A skilled tracker can look at a footprint and infer or induct a host of information. The track is meaningful because of the tracker’s experience and knowledge and therefore is seen with greater acuity. Anyone can see the print, but it takes knowledge to decipher meaning. For the uninitiated, this seems mystical or arcane, just as writing and reading once seemed magical, hence spelling. 

The power of sight is one of the most compelling human experiences. The moment we do “see” it is always an Ah Ha! moment. An instant of change, that marks the movement from confusion to insight. As educators, this is our goal. To reach the “ah ha moment” with our students. So, the goal of a Learning Language is to provide a pathway for this moment to occur.

While it appears that the tracker can yield a host of information from a single print, the truth is that they are working within a framework of knowledge: 1. They know how to read the landscape and identify natural wildlife corridors or ecotones. 2. They can identify a variety but not an unlimited number of signs (middens, scat, hair, etc.) 3. The tracker understands the behaviour of their quarry - all animals are creatures of habit. 4. They understand patterns of movement - Is the prey running, walking or loping? 5. And finally, they can look at a print and determine species based on patterns and measurements.

This framework of knowledge upholds their looking and enables them to see, listen and live open to the natural world. The track is the last piece of the puzzle. It is the final object of observation that connects the tracker to its ultimate goal. The tracker does not go out into nature to find a footprint and then begin tracking, tracking starts the instant they step outside.