Education and discipling in a performance-based or rote learning context

Interpretive context

The interpretive context is the setting for the learning, providing the frame in which modeling, practice, and performance occur, and sets the context for the final stage, evaluation. Knowledge is situated, meaning it belongs in a specific setting or context, and has its own practical purpose. Knowledge is concrete rather than theoretical.

One beautiful sunny morning, I walked with Bishal (cultural broker and translator) to a nearby village to interview a local goldsmith. Rajendra is a middle-aged man with fat cheeks and a lined forehead, dressed in work-worn shirt and trousers. As I observed him sitting on a chair at the front of his shophouse, I noticed he was fashioning a piece of silver. There were three young lads performing a variety of small tasks squatted below him on the dusty workroom floor. One was making what looked like small silver logs with balls at either end; another was beating a small strip piece of silver, making it thinner. During our interview, I noticed that Rajendra continued performing his own work and wasn’t observing what the lads were doing:

I learnt from my relative. He had a gold shop and I was interested to learn. I went there to work with him. He taught me while working. He inspired me to do this work . . . My apprentices make different parts and then join them. We don’t have machines, frames, molds, or other equipment in Nepal. We make jewelry by hand . . . Some are solid and some are hollow. Wax is put inside if they are hollow, otherwise the jewelry would be very weak. (Rajendra)

Both space and time frame the context of learning traditional skills. In Tansen, trades and sweets-making are learned in the home-shop, rice planting in the fields, temple puja in the temple, milling at the local mill, weaving at the dhaka factory, and housework in the home. For trades, learning occurred during daylight hours, six days a week. The cooking of festival foods and rice planting are learnt at specific times of the year, determined by the season or lunar calendar.

The church in Tansen also frames the learning performance of skills in real-life contexts. Young Christians learn songs and how to pray during church services, prayer meetings, and didi-bahini sangatis. Women learn to recite memory verses at didi-bahini sangatis. Discipleship through informal sharing of life and studying God’s word, as well as praying with mentors, often occurred in the mentor’s home, in a similar style to traditional Hindu gurus.

In the evenings I learned from my seniors, my parents and my older brother who is not a blood relation. Most of the time I stayed with him and slept in his home . . . He guided me about spiritual faith. (Min)

When I was young, I went to my elder sister and aunties from the church (not blood relatives) and prayed and studied the Word of God with them . . . I learned how to become a strong disciple through them. (Devi)

Within the various interpretive contexts, younger ones can watch and learn as elders naturally model what they know.

Modeling/observation

The expert trainer provides the model against which the performance will be evaluated, and the learner observes how to perform the task required. The learner works alongside the expert trainer as they demonstrate the task being performed. How well the learners have observed the expert is evidenced in the next two stages, practice and performance.

In the traditional context, every interviewee reported the use of modeling and observation:

Since we are village people, we need to work when we are small. When I was 8 years old, I began to plant rice with my grandmother and mother. As they were working, I worked together with them. This is the way I learnt . . .

Before rice planting in the month of Jet [May], we needed to make a nursery . . . First, we put the seed in a small plot. Five weeks later, we planted [the seedlings] but before that, we ploughed and added compost. With irrigation we made watery mud, ploughing with oxen, making borders so that the water stands. In Nepal, the most difficult work is rice planting. Since the production is so difficult, we say “do not waste the rice.” It is very difficult work. We work in the hot sun and heavy rain. In my opinion there is no formal way of teaching this skill. The juniors learn by seeing. They go to work with their parents in the field and they see and learn. (Bashal)

I worked with my father [a carpenter] when I was small and watched him and learnt from him. Then I came to the bazaar where there was a senior carpenter and I learnt from him . . . While learning continuously, I came to this position. I now have this ability . . . I teach [my son] during the work by demonstrating. (Ram)

In the beginning, I went to the temple and I watched other people worshipping, including my didi [older sister] . . . and the pujari [priest]. The pujari said, “do it this way and that way.”. . . I haven’t gone to listen to teaching of Hindu scholars . . . I went to the temple to learn how to do puja. I learned from observing. (Pushba)

The Nepali-led church leader interviewees also spoke of young Christians observing their seniors and then copying them:

By praying in pairs [during prayer meetings], new members can listen to their seniors pray . . . and join in when they are comfortable. (Archana)

I think it is important that our lives are an example. New members can study the Bible, but our life is the fifth Gospel . . . They can see, you know. (Pratitcha)

Modeling alone is not enough. Concurring and future practice of new skills is vital in leading to a successful performance.

Practice

If the context permits it, the trainee practices until they are able to give a competent performance. Practice may involve multiple repetitions, with or without specific critique. Practice focuses on memorization and reproduction, not interpretation or expression.

