n. “The part of the mind below the level of conscious perception.” (http://www.dictionary.com/). Psychologist who study human perception refer to a phenomenon called “habituation”. The basic concept is that when a new object or “stimulus” is introduced to our environment we are intensely aware of it, but the intensity fades over time. For instance, homeowners will generally have a list of repairs or remodeling to do when they first move into a new house because the sight of them is intolerable. Five years later they might have the same list, but the lack of remodeling doesn’t bother them anymore. Or you may begin to wear a new ring and, at first, you feel the new ring on your hand. After a while, however, you don’t even notice that you’re wearing it.
The same experience can happen in education. Students might start out a new academic year with high levels of attention. But over time, even the best of teachers, can be challenged when students become so accustomed to a classroom that the excitement of discovery or revelation diminishes.
This is where a substitute teacher can actually help reignite the fires of learning. By virtue of our own uniqueness, we can “fan-into-flame” the embers of curiosity. In fact, learning can be reinforced when “what” we teach (not necessarily “how” we teach –except when “how” is inherent to a lesson) is consistent with what student’s regular teacher teaches. Our presence can help resurface an interest that may have sunk beneath the threshold of awareness to the subconscious mind through the “habituation” of classroom routine. In what ways have you experienced this in a classroom? How have you leveraged the reality of just being a different adult in front of students to your advantage in the learning process?
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