I get a little rush of blood to the head on Tuesdays. Tuesdays is the day I submit my weekly assignment. It isn't critical that I do that. It could be Wednesday or Thursday for this particular tutor. He's not that fussed, but it works for me to keep to my old deadline from last semester. I need order. Who would have guessed?!
And, it is also an exciting moment to press that "submit" button because I can file away all those articles and documents and feel that I have a little time to myself; maybe only a minute or two, but long enough to venture over here and type away without a strict agenda. I need order but I also need creativity, you see.
So, this is what is on my mind. It occurred to me, via a response to one of the questions of my questionnaire that I think I finally have this notion of "training" figured out. The person answering the question wrote that in the early days he needed to be strict and didactic with his submissive but once he had her operating as he wanted her to do he could relax his approach; words to that effect.
As I was writing my response to the module just now I realized that my current tutor did exactly the same thing with us! At first, he picked us up on every last little mistake. He told me I had misused a comma! He noted every last tiny little mistake in a 1000 words response. There was the odd use of the word "good" but at first it was all about what we did wrong rather than what we did right. I, for one, took umbrance at his approach and made it my mission in life to show him that I could do things excellently. Over time, the tutorial responses to my work became much better until last week they were simply glowing; or as close to glowing as I think this particular man will ever get!
So, that's the deal!! Get them trained according to your rules, regulations and wants and then sit back and enjoy watching the show. Gotcha.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Vesta,
ReplyDeleteAs you and I shared through conversation, for me this is just a basic case of classical conditioning. I am certain there would be many people who would disagree but for me I feel this is true.
Anytime one is learning something new, I believe strict rules, guidelines and expectations must be set. This of course sets "the bar" and once a person has proven that tasks and behaviours are maintained in the fashion desired then the one teaching can relax the reins, because, well the student, the pupil no longer is learning, now he or she is maintaining.
I would guess that this approach does not work for everyone. I for one thrive on this module of learning but others most likely need a gentler approach.
I am happy you are finished your assignment because I do so enjoy your writings.
xx
~a
goodgirl: I don't know too much about classical conditioning. I've got some vague understanding of it and one child did psychology at school and I read his textbook a little. But, as I like to say, sometimes when you are in the forest all you can see are trees. I didn't really take in what was happening until it had happened.
ReplyDeleteI think I must thrive on that sort of training myself (given the right person doing the training), but not in the moment. Maybe it is that old sense of pride of mine and it is pretty uncomfortable for me to not impress. It definitely makes me want to 'up
my game'.
I imagine it wouldn't work for everybody but in this case, we have no doubt who is the boss and unless we conform he will keep correcting the errors and who wants that?
But, I am intrigued as to how some people have that sort of personality (and I only know him through his words and a photograph and bio) where one does want to impress them. It actually happens very rarely to me that I feel that sort of pressure (that comes from within me) to impress someone. In the main, I am not too ooncerned what people think of me or my abilities.
Vesta,
ReplyDeleteInteresting sentence, "where one does want to impress them". I have thought about this long and hard and the truth is the person I am trying to impress is myself. I am competitive with me more than any other person I could compete with. When someone sets the standards I want to exceed them because I want to prove to myself that I can achieve anything, do everything and manage to do it better than ever expected of me.
As for classical conditioning, I would have to say you thrive on it, from all you have shared with me and all I have learned of you. It is a basic way of learning, of conditioning an expected behaviour and continuing said behaviour no matter what.
Learning is a fascinating mental instrument - I will always be in awe of all we all process it.
:)
~a