Learning By Doing
Most people were educated inside a classroom, taught to take in and regurgitate the words and ideas of other people. Most teachers hand out this information from the stability and comfort of a lectern or chair. But, is this the best way to learn?
The renowned Zen teacher, Daisetz T. Suzuki, taught that we should teach by action and learn by doing.¹
Teaching by action and learning by doing means providing a sense of energy and aliveness in education. Bringing information to life through physical practice creates a crossroad where past and present intersect at a point where information is practical and pure.
Teaching by action means we have to step off the lecture stage or get up from our desks and leave the study hall altogether. It means moving beyond talk and into action, into doing, into being. It means closing the books and going out into the world to explore. It is learning through experience and gaining a deep yet practical insight into the heart of the subject matter.
One can read about the way an apple tastes, or one can take a bite out of an apple. The Way is found in taking action, in doing, in being. It is not found in the regurgitation of words and ideas but by getting out of one’s head and into one’s body. It is the physical implementation and practice of current information to create space for discovering something new.
1. Zen and Japanese Culture. Princeton (N.J.), Princeton University Press, 1993, p. 9. We may say this is a practical lesson, teaching by action, learning by doing.
