An important innovator in the field of psychiatry, Eric Berne in his book ‘What do you say after you say Hello?’ speaks of the difference between taming and training. According to him, training needs to be delivered by a trainer who is one cut above the ones being trained. Training is when an external stimulus demands a response, while tamed individuals carry this stimulus within themselves at all times. A tiger can be made to perform tricks through its master’s command but can never be tamed to behave like a cat.
“The tamest animal of all are human children”. More often than not, low confidence levels and the fear of being judged by peers hinders the process of asking questions in a classroom set-up. It is believed that humans are blessed with the power of invention and asking questions forms the basis of the process of inventing. A parrot can practice the sentence and talk exactly like the master; however, this doesn’t make it intelligent. Children might be able to mug up the right answers without any flaw but if they don’t question, they’ll simply not think of finding answers!
The young curious brain can be trained to learn through asking questions, enjoying the process of arriving at the answers rather than just knowing the right answer. Once the kid understands this, it will tame its thinking process in order to ask questions and learn through them, not just math or science but excel in all kinds of problem solving! Of course this doesn’t happen overnight, but if you find the right mentors, they sure will work their charm!
Is it not the time to get your kid trained?
The curious brain can be trained by asking questions... there has been a lot of research in this aspect. Author Kamala V Mukunda in her book "What did you ask at school today" has beautifully explained this concept of procedural knowledge and skill learning