learning happens when we get close enough
Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam shows two fingers almost touching, with a spark of life crossing the gap between them. I think that’s how real human contact happens. In a world of information overload, we often over-explain and over-argue, and the gap grows too wide for anything to cross. Viv McWaters and I talk about the “teaching trance,” where a teacher pontificates while the pupils silently fall behind. We also talk about “plenary vortex,” where a presenter who feels disconnected talks more and more and ends up addressing their slides. Good learning environments need that alive closeness.
Thumbnail photo by Sebastian Dumitru on Unsplash
