You can't build a tower without the foundations

Sunday's skype session, left me with some provoking thoughts, if anything I felt more assured about ideas I was pondering on, but also a little confused with the idea of bias. 
Last week I started thinking about how we interpret information, and how we know what we know when in the dance studio or learning environment. I find it difficult in my position in secondary education to sometimes know if the students have created a personalised meaning of the topics we are learning in lesson or whether they are just understanding the topics because that's what I told them it involved. 

Lets take a technique class, with a focus on stylistic qualities, you can impart knowledge to students and then you would assess their level of understanding either through practical demonstration or written understanding. But, to access a critical level of thinking, which you could argue doesn't happen until an expert level of learning, such as professional training and university level. The critical level of thinking is difficult to define in the explorative nature of dance, much the same with this MA, as we have our own research areas, the learning outcomes are designed for an indivi involving critical analysis and deep thinking.

We go on a journey of self discovery, learning is independently directed, and the use of blogs and discussion create the stepping stones of discovery. Much like our conversation on Sunday, we ventured off, honed back in and each had varying views.

This brings me back to bias, after reflecting on my own practice, I habitually respond to others opinions, and create bias, which then alters my own perception to question or support the view I have been listening to, agreeing and then shifting my focus again. Of course our inherent nature as humans to question things, but  often wonder do students question our learning for development, do they continue to think and shift their ideas based on knowledge imparted, or do they stick with what I have taught them because they want to be correct.

Our conversation shifted to understanding, and with the idea of perceiving information in our environment, creating intuitive thoughts and creating understanding through a feeling or experience instantaneously, I wondered whether our environment or our prior experience of learning, in our long term memory, impacts our ability to perceive. Traditionally, we see learning as a process that happens over time, but often we have those sparks of perception that take place, and take us to another part of understanding like piecing a jigsaw puzzle together.

I wonder when I teach my students, does the student mind have the ability to piece information together, and do students build their thoughts based on a perception and it leads to a discovery, feeling for understanding. It is so hard to say what the student mind experiences as you are only seeing the external product of the student's understanding. 

Puzzling and inquisitive thoughts, ones I'm not sure even I understand. Is perception and inquisition the foundations of the learning tower, with the top forming the understanding.