Interesting post on different learning methods by RadioJois in Collective Chaos mailing group

My name is Suresh Jois. Im new to CC, new to filmmaking but
reasonably well worn in that greatest school and teacher of all -
life. I think one way to illuminate this issue is to begin by making
a distinction between what obtains from "learning", vs. "learning by
being taught."

Anyone can learn anything from any source - a professional teacher,
the rear window, the screen, an ant, the stars, tea leaves,
dreams ...

From all of the above sources, you learn. But from a teacher, you
learn by being explicitly taught by another human being. Because of
this crucial difference between the two types of learning, there are
different affects and effects, on how you learn, the neurological
pathways invoked, the memories formed etc.

Actually beyond these two types, there is a third way - apprenticing
under a master - which I feel offers the best of both, but more on
that some other time ...

Learning and being taught are potentially complementary but NOT
mutually or causally dependent. Both a good student and a good
teacher know the distinction between the two, and know when to
pursue the appropriate activity. Depending on the recipients
personality, he/she can be impacted beneficially or adversely from
either method. It is naively fascist to assert one is
better/mandatory or worse/irrelevant than the other.

So the best way to answer the central question of this thread, is to
ask yourself - HOW is that you learn, and is your personality
amenable to being taught by someone else. IMHO the WHAT part of this
debate is irrelevant, ie, whetner you can learn focus pulling from a
teacher vs. scripting on your own is not the right segmentation or
partitioning of this problem space.

Another question that I think will help a "learner" chose the best
path is - betweem "learning" vs. "being taught," which method sets
you the most free? Which method gives you the most degree of
FREEDOM? Do you express your best only when guided by a teacher, or
you crave the freedom of making any and all mistakes with no one to
constrain you? Maximizing your freedom of expression, rather than
aquisition of knowledge or skill per se, should be the primary
payoff.

Now, from the above general points, here's my own personal
experience which invariably comes down on one side of the issue, but
expectedly so per my above explanation.

If I go back and remember the essence of HOW (and hence what) I
learnt from teachers/instructors, it always turns out that an
essential resonance between their *personality* and mine was key,
not the specific pieces of knowledge or subject they specialized in.
If a teacher had an impactful personality, then the subject he/she
taught would be stored in association with the teacher's personality.

Ive had a mere handful of teachers out of the 100s Ive encountered,
who have been impactful enough that I can attribute specific pieces
of my knowledge to their instruction. My physics teacher was more a
friend, my math teacher spoke more of the valor of conquering
calculus, my English poetry teacher stunningly personified the
romance, passion and beauty she spoke of. And each of these taught
me for just a year each in school.

Most of everthing Ive learnt and applied, ranging from the alphabet
to math to biology to software engg, has been mostly by observation,
reading, association, serendipity, sheer pressure of deadline ...

Even my prospective film "teachers" (of sorts, since I dont attend
any film school) seem to impact me more by their saintly
personalities, than film-making specifics.

Also to an extent, IMHO those that are "prone" to learning ONLY by
being taught, have the risk of becoming inbred, conditioned by and
habituated to that specific portal (teacher or institution) of
knowledge, and its world views, its currency of power, mode of
expression etc. The more complex/subjective/abstract the subject
matter that is learned-by-being-taught, the harder it is to be
chaotically creative!

And a last personal view is that in this era of highly commoditized,
democratized, mass-customized media, everyone can and should be a
spontaneous film-maker, without waiting to be anointed by a course
or teacher. I glimpsed this future unfold, when I handed a camera
phone to my kid niece.

But besides my personal view, based on my earlier more neutral
points, I'd say each unto his/her own.

In other words, an individual can either be a Rumi to his Shams, or
an Ekalavya to a merely nominal Dronacharya.

Let me end with a few quotations, which taken together, express a
good range of views on this issue:

"If you think of learning as a path, you can picture yourself
walking beside her rather than either pushing or dragging or
carrying her along." Polly Berrien Berends. Whole Child/Whole Parent.

"Everybody who is incapable of learning has taken to teaching." -
Oscar Wilde

"Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just
watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a
journey down the water. Through an active, reciprocal exchange,
teaching can strengthen learning how to learn." Loris Malaguzzi
(19201994), Child learning specialist.

"The detour becomes the path" Zen Proverb