great minds think alike, and other cliches
As I was writing up my notes on Quiller-Couch's Art of Writing I noticed a number of quotes that were echoed in Smith's research.
man at best is a narrow-mouthed bottle
and
you can hardly reconcile learning with compulsion, and still more hardly force them to be compatibles
I find it fascinating that Q-C and Smith, who address such different audiences, both strike upon these two ideas. Students cannot be coerced and can only hold so much information at once.
However, I do not think Q-C, and certainly not Smith, would ever argue that this means learning should slow down. Instead, instruction must be smooth, and it must be clear to the student (and hopefully to the teacher!) that each element follows in sequence, one after the other, smooth as water flowing into a bottle. With a clear consistent plan and the agreement of the students (the lack of compulsion for Q-C and the avoidance of boredom from Smith) learning becomes a community, and succesful, process.
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