the
kids. Describe this process and the key component necessary for understanding
kid’s capabilities. This process is very similar to the one’s of the scientist
by the name of Konrad Lorenz. Explain Lorenz’s experiment and his findings(it
should be a term that you are familiar with) and relate that to Suzuki’s
method, and this can be found in the Campbell book in chapter 51. Also, relate
both men’s works to the biology theme of evolution because this key involvement
of the parent’s do have a lasting impression on the young and does bring change
to the kids.
Krish Desai (kjdesai5@mac.com)
Krish Desai (kjdesai5@mac.com)
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ReplyDeleteThe Suzuki method showed that young kids were able to be taught how to play these complex instruments, but only because heavy parenting was a major factor. This proves how if the environment has proper parenting, then kids can be pushed to achieve great things. As a result, the Suzuki method seemed to show that "each child has enormous potential and that it is up to us to muster whatever resources we can to exploit that potential" (Shenk 137). Similarly to the Suzuki Method, an article by ScienceDaily showed that "home learning experiences helps boost low-income kids' school readiness," likely due the fact that parenting at a young age helps teach children, who end up retaining this information. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110617081538.htm) Both this study and the Suzuki method seem to implement a form of teaching that is similar to imprinting. Imprinting, as shown by Konrad Lorenz in his experiment with grey-lag geese, is "the formation at a specific stage in life [(the sensitive period)] of a long-lasting behavioral response to a particular individual' (Campbell 1126). In Lorenz's experiment, Lorenz was able to cause young geese follow him instead of the geese's mother, as he was able to by manipulate the imprinting stimulus, causing the baby geese to recognize him as their mother. As children are in a young stage of their life, it is possible that children are still in their sensitive period, and can be taught information that will be with them throughout life.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of evolution is presented in the information that is passed down through generations. This process of learning and teaching relates to the learner's population, as the population and community causes what is being learned. As the learner is put on more demands by the parent, the environment demands more of the ability being taught, and having these abilities become a selective advantage. Just as Shenk says "delay gratification and resist contentedness" (125) will help cultivate greatness, it shows how the demand of the environment causes adaptations in terms of knowledge, also relating to the theme of interdependence in nature. Furthermore, with this knowledge gained, through evolution it seems that this knowledge, if desirable for the future, can be taught through imprinting and passed down, similar to how natural selection picks out the best heritable traits.
Matthew Yang (matt.y.yang2013@gmail.com)
I agree with Matt that this proposal showed and continues to show that young children can learn how to play a musical instrument with this method, however, I don’t believe that it is not only the parents that leave a lasting impression children, it’s all of the older generations.
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience with the Suzuki method in my early years of playing the violin, it is important to note that not only does it take a significant amount of parental energy, the steps taken are meant to challenge the mind to take chances with each new piece introduced. It is also quite true that when I first started playing, and I was on book 1 of the Suzuki series, I was nevertheless a dreadful musician. However, that highlights one of Suzuki’s important beliefs, that “ability is not inborn and that talent can be created”, and “with the right training and persistence, anyone could achieve remarkable success” (http://internationalsuzuki.org/shinichisuzuki.htm and page 137). The primary reasons that Suzuki’s method works is not only because of parental effort, but also the smaller steps taken to reach a higher goal.
On another aspect of learning, Konrad Lorenz showed that imprinting involves learned and innate behavior, and thus lasts with offspring for a lifetime. Imprinting is the development of a particular behavioral response that forms at a specific stage of life. The sensitive period, in which the actual imprinting occurs, is a small period of time when certain behaviors can be learned. “Among gulls for instance…if bonding does not occur, the parent will not care for the infant, leading to death for the offspring…”(Campbell, 1126). The imprinting stimulus is something the response will be directed towards, and in Lorenz’ case, it was him. He was able to have the graylag geese imprint on him versus their real mother because he “spent their first few hours” with them (Campbell, 1126). This in turn led him to become their mother, and all the goslings had no recognition of their biological mother.
Suzuki and Lorenz have much in common though, with the method of learning. While Suzuki did not necessarily become the imprint stimulus that Lorenz did, he was able to manipulate the child’s life with music, and since children are still developing in their early ages, it is a definite possibility that they could still be in their sensitive period, as Matt said. Evolution has shown us that information can be passed from generation to generation. As the Campbell book says, “Teaching of a younger generation by an older generation is one of the basic ways in which all cultures are transmitted” (1142).
Shivani Thakker (shivanithakker1357@gmail.com)