"Piano Ability is Life Ability"

“I want - if I can - to get education changed from mere instruction to education in the real sense of the word - education that inculcates, brings out, develops the human potential, based on the growing life of the child. That is why I am devoting my efforts to furthering Talent Education: what a child becomes depends entirely on how he is educated. My prayer is that all children on this globe may become fine human beings, happy people of superior ability, and I am devoting all my energies to making this come about, for I am convinced that all children are born with this potential.”
Dr. Suzuki

Core Education

Following is a short outline of the principles I am developing and will be writing on through my blog and integrating into this research. I am very interested in having comments on these ideas. Please respond through my blog under the label “core education”.

Core Education is the development of the framework or “intelligence” upon which all learning occurs. Core Education promotes the growth of this organizational capacity upon which learning takes place and understanding and awareness are built.

Core Education is learning how to learn. It is the development of life ability. Life ability forms the macrocosm of how we live, interact, create, adapt, and grow. It is based on Dr. Suzuki and Dr. Kataoka’s principles of Talent Education and learning through the senses. It is evolving from my own research, introspection, and perceptions from living, breathing, and teaching Suzuki piano over many years as well as my life experience raising two children. I have not invented anything new, but am seeking to identify that which already is.

Principles:

1. Life Ability
Core Education develops life ability- the ability to live life optimally.

2. Natural Learning
Core Education utilizes and preserves natural learning, which is direct learning from the environment.

3. Whole Learning
Children learn through absorption of the total environment rather than part by part. This is sometimes called ”right-brain learning” Whole learning is a better way to describe this absorption as it involves both the right brain (learning through the senses/intuition and left brain (analytical) types of learning working together.

4. Integral Learning
Core learning involves recognition and support for the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of development in combination with mental/cognitive learning to form life abilities.

5. Ability Development: Pattern recognition and the forming of relationships between these patterns can be developed through repetition for optimum learning. This then includes physical ability, mental/memory, emotional balance and spiritual development as well. This is the balancing concept of whole learning and involves understanding of learning in relationship to sequencing and the development of ability through the acquisition of foundation skills.

6. The core focus principle of nurturing: This principle is that the most fundamental aspect in a child’s learning must always be addressed rather than focusing on the content of what is being learned. It is finding the core aspect of the process that will produce the easiest and quickest way to learn. It is closely connected to Ability Development.

7. Positive affirmation
Core education involves affirmation as a critical component of feedback for the child. Using verbal acknowledgement of that which is correct will accelerate learning. It is not a judgment such as good or bad, but is a positive statement of fact to the child about how they are learning.

Through understanding and applying these principles teachers and parents can recreate the concept of education from the learning of content to the development of life ability.