DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21216#0149
show her my projects. She always appreciated everything. I didn't realize
until now the creativity that was let out of chains when Mother gave me that
year of freedom. (p. 27-28)
Not a balanced curriculum, Biology is in overabundance and reading and writing
are not mentioned at all. Not suitable for comprehension tests. But nevertheless
learning. And learning that is vividly remembered. A lot of the activity is tied up
with Baez' talent at graphic arts. She draws what she sees, and in so doing studies
the object before her. Here she is free to follow her own wishes. She has her
projects. And she must not sacrifice the comfort of home to do them. Her
mother is accepting, and Baez does not have to share her with anyone. Baez does
not mention why she alone was allowed not to go to school. There is no fear
(although there is an objectively dangerous Situation with the scorpions). There
is no competition, for there is no one to compete with (but there is challenge,
e.g. finding the queen ant). Baez is not an outsider because she is the center of
attention when she shows her mother her projects. The impression, however, is
that the motivation for the projects was more on the order of fasination with the
phenomonon at hand, or the desire to exercise her talents at drawing, rather
than a wish simply to produce to please her mother. The entire experience is
seen, however, as the result of the Mother's giving her that year of freedom. Any
role that her Father might have played in the decision is not mentioned. Only his
commissioning her to do drawings is refered to. But Baez' Mother is not depicted
as a teacher, in the sense of someone who taught Baez how to execute her
projects, but rather as a gentle motivator, a source of encouragement. Baez does
the learning for, and by, herseif, presenting her mother with the finished (?)
product. At least, this is how she recounts the experience. Her mother arranged
for a setting in which Baez could be actively engaged in learning, where what
she learned or did produced results. In one example, her work found use in the
grown-up world of the university. There is nowhere the idea that her projects
are important because of what they might teach her that could be useful later
in life. Their justification is that she is interested in those things at the moment
and is finding out about the world around her at the moment. The ruling mode
is thus the present tense.
This example of lively learning is followed immediately by Baez' account of
the three months in which she was very ill from Hepatitis. Just as her mother
knew how to encourage her daughter in her forays into the world of nature, so
144
until now the creativity that was let out of chains when Mother gave me that
year of freedom. (p. 27-28)
Not a balanced curriculum, Biology is in overabundance and reading and writing
are not mentioned at all. Not suitable for comprehension tests. But nevertheless
learning. And learning that is vividly remembered. A lot of the activity is tied up
with Baez' talent at graphic arts. She draws what she sees, and in so doing studies
the object before her. Here she is free to follow her own wishes. She has her
projects. And she must not sacrifice the comfort of home to do them. Her
mother is accepting, and Baez does not have to share her with anyone. Baez does
not mention why she alone was allowed not to go to school. There is no fear
(although there is an objectively dangerous Situation with the scorpions). There
is no competition, for there is no one to compete with (but there is challenge,
e.g. finding the queen ant). Baez is not an outsider because she is the center of
attention when she shows her mother her projects. The impression, however, is
that the motivation for the projects was more on the order of fasination with the
phenomonon at hand, or the desire to exercise her talents at drawing, rather
than a wish simply to produce to please her mother. The entire experience is
seen, however, as the result of the Mother's giving her that year of freedom. Any
role that her Father might have played in the decision is not mentioned. Only his
commissioning her to do drawings is refered to. But Baez' Mother is not depicted
as a teacher, in the sense of someone who taught Baez how to execute her
projects, but rather as a gentle motivator, a source of encouragement. Baez does
the learning for, and by, herseif, presenting her mother with the finished (?)
product. At least, this is how she recounts the experience. Her mother arranged
for a setting in which Baez could be actively engaged in learning, where what
she learned or did produced results. In one example, her work found use in the
grown-up world of the university. There is nowhere the idea that her projects
are important because of what they might teach her that could be useful later
in life. Their justification is that she is interested in those things at the moment
and is finding out about the world around her at the moment. The ruling mode
is thus the present tense.
This example of lively learning is followed immediately by Baez' account of
the three months in which she was very ill from Hepatitis. Just as her mother
knew how to encourage her daughter in her forays into the world of nature, so
144