deeprootcenter
  • Home
    • Contact
    • Testimonials
    • Guiding Principles
  • About Us
    • Consultations
    • Summer Program
    • DRC Calendar
    • Resources >
      • Liberated Learners Network
  • Get Involved
    • Funding Appeal 2022
    • Donate
    • Sponsor a DRC Kid
    • Thank you
  • Blog

Explore the Possibilities with Us

Donate

Copy Cats

8/26/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Is an adage uttered by countless parents during escalating sibling tempers that, as it turns out, isn't just another platitude. Imitation is, quite simply, the very fundamental basis for all learning. I find it interesting that in our society mimicry is often an anger prompting activity. I presume it is directly connected to our culturally induced national fixation on cheating and the associated feelings of unfairness.

I would like to counter that idea with a bit of anthropological and anecdotal evidence. Copying behaviors, movements, and actions is the way all primates learn. In Anthropology, culture is defined, quite simply, as learned behavior.

The great Jane Goodall was the first person to understand that other animals, besides humans, create and use tools, and that they have a developed culture. They learn to survive by watching and copying. The documentary, Wild Chimpanzees, which highlights a scene of a chimpanzee mother (Flo) teaching her young daughter to fish for termites is quite possibly one of my favorite films of all time. The young chimp sits and stares at her mother for a very long time. She eventually gets a blade of grass and shapes it with her teeth, just like her mother did. Then she lies on her side over an entrance hole to the termite mound leaning on one arm and holding the grass fishing pole in the other. She pokes the vegetation into the hole, and then she pulls it back out covered with squirming insects. She tries to drag the grass over her wrist and through her lips the way her mother so adeptly delivers the crunchy snack to her own pursed lips, but the termites fall off before they reach her mouth. She continues to practice and eventually manages to get a few tasty morsels before her mother moves on to the next lesson.

Every time I watch this fascinating evidence of primate learning in action, I recognize the obvious delight that young chimp experiences when she is rewarded with her well deserved snack.

How does this tale relate to kids? Children, to the consternation of older siblings, are little copy cat machines. They watch, they imitate, and they experiment, constantly. Everything they have learned over their entire lifetime has been the result of imitating behaviors.

As a teacher/facilitator, I often find myself debating whether certain mediums are appropriate for children to use as learning tools. For example, this past week several kids decided they would like to watch America's Got Talent or some such competitive television show. I wasn't entirely clear why these kids were so attracted to this show, besides the entertainment value (one contestant on the show was a very young girl who sang - screamed like Ozzy Osborne).

Later that evening two of the girls went home and proceeded to write a song. They came in the next day wearing fancy dresses and secretive smiles. They spent a few hours typing their song and then set up a stage and seating for the audience, made tickets and cardboard microphones, and proceeded with some giggling and miss starts, to perform their song. It was amazing! Why do I even spend the energy questioning, when the results are so clear, every single time?

No, these girls probably won't become pop stars or famous lyricists (although one is determined to have her own YouTube channel and become a household name that way), however, they are creating experiences and developing interests, through imitation, that will provide amazing memories and learned skills they will carry with them for the remainder of their lives.

This in a nutshell is self-directed learning! All Deep Root Center provided was the resources, support, and the space for mimicry that allowed these girls to shine.


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Don't miss a post!

    Sign-up here to get the DRC Blog delivered to your inbox.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

Picture
© 2023 Whole Learners, Inc. 501(c)3
Deep Root Center
48 Riverside Drive, Canton, NY 13617

​315*244*3034/maria@deeprootcenter.org
  • Home
    • Contact
    • Testimonials
    • Guiding Principles
  • About Us
    • Consultations
    • Summer Program
    • DRC Calendar
    • Resources >
      • Liberated Learners Network
  • Get Involved
    • Funding Appeal 2022
    • Donate
    • Sponsor a DRC Kid
    • Thank you
  • Blog