The Acquisition of Ideas

In this talk, James is again promoting the authentic experience as the main way in which growing individuals obtain knowledge and ideas about the world around them. James is promoting ‘street smarts’ over ‘book smarts’ in the sense that knowledge is only as good as it is able to be applied in a real and meaningful way. This also aligns well with James’ vision of education as a practical tool.

In one section of his talk, James notes the importance of personal interest in knowledge acquisition; “feed the growing human being, feed him with the sort of experience for which from year to year, he shows a natural craving, and he will develop in adult life a sounder sort of mental tissue, even though hey may seem to be ‘wasting’ a great deal of his growing time, in the eyes of those for whom the only channels of learning are books and verbally communicated information” (p. 73). Reading this talk and this quote in particular reminded me of the concept of ‘unschooling,’ a less traditional method of education where the student directs his or her learning based upon their interests at the time. Unschooling is similar to the Montessori method in its self-directed learning; however, it is much less structured, with the learning goals established and directed entirely by the student. Like James’ notion of education, unschooling encourages the student to learn through their own experiences in various domains rather than relying upon formal lessons and work in the classroom. This approach to education makes learning personally meaningful, as it is driven by the needs and desires of the student.

James calls for teachers to have the student explain concepts in his or her own words, as well as presenting the information in many different ways so as to not have the student merely memorize the answer without understanding it. Without being able to come to understanding in terms of their own experiences, the student will not be able to explain the concept as they see it. This leaves the teacher wondering if the student truly understands the concept or if they are simply able to parrot back the answer. But could there be circumstances where full understanding of a concept is not necessary for learning, at least in the early stages?