The 7 laws OR Conditions sine qua non
These seven laws are conditions sine qua non for the application of Suggestopedia/Reservopedia.
They are:
- LOVE
The teacher`s love to the learners can be best illustrated by means of the metaphor of a mother or father teaching their children how to ride a bicycle without the child being able to tell at each moment whether the parent is holding the bicycle from behind or not.
This metaphor illustrates the quality of the psychological relationship between teacher and learner which is much like the relationship of mother to child. The example of the bicycle is used here to emphasize the aspect of LOVE, the caring and loving support of the teacher to the learners, to whom it is most welcome just because it is tenderly offered and not imposed upon them. Thus they are feeling secure.
- FREEDOM
Freedom in this context means not being dictated by the teacher, it is a spontaneous feeling in the student that they do not obey the methodology but are free to enjoy it and give personal expression in accordance with their personal traits, i.e. Reservopedia is not an imposition; on the contrary, it is opening the door to personal expression.
CONVICTION IN THE RESERVE CAPACITIES
The teacher’s expectations are both about his/her own ability to activate the reserve capacities of the learners as well as about the learner’s ability to learn at the level of the reserves. These expectations can be felt by the learners through the peripheral perceptions and unconscious signals arising from the teacher’s voice, facial expression and their overall nonverbal behaviour.
The Pygmalion-in-the-classroom effect is due to the expectations of the teachers that they have been given a class of gifted and clever pupils to work with. Such classes achieve better results because of a number of effects in the behaviour of the teachers who have raised positive expectations
- INCREASED INPUT VOLUME
The study material in a one-month course of foreign language teaching must always be at least two times more voluminous than a typical similar language course. In fact, such a suggestopedic course for beginners will comprise 2000 to 2500 lexical units, surely going much beyond the minimal requirement of study material volume. This proportion holds good for the other subjects too. If the traditional norm changes with time, in a few years or generations, the reservopedic course must also be modified for the constant stimulation of the evolution.
- GLOBAL-PARTIAL and PARTIAL-GLOBAL
In all subjects, when the new study material is taught, there must not be a separation between the element and its whole. They must never be taught and learned in an isolated mode. For example, the words, grammar etc., do not exist separately from the language; they are part of the discourse.
In all the stages, the introduction, the concert sessions, the elaboration and the performance, the study material is always presented and developed in such a way that the element and its whole are always kept in unity. For example, the content is incorporated and takes its meaning in a global context such as a story; through peripheral perceptions, the elements are perceived and assimilated in long term memory simultaneously with the global; in activations, the teacher will attract the attention to specific elements such as verb tenses while maintaining its unity with the global context of the sentence and the story. Hence the global-partial and partial-global law is always respected.
- the GOLDEN PROPORTION
The Golden Proportion reveals a law of harmony in the universe to which the reservopedic teaching and learning process of all subjects must be submitted. Harmony inspires harmony and overcomes the psychic chaos often provoked by traditional pedagogy. Harmony is essential in the process of teaching and learning such a big volume of study material in a short period of time. The relations among the parts and the whole are in a golden proportion in the reservopedic process of communication. Learning capacity is enhanced when the teaching process artfully finds the proper balance with respect to rhythms, intonations, emotional stimulus, etc.
Suggestopedic lesson time is mathematically distributed to analysis VS synthesis, learner- VS teacher-centred activities, reading VS playing etc. Hence, there is no discomfort, fatigue or tension despite the huge volume of learning material.
- CLASSICAL AESTHETICS
Reservopedic art creates conditions for optimal psycho-relaxation and harmonious states which help create a spontaneously increased acquisition state and enhance the capacity to tap the reserves of mind in a pleasant atmosphere. It aids reaching the state of inspiration and diverts the attention from the “ill place” where there is fear associated with learning. Classical art is introduced through specially selected works in classical music, through songs and arias, literary selections, reproductions of masterpieces, etc.