The Act of Noticing and Naming

Noticing and naming is a central part of being a communicating human being, but it is also crucial to becoming capable in particular activities.

I have always been intrigued when I watch foreign movies and I see how people describe suspects, even little children; you hear things like, caucasian, brown eyes, middle-aged, brown hair, medium built... relating distance, time and space without the aid of any instrument. Then I looked at myself and the Nigerian context and see a huge gap. I could be in a vehicle with a person for hours and not remember the colour of their shirt talkless of what they look like. The big question that comes to mind is, What is it in our formative years that account for this gap in noticing and naming? What is it in their educational curriculum that helps children develop these skills that we are lacking?

Becoming a teacher requires knowing how to tell when learning is going well and when it is not... as teachers, we socialise children's attention to the significant features of literacy and of learning in different domains.

Babies go through the "Wazzis?" (What's this) stage when they discover that things have consistent names. (Of course, they are also learning to take control of social interactions by asking questions - and learning the fun of doing so). Through the formative years of the children we teach, we need to be more deliberate about helping our students notice and name things... "this knowledge actually influences their perceptual systems" (Harre and Gillet 1994 paraphrased).

As teachers, it is our responsibilities to help children notice these things. We can't notice everything, though, and teachers help mediate what is worth noticing and why. This responsibility is worth sharing. Who better to assist than the children themselves? The more they notice and bring to the class's attention the better,and the less the teacher needs to wear the mantle of the one-who-says-what's-important.

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