【正文】
this incident was directly relevant to our assigned tasks in China:[02:]to investigate[02:]the ways of early childhood education (especially in the arts),[03:]and to throw light on Chinese attitudes toward creativity.[03:]And so before long[03:]I began to introduce the keyslot anecdote[03:]into my discussions with Chinese educators.[03:]Two Different Ways to Learn[03:]With a few exceptions[03:]my Chinese colleagues displayed the same attitude[03:]as the staff at the Jinling Hotel.[03:]Since adults know how to place the key in the key slot,[03:]which is the ultimate purpose of approaching the slot,[03:]and since the child is neither old enough nor clever enough[03:]to realize the desired action on his own,[03:]what possible gain is achieved by having him struggle?[03:]He may well get frustrated and angry — certainly not a desirable oute.[03:]Why not show him what to do?[03:]He will be happy,[03:]he will learn how to acplish the task sooner,[03:]and then he can proceed to more plex activities,[04:]like opening the door[04:]or asking for the key — both of which acplishments can[04:](and should) in due course be modeled for him as well.[04:]We listened to such explanations sympathetically[04:]and explained that, first of all,[04:]we did not much care[04:]whether Benjamin succeeded in inserting the key into the slot.[04:]He was having a good time[04:]and was exploring, two activities that did matter to us.[04:]But the critical point was that, in the process,[04:]we were trying to teach Benjamin[04