Chapter One: Introduction Watch out for the grasshoppers! Those amongst us, of a certain age, may remember the 1970s ‘vintage’ ‘Kung Fu’ film, featuring the Master Shaolin monk and his apprentice, Caine. In a classic scene, after having defeated the boy in combat, there follows an exchange during which Master Po asks his young charge to close his eyes, to listen and to tell him what he hears. Somewhat puzzled, the young Caine lists the obvious things the water and the birds. Master Po asks you – “Do hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?” and in response the boy opens his eyes, looks down and sees the insect: man, how is it that you hear these “Old things?” To which Master Po replies: man, how is it that you do not?” “Young So, what has a grasshopper and a 1970s martial arts cult series got to do with learner voice and the development of the expert learner? Set in a Shaolin temple, where apprentices study in the shadows of their masters listening, – learning, practising, assimilating and eventually accommodating skills and knowledge into their own practice our attention is drawn not only to the – need to develop of a subject, but also to develop the ability to listen. ‘mastery’ The simply represents how easy it is to miss something which ‘grasshopper’ is frequently present, but all too easy to overlook perhaps because of its – ubiquitous nature: from my perspective, this is the learner voice. This chapter forms the first steps along this road to by ‘enlightenment’ reconsidering where the interest in this subject first started: with the Literature Review (Appendix One) and those initial research questions around Learner
Chapter One: Introduction Watch out for the grasshoppers! Those amongst us, of a certain ‘vintage’ age, may remember the 1970s ‘Kung Fu’ film, featuring the Master Shaolin monk and his apprentice, Caine. In a classic scene, after having defeated the boy in combat, there follows an exchange during which Master Po asks his young charge to close his eyes, to listen and to tell him what he hears. Somewhat puzzled, the young Caine lists the obvious things – the water and the birds. Master Po asks “Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?” and in response the boy opens his eyes, looks down and sees the insect: “Old man, how is it that you hear these things?” To which Master Po replies: “Young man, how is it that you do not?” So, what has a grasshopper and a 1970s martial arts cult series got to do with learner voice and the development of the expert learner? Set in a Shaolin temple, where apprentices study in the shadows of their masters – listening, learning, practising, assimilating and eventually accommodating skills and knowledge into their own practice – our attention is drawn not only to the need to develop ‘mastery’ of a subject, but also to develop the ability to listen. The ‘grasshopper’ simply represents how easy it is to miss something which is frequently present, but all too easy to overlook – perhaps because of its ubiquitous nature: from my perspective, this is the learner voice. This chapter forms the first steps along this road to ‘enlightenment’ by reconsidering where the interest in this subject first started: with the Literature Review (Appendix One) and those initial research questions around Learner
Observations_a%20vehicle%20for%20enabling%20learner%20voice%20and%20developing%20expert%20learners.docx