HABITS OF MIND
Gathering data through all senses
“If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words, the arts of painting and music would not exist.” - John Dewey
Most linguistic, cultural and physical learning is derived from the environment by observing or taking in through the senses. Sometimes children are afraid to get their hands “dirty” or feel an object that might be “slimy” or “icky” – operating within a narrow range of sensory problem solving strategies, wanting only to “describe it but not illustrate or act it,” or “listen but not participate.” Those whose sensory pathways are open, alert and acute absorb more information from the environment than those whose pathways are immune or oblivious to sensory stimuli.
Common language for this habit includes hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, engaged and hands-on.