Orality Journal Volume 3, Number 1, 2014 | Page 36

34 Orality Journal, Volume 3, Number 1, 2014

information. The teacher’s role
is directive and rooted in his/her
authority. Assessment is done
through testing with a strong focus
on “the right” answer. Knowledge
is seen as static and learners work
primarily alone.
In the constructivist approach to
teaching/learning, the curriculum
(material to be taught/learned)
emphasizes big concepts,
beginning with the whole and
expanding to include all the
parts. Student questions and
interests are valued and guide
the learning process. Learning
materials are based on real life
(that which can be seen, touched,
etc.) rather than abstract
propositions. Teachers dialogue
with students, helping them to
“construct” knowledge through
discovery, rather than passively
receiving information (i.e., the
teacher’s role is interactive).
In assessment, process is as
important as product and is
carried out in multiple ways such as
observation, interviews, projects,
and tests. Knowledge itself is seen
as ever expanding with experiences,
and the work of learning is typically
done in groups.
For those of us who work crossculturally with oral learners, we

Phil Thornton

must realize that the people with
whom we labor are not blank
slates upon which we will etch
new knowledge. Nor are they less
intellectually capable than their
Western counterparts. (Consider the
highly-developed Inca civilization,
which existed for centuries without
a written language other than the
knotted strings which recorded
numbers.) Rather, they come to
learning situations with already
formulated knowledge, ideas, and
understandings.
While it may not be written down
or much less analyzed, they will
have a well-developed worldview
which explains and integrates the
experiences they face each day.
This previous knowledge is the
raw material with which we must
work. It is the basis (the filter) for
any new knowledge which they
will create from the teaching/
learning process.
For example, the Samburu of Kenya
have a myth which explains how the
Samburu people were first separated
from God when the rope up to the
heavens was cut. Since that time,
according to the myth, the Samburu
have searched for God in the rocks,
trees, rivers, etc. (i.e., animism).
This well-known myth provides
fertile ground for seeing Jesus as
the “rope back to God” (John 14:6).