We had the first lecture for Education, Service and Community Engagement and it was most inspiring. For one thing, the lecturer mostly used a whiteboard and we weren’t all looking at computer screens throughout, so I felt alert at the end of the day. Secondly, and just as important, the content of the lecture was so thought-provoking.
The idea of Theology of Liberation has put a new light on Catholicism for me. I am aware that I have associated Catholicism with the oppression of various people. Catholics aren’t allowed to think for themselves (they must think exactly what the church tells them), women don’t have equal rights and many feel so brainwashed and damaged by their upbringings with the strong emphasis on sin, that all they can do later is to reject it. However, following the first lecture I felt relieved to have heard about the truly good intentions at the base of the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Whilst I am sure that the argument against women in the priesthood is one about which I will always feel uncomfortable, I realize that in closing my eyes to everything about the Catholic Church, I am throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Actually what is more important is to accept the good that is carried out in the name of Christianity. Either one is for something or against something and considering myself Christian I must align myself with other Christians wherever possible.
Liberation Theology looks at what the message of the Gospel looks like from the perspective of the poor. It is Christianity from below. It means that where you live makes a difference to how you view religion. Clearly if people are out there on the street at soup kitchens, this will make politicians uncomfortable as they themselves are not concerned on a daily basis with the welfare of their own people at ground level but more with their political power. Anyone pointing out the plight of the poor is going to be threatening. The work of Gutierrez, displaying such commitment, would be threatening to anyone even slightly unsure of the work they were doing in the world. When the essence of one’s work is not founded on something meaningful it is extremely unsettling to witness another working out of complete commitment to their belief.
As I heard about the deep devotion and the hope in the lives of those in South America living under such difficult circumstances just from the knowledge that people in Australia were thinking of them, I felt inspired to be grateful for my life and all I could do. At the same time I felt ashamed by the minimal work I actually do for charity.
I also felt concerned as we were made aware of the inequality in standards of living present in the world. Of course we are in the rich world and there are millions of people living without basic necessities. The video we watched about shopping in America was grotesque and yet our constant shopping here in Australia is much closer to that American reality than to that of the lives of the starving in Africa. If theology is “critical reflection on praxis in the light of the Word of God”, (Robert McAfee Brown) becoming aware again of these realities is disconcerting in the extreme. Whilst it is comfortable for me to point an accusing finger at politicians who do too little for the poor, what am I actually doing other than giving some money? If “Commitment means encountering the poor” (Brown) then I am clearly not committed. But as it says in “Signs of a Crisis”(Jim Wallis) “who has time to be a citizen?” In order to give the meagre amount of money I give to charity I am working all hours. But perhaps the “encounter with the poor” would bring more comfort through the reality of an interaction than just sending in the money.
Clearly, as a teacher, I need to know what I think about this. If the human conscience is a “clue to the word of God” (Brown), I am surely being spoken to about needing to do more charitable works. Liberation from the “power of fate” and also from “personal sin and guilt” (Brown) is also a