no subject

[firecat]

Great essay about learning, via andrewducker:

http://celandine13.livejournal.com/33599.html
Errors vs. Bugs and the End of Stupidity

Comments

[jillzilla.livejournal.com]

I was pleased to read the essay. I definitely agree that a lot of the tendency to label people stupid comes from having only a limited range of ways to teach, along with a limited ability to determine what's in the student's way. When the teacher runs out of options, he or she feels helpless, then angry, and then the 'stupid' label comes out. That's oversimplified, of course, and good teachers have more options and more effective options than bad ones.

This is part of the heart of the approach to teaching in the Feldenkrais method. I've not been teaching long enough to get to watch people move from thinking of themselves as the physical equivalents of stupid (awkward, clumsy, bad at ) to seeing their current state of organisation as it is and not worrying about it. I am very much looking forward to seeing that happen when it does. I struggled against almost every stage of that process, but it still happened, and the resulting comfort in myself is probably the greatest gain I got from the Feldenkrais training.

I was reluctant to post this comment because I'm afraid it will look like I'm riding my hobbyhorse, but meh, even if it comes across that way I suspect you might just forgive me. :)

[firecat]

Feldenkrais is a great hobbyhorse to ride. My MOL practices it. I've taken a little bit (group classes) and find it very interesting, although my impression is that the profession's knowledge about fat bodies isn't as detailed as I'd like it to be.

[jillzilla.livejournal.com]

I agree on Feldenkrais training not addressing fat bodies enough. We didn't address fatness at all in my training, though fortunately of the 25 of us in my training, two were fat. Not only was it lovely not to be the only person, but that meant that all of us got some experience with fat people. I was fascinated that L, the other fat woman, and I had different physical patterns and issues. Gosh, we might not be all the same... :)

Moshe Feldenkrais was far from lean, and one of his strong emphases was working with people where they are. That I think was a strong influence on the higher level of a sort of fat acceptance I've seen among practitioners than among the population at large. It's a bit like we're trained to look at the patterns of Cerebral Palsy. I think few Feldenkrais practitioners see fat as a neutral form of human diversity, but accepting it as a common difficulty or ailment is better than buying fully into stigma, blame, and hate.

One of the things that has been on my todo list for over a year is to send email to the HAES UK mailing list asking for suggestions in finding fat people in my area who would like to receive lessons, both table lessons and verbal lessons. I want to reach out specifically to fat people to discover for myself what if any different needs we have. If I find anything interesting I may well write it up.

[firecat]

Ooh, please do!