I learnt [to be a brass-founder] by practicing a lot. At the beginning it was very difficult but after practicing, it became easier. [Indra]

I had to practice a lot before I could make jeris [deep-fried sweets]. [Khila]

My older brother [a Brahmin Hindu astrologer] learnt religious texts by chanting. [Bishnu]

Memorization of Bible verses through repetitious recitation was reported as common in the church, mirroring traditional Hindu practices. Performance of Bible verse recitation was observed at all three didi-bahini sangatis, as well as by children during a visit to one church member’s home. I also observed that singing songs from memory was widespread in church gatherings.

Memorization is practiced widely in the church. (Ganga)

Memorization of Bible verses is encouraged, but is not compulsory . . . I wish it was. It is compulsory for Sunday-school children. I think that’s really good. (Ravi)

One day I walked with friends to a didi-bahini sangati, enjoying glorious views of the Himals. After passing the pipal (a sacred fig tree), we came to our hostess’s two-room house, easily identified by the rows of shoes outside the door. As we entered a small dark crowded room, I observed older women sitting on two single beds and younger women with children on the floor. Rays of sunlight stretched across the room, entering through a small window. The mud and cow-dung plastered floor was covered by a tattered rug and hessian sacks. Posters decorated the walls, including one of Jesus, in a similar style to pictures of Hindu gods I had seen in other houses.

We began the sangati by singing songs from memory and then we were asked to recite the memory verse we had been allocated the week before. Maya, our leader, asked a few women to take turns reading Proverbs 5 aloud. Then she turned to me and said, “Not everyone can read.” Next, Maya preached from the passage. She allocated single consecutive verses from a psalm to us, for memorization and recitation at our next meeting. Following this prayer points were shared, starting with the oldest lady, and then we all prayed aloud in Nepali at the same time, as is customary. Lastly, everyone chatted as the hostess and another lady bustled around preparing and serving delicious chiya (sweet milky tea), chukauni (potato yoghurt salad), and roti (flat bread) prepared at a kerosene stove in the next room.

The practice of setting of memorization of Bible verses as homework by the didi-bahini sangati leaders enables participation by those of various reading abilities. Those women with poor fluency could listen to memory verses read and recited by others.

The next natural step in this pedagogy is performance, the goal of learning.

Performance

The trainee needs to perform what they are learning to do, reproducing it just as they observed or received it. Trainees repeat the performance until it is satisfactory. For trade apprentices and others making specific items, such as jewelry, clothes, roti, sweets, and dhaka cloth, learning skills were evident in the production of these items in the same form as the master:

My senior worked and I watched how he was doing the work. Then I sat aside and began to copy his work. (Rajendra)

I learned to clean the aagan [yard/courtyard immediately outside a traditional house] and put things in their proper place . . . When I made a mistake, my senior asked me to do it again and I repeated it. . . After [my mother] had demonstrated [refining flour using the nanglo, a large woven plate], she allowed me to do it. Then I tried and if I did it wrong, she again took over and then showed me again and so I learned it that way. I needed to repeat. She sat together with me and taught me in this way. (Laxmi)

Interviewees reported that religious songs are performed (from memory) at festivals, weddings, and daily worship, and have been used for news distribution. I also observed several groups of children and women thoroughly enjoying singing the Desui Bhailo (religious) song to appreciative audiences on the streets during Tihar (festival).

[As Hindus,] we sing religious songs when we worship . . . in the temple or in the worship room [at home]. (Dahal)

Traditionally Gaines [Nepali musical caste] were traveling messengers who visited homes across a large area, in order to communicate news via singing. They spread news about wars, floods, landslides, or an imminent visit from the king. They also taught history [about the gods] by singing poems as they went from home to home. (Bishnu)

Similarly, the recitation of Bible memory verses at the didi-bahini sangati each week had all the hallmarks of a performance. For those reciting memory verses, the aim of recitation each week seemed to be to perform competently, both for evaluation by the leader and as a way of displaying what they had acquired. Since single consecutive verses were memorized and recited by different women, the integrated meaning of the whole text belonged within the group rather than with individuals.

As in any learning, evaluation which follows the performance is instrumental in moving forward in ever-increasing skill learning.

Evaluation

Evaluation is conducted by the senior, or expert, trainer who evaluates the performance and gives feedback on how closely it approximates the model. A good performance is measured against the reproduction of the senior’s work, rather than on individual interpretation or expression. An inadequate performance, or one containing mistakes, occasions a further demonstration.

