The Nature of Learning

Day 1: The Fiddle wood tree

“Always listen to yourself, PeeKay. It is better to be wrong than simply to follow convention. If you are wrong, no matter, you have learned something and you will grow stronger. If you are right you have taken another step towards a fulfilling life” Advice from Doc in the classic book, The Power of One (p. 192 Courtenay, 1989)

I first read The Power of One as a 16-year-old, it was a gift given to me while on a student exchange in Australia, now during lock-down more than 20 years later I am reading it again… The book is full of suffering and triumph… it’s profound in many ways, including the teaching style of Doc, a German professor of music with a passion for cacti. While collecting samples in the mountains near Barberton, he taught PeeKay the names of the local fauna and how to differentiate between species using smell and meticulous observation. Doc introduced PeeKay to individual plants while emphasising the connectiveness of nature, “Everything fits PeeKay. Nothing is unexplained. Nature is a chain reaction. One thing follows the other, everything is dependent on something else” (p.192 Courtenay, 1989). This concept can be applied to the nature of learning, where real knowledge is attained through finding connections and relating facts to ‘real life’. So, in this time of home-schooling I have decided to be inspired by Doc and document the eco-system of our garden…

DAY 1:

I took a couple of photos and then sent them to Helen van Niekerk (The Berries landscape designer) and my mom (avid gardener and ‘knower’ of all things)… Both replied that this is a Fiddle wood tree… according to Dr Google this tree is native to the West Indies and the birds love it!  (http://suntrees.co.za/citharexylum-spinosum-fiddlewood/). To triple check, I uploaded my photos onto Plantsnap, this is a great App and I highly recommend it (click here for the Google App and click here for the Apple App)

With leaf samples in hand my daughter (Ariella, 5-years-old) and I sat down to draw contour lines around the leaves… IMAJEN our surprise… This tree has different leaves! It’s a mystery… Ariella says that the young leaves have the wobbly edge and the old leaves have a smooth edge. Please leave a comment if you have a suggestion…

When drawing with pencils, experiment with different line types, press hard to create contrast and try to create the illusion of texture by making different kinds of marks… most of all have fun! Look closely at the light… where is the shadow on your leaf? Stick with the drawing process… persist through the frustration… this too is a great lesson for children and adultsJ (Hetland et al., 2013).