Curiosity, Connection And Learning: A Developmental Perspective On The Art Of Learning

A child’s sense of self develops in relationship with the environment: interacting, sensing, moving, responding & engaging with people, objects, the ground, and the field of gravity. As a Feldenkrais® and Anat Baniel Method® practitioner, when I work with children I try to create conditions that support their innate capacity to learn. The video below is from 2019, and is one example of how this can look. It shows an individual lesson, what Feldenkrais practitioners call Functional Integration®. The principles I discuss in the video apply to how both children and adults develop through relationships, and how we can create experiences and environments that are better suited for learning.

In the video you will see that my client and I are in a playful and attuned dance. There is humor, listening and responding, moments of peekaboo, laughter, and rich attention to the process of moving together. The lesson begins in a position that feels comfortable and familiar to her. She is at ease and feels safe. When I touch her my intention is to help her to sense herself, as she is. I’m not imposing, correcting, or trying to change her.  I help support the weight of her head, arms and chest. This reduces the muscular effort she’s using to counter gravity, and helps her to sense herself with more nuance and subtlety. In the narration I highlight some of the key elements of the interaction that support learning. These include: curiosity, connection, attention, reversibility, variation, rest, and acceptance.

I hope the video and commentary give you a better understanding of how some of the ideas underlying the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education can be applied with children, and how an interaction based on these principles might unfold. No two lessons will look the same, because the process grows out of a responsive “movement conversation” between two people. 

Notice what you sense in yourself as you watch and listen. How is what you see and hear different from, or perhaps similar to, other kinds of learning interventions, including those for children with special needs?