To [learn to] plaster the house floor with [a mixture of mud and cow-dung], my mother showed me how to do it . . . When I did it, it was very bad . . . Then she demonstrated again how to do it, and after that, I got it right. (Jwala)

Sometimes [brass] items were spoiled or broke. Then my father taught me . . . by another demonstration. (Indra)

The seniors who evaluate the performance may not explicitly say that the learner’s performance is inadequate. Indirect speech is more common in many cultures where preserving someone’s “face,” and thus preserving a relationship, is paramount. The learner knows their performance is inadequate simply because it is implied by the request to repeat it.

In the church, Bible memorization is evaluated in terms of the accuracy of the reproduction of the Bible verse during recitation each week at the didi-bahini sangati. Evaluation is undertaken both by the senior who allocated the verses, and the rest of the group listening. The latter adds weight to the evaluation.

Interestingly, innovation was not part of Dale’s framework but it appeared in a few contexts.

Innovation

Innovations, or variations, were not evidenced in traditional teaching and learning contexts, except that apprentices might go to work under new masters to learn skills that their previous master did not perform.

Sometimes, you move to another goldsmith’s shop to learn the skills not available in the shop you’re currently working in. (Rajendra)

In order to become a very skilled tailor, I went abroad to Bombay and worked there for five years. (Khim)

There was evidence of innovation from traditional teaching and learning patterns in the church. Preaching was observed at every church gathering, in contrast to traditional practices that do not seem to utilize much lecturing or preaching. Sometimes innovations take time to be embraced; one interviewee spoke of learning how to concentrate during sermons and finding it difficult in the beginning. Reading the Bible and tracts was observed and reported by a number of church interviewees, also in contrast to traditional practices, where reading of Hindu scriptures was reported as unusual by traditional community interviewees. The use of testimonies was observed and reported by one interviewee:

Sometimes, I use my own experiences, like for example . . . I share my testimony . . . I tell them my story . . . I share how my parents said, “It’s OK for you to be Christian, to believe in Jesus, but you should marry a high caste girl, you should not eat beef . . .” I know that this issue is still the main concern today for many people whether they are Brahmin or other castes. And so, I try to relate to that . . . I just give that example from my experience . . . In sangati I use . . . stories from the Bible . . . to tell about Jesus. (Ravi)

Importance of interpretive context

Instruction can be framed by setting learning as much as possible within the context in which it is to be performed, rather than teaching abstract principles. For example, young Christians can be taught to lead Bible studies during Bible studies, rather than by teaching them the theory via a book or in the classroom, requiring transference. Transference is the process of recognizing what has been learned in one context and applying and extending that learning into another context (Haskell, 2001: xix). In this case, transference is required from the abstract principles taught in the classroom context to the performance context of the Bible study itself. This can be challenging for oral learners.

In contemporary missiology there has been a growing focus on oral methods of learning, significant not only in contexts of low literacy, but also reflecting peoples’ learning preferences more widely. Oral learners tend to solve problems in more concrete ways, while print learners, who focus on the written word, tend to see and solve problems in more abstract ways (Moon, 2013: 148–49). When Western methods are used, abstract problem-solving skills are required.

Oral learners favor learning in real-life contexts and can, in fact, learn abstract principles through this means. Lingenfelter and Lingenfelter (2003: 41) suggest that the ability to apply principles across different contexts may be gained by using “repetition, teaching the same content in as many different contexts as possible . . . until the process or the principle is internalized by the students.”

Modeling, observation, and practice can also assist learners to transfer knowledge from the concrete world to the abstract world; step-by-step learners “see” what they may not have “seen” during a theoretical training course.

Effective use of modeling, observation, and practice

Modeling that is accompanied by analysis and discussion can be an effective method of training. First, the trainer models the skill or lesson. Then the trainer goes through the modeled skill with the trainees, asking “What did I do first? Why? . . . What did I do then? Why do you think I did that?,” and so on through to the end. If this is followed by encouraging trainees to model or microteach in their turn, the training gains immediate traction. This kind of discussion and explanation is gaining attention in education as a means of building theory and strategy.

Lingenfelter and Lingenfelter (2003: 45) describe a cross-cultural trainer using principles to explain a new teaching method to a local teacher, who then failed to apply it in their classroom. Later, the new method was modeled by the cross-cultural trainer and then immediately practiced by the local teacher, who then did apply it in their classroom. When the local teacher “had observed a demonstration and had replicated it in a practice session” they were able to put the principles explained to them into practice.

Setting up performances and evaluation, can also be used effectively for teaching and learning.

Performance and evaluation

Oral learning focuses on performance, making use of performances, and associated evaluation, worthwhile in many oral-preferenced learning contexts. Possible performances include the memorization and recitation of Bible verses. For example, in African American churches, use of memorization and repetition was part of more overt performative practices such as doing speeches, participating in dramatic skits, and oral retelling (Edwards and McMillon, 2007).

