Some Thoughts on Learning as Imitation
I recently listened to a talk given by Daniel McInerny at Thomas Aquinas College NE on "Art as Imitation." He mentioned that it is a part of human nature to imitate, and so much of our learning happens through imitation. An example he gives is of his toddler grandson Raph who once petitioned his parents that he go to work with his dad. Though rejected at first, upon insisting he got his way (as is the norm, according to McInerny). And so the toddler eventually found his way to his father's desk where a picture was promptly taken of him working away. McInerny's point was that Raph out of a kind of natural instinct wished to imitate his father, and this is because imitation is one of the primal ways we experience the world and discover it. As a five-year teacher and two-year coach of highschoolers I am inclined to agree. Even as teenagers, they continue to give adults or authority figures that certain "look"---wide-eyed, brows raised---which I have also obser...
