Mind the gap

We had a very knowledgeable visitor today talking about ecology and conservation. We arranged close interaction of my students with the speaker. There was a lot to hear and learnt from the speaker. I played the role of observer, and what I saw disturbed me.

About five minutes into the interaction, groups of students had already got decoupled from the talk. Only when some fancy slide was shown or cool name was heard that they seemed to focus for a second. A wide gap opened between the speaker and children. And this was not because of the difference in their technical levels. There seems lack of listening with a purpose and intent. The attitude seems to be - If it ain't super exciting, it's not worth listening.

In todays world there is so much to learn and so many exciting people to meet. How much you know is no more limited by availability of knowledge or opportunities. It is mainly determined by how much you can take-in. Some children seem to have stopped listening. Only bright eye-candies can get them to focus. What fraction of the things we hear do we internalize ? very little for some children.

This was a stark example of how wide and damaging is the gap between speakers and todays young listeners. Really sad.