Questions

Meaning-based pedagogies often make use of questions to build understanding. A Southeast Asian colleague noted that in performance-based pedagogies, students asking questions are not always seen as positive. Student-initiated questions may imply that the student does not know, which makes them look stupid. As Confucius wrote, “He who knows, does not speak, he who speaks, does not know” (Nisbett 2003: 211). Alternatively, questions can risk asking something that the teacher is not able to answer, which is seen as challenging and shameful for them. In many cultures, children are trained to observe rather than ask questions of their elders.

Teacher-initiated questions of students, even open ones, may also be threatening. We need to explore the cultural values and differences around asking questions in the context in which we are working, including values of different-age interactions, disrespect, taboos on particular questions, where direct questions are seen to pose a threat, as well as what constitutes a personal question.

In performance-based learning contexts, questions written on paper may be brought to the teacher, which means the questioner remains anonymous, and gives the teacher a choice about which questions they respond to. Other possibilities include: The use of rhetorical questions, where learners can consider the teacher’s question without having to produce a “right” answer for the teacher, or the use of stories, where important questions, such as those involving ethics or emotions, can be asked indirectly (Lingenfelter and Lingenfelter 2003: 40–41). Group learning offers the possibility of asking questions of the group.

Mistakes

We may also find students uncomfortable with making “mistakes.” In performance-based pedagogies, which focus on “otherness,” difference, and deficiency, mistakes are a blemish in the correct performance of the model. Dale (personal correspondence, 2019) notes, “In the classroom, I have seen a page with mistakes torn out of the student’s book so that the book remains an exemplary model.” Learners are assessed, not on what they have learned, but on how much they have fallen short of correct performance.

Cheating

What defines cheating is also culturally determined. In a performance-based pedagogy, getting help from others is viewed less as an attempt to “cheat” the evaluator, but rather as a prompt from the sidelines to enable a correct performance. It draws on the communal nature of many rote-learning societies, avoiding bringing shame on the trainee, trainer, or the institution in which they are learning, seeking to achieve a good performance that will bring credit to both the learner and the teacher.

Innovation

In some performance-based learning contexts, innovation has a place: but only after the correct performance, based on the expert trainer’s model, has been mastered. Innovation may not be seen as desirable early on in traditional patterns of learning and teaching. Apprentices changing designs may challenge the authority of their master. It seems important to get traditional patterns right to reflect the master’s authority and faithfulness in transmission: to make sure you know the tradition before you innovate or play with it. Bird (personal correspondence, 2021), an experienced surgical trainer, notes “this also reflects the practice of surgical trainees worldwide who firstly observe and master their seniors’ skills before embarking on new, complex or innovative procedures.” When the student is able to demonstrate mastery of a technique, they may be able to develop innovations.

The presence of a significant use of preaching and reading, as well as less evidence of narrative, drama, and visual arts, suggests an evolution of pedagogies within the church, perhaps learnt as innovations from early Western missionaries amongst the Nepali diaspora prior to Nepal opening up in 1951 (Kehrberg, 2000: 92–99; Barclay, 2009: 189–90; Rongong, 2012: 46). Since narrative, drama, and the visual arts are used in traditional patterns of learning that seem significant in traditional religious contexts, they may provide further fruitful opportunities for innovation in the church. A related example comes from Conquergood, a young ethnographer who used traditional pedagogical practices in an environmental health program in the Hmong refugee camps in Cambodia (Fadiman, 1997: 36):

Conquergood’s first challenge came after an outbreak of rabies among the camp dogs prompted a mass dog-vaccination campaign by the medical staff, during which the Ban Vinai inhabitants failed to bring in a single dog to be inoculated. Conquergood was asked to come up with a new campaign. He decided on a Rabies Parade, a procession led by three important characters from Hmong folktales—a tiger, a chicken, and a dab [spirit]—dressed in home-made costumes. The cast, like its audience, was 100% Hmong. As the parade snaked through the camp, the tiger danced and played the qeej [a highly esteemed musical instrument], the dab sang and banged a drum, and the chicken (chosen for this crucial role because of its traditional powers of augury) explained the etiology of rabies through a bullhorn. The next morning, the vaccination stations were so besieged by dogs—dogs carried in their owners’ arms, dogs dragged on rope leashes, dogs rolled in on two-wheeled pushcarts—that the health workers could hardly inoculate them fast enough.

In the Gospels we see how Jesus used traditional methods of teaching through stories to help his disciples to reflect on alternative understandings of faith and life, ending most of his stories with a question instead of a moral.