Based on my own childhood experiences and my experiences of work with children at Dream A Dream, I have always been a strong advocate of experiential learning. I have always believed that:
1. Children always learn in environments that are most natural to them.
2. We don't remember most of our childhood experiences but only those that have a profound impact on "Who we are" and "What do we believe in"
As we breeze through the questions on the quiz show in the movie, we see how he was able to connect them to specific experiences in his life. How he remembered that the inventor of Pistol was Simon Colt because his brother used a Colt when he first had a gun or how he figured where Cambridge Circus was because of his work at a British Call Center, etc, etc.
This is experiential learning at its best. At Dream A Dream, we believe if we can convert every interaction with a child into an experience that will positively impact him for life, he/she will be able to use that learning all through their life. A child might not remember an algebra formula but will definitely remember the acknowledgement that he/she got when the teacher said, "Good Job" for solving an algebra problem. When the learning is wholesome which is when all our senses and our entire being experiences that learnings, that it becomes a learning for life. We remember how we felt, how our body felt, how our eyes sparkled or our face glowed when we have a life-changing experience and its that wholesomeness that makes it life-lasting.
The movie has tremendous learning for us educators about how children learn, experience and remember. Life is what happens outside the classroom so if we want our children to learn then we need to complement academic education with Life Skills and this is where the work of Dream A Dream becomes most relevant and important.
I would finally like to leave you with this comic strip that sums of the point I wish to drive home.
