Page 10 - VIS - Newsletter
P. 10
October/2023
NATURE, OBSERVATION AND THE LEARNING MIND
Little children possess an innate sense of wonder It was a lazy afternoon on a serene hillside.
and curiosity about the world that is delightfully Engulfed in a newfound pastime watching birds,
evident in their open-eyed wonder at seemingly I sighted a magnificent eagle perched on a large,
ordinary things around them. Observation is a wild-Jamun tree overlooking a stream. A bunch of
window to discovery and naturally follows, or is boys had come along with me for the adventure.
followed by, curiosity. This, arguably, is the I trained the spotting-scope on the eagle and
Learning Mind. Over the past 24 years, I have had asked a child, about 10 years old, to look at the
the privilege of observing countless children in eagle. I still recall his astonished tone as he
natural settings, witnessing first-hand how their realized the size of the majestic creature. His
observations have led to moments of pure astonishment was infectious, and soon, a small
cognition, and how their creative ability is group of us stood there, gazing up at the
brought alive by their observations. magnificent creature for almost the entire
afternoon.
The Astonishment of a Child
One of my early experiences of seeing children in A Journey Through the Years
nature was when I witnessed a young child's Over the years, I've had the pleasure of observing
profound reaction to the sight of a Crested- numerous children in various natural settings,
serpent eagle in the Western Ghats while working from lush forests to sandy beaches and swampy
for a rather remarkable, small residential school. mangroves to inter-tidal zones.
