1st October 2010
`The Map is Not the Territory'
This is a very powerful presupposition. We have certain impressions and opinions in our mind. We consider them to be true and interpret all our experiences that we go through in our life. Let us compare this with a map of a territory we want to explore. If we read the map, it gives some information about the territory. We may not know is the information contained are true and correct representation of the actual territory. Once we believe them to be true, then all our actions follow automatically.
For example for thousands of years people believed that the world was flat until Galileo questioned the belief. As long as believed that the world was flat, all our actions and plans would have naturally flowed from this belief. Once we started believing that the opposite is true, don't we change our course of action?
We try to understand children and we understand them in a particular way, based on our limited interactions and observations. We may be right or wrong. But as long as we honestly believe that we are right, we will not change the actions that follow our belief system.
Here's an example from a classroom.
A first standard teacher wrote a note in the school diary of a child asking the mother to meet her the next day. The anxious mother asked the child what `mischief' the child did in the classroom for the teacher to call her to the school. The child denied having done any mischief. The angry parent punished the child by canning. The child came crying to the teacher the next day sincerely asking what mischief she did for the teacher to call the parent! It turned out that the teacher actually called the parent to convey her appreciation for the wonderful performance of the child in the classroom!
After all `the map is not the territory'! In the mental map of the parent, the only reason why she was called to the school was for a possible mischief by her child!
N C Sridharan and Radha Sridharan
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