Abstract
My childhood experience in school was fragmented from my out of school experience where I lived in rural China. School subject matters were reduced to bits and pieces. I excelled in this artificial symbolic world. Progressing from preschool to graduate school, I trained to teach in that world, and gained the opportunity to study at Harvard. My first course there was with Eleanor Duckworth. To put students in close contact with subject matter, and to listen to learners explain what they think, Duckworth's course creates space where learners develop direct relationship with subject matter. Throughout the semester, we record the moon as we observe it, share observations, and discuss questions. In contrast with my prior schooling, we learners are responsible for following our emerging curiosities. Narrating from my moon study in that course, I chronicle how I came to grasp what it means to learn through truly experiencing exploratory learning. Reentering my moon study in researching for this paper became a search for what previous years of my schooling had taken away from me: confidence and dignity as a learner.
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Notes
Here, “cheated” was not the right word to express my meaning and I didn't know that back then. I
meant, “Don't be fooled”.
As explained above, by “cheated” I meant “fooled”. Below, I will only use “fooled” in repeated quotations from this passage below.
References
Duckworth, E. (1986/2006). Teaching as Research. In E. Duckworth (Ed.), “The Having of Wonderful Ideas” and other essays on teaching and learning (pp. 172–192). New York: Teacher’s College Press. Original essay published in 1986.
Duckworth, E. (2006). “The Having of Wonderful Ideas” and other essays on Teaching and Learning. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Hawkins, D. (1965/2002). On living in trees. In D. Hawkins (Ed.), The informed vision, (pp. 171–191). New York: Algora Press. Original essay published in 1965.
Yang, Y. (2008). Discussing John Dewey’s thoughts about process and its enlightenment to early childhood education. Master’s Thesis. In Chinese. Nanjing Normal University.
Yang, Y. (2009a). Moon notebook. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Yang, Y. (2009b). Journal 9, 2009, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.
Yang, Y. (2009c). Journal 11, Nov. 22nd, 2009, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.
Yang, Y. (2009d). Final Paper, December, 2009, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.
Yang, Y. (2014). Finding roots: A learner’s voyage. Qualifying Paper. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Acknowledgements
My gratitude goes to those whose help make this piece of work possible: Eleanor Duckworth, Elizabeth Cavicchi, Steve Seidel, Lisa Schneier, Brenda Engel, Jessie Auger, Alythea McKinney, Son-Mey Chiu, Tim Johnson, Janet Youkeles, Ana Nieto, Rusty Carlock, Jenny Jacobs, Houman Harouni, Sarah Fine, Chris Lowry, Bill Shorr, Hilary Sallick, Stuti Shukla, Michael Armstrong, Yang Zengxu. For assistance in preparing this manuscript, thanks to the reviewers, Eleanor Duckworth, Elizabeth Cavicchi, Alva Couch, Bill Shorr, Jinwen Ye, Yang Zengxu.
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Yang: deceased.
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Yang, Y. A Learner’s Voyage: My Moon Exploration in 2009. Interchange 49, 69–84 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-018-9316-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-018-9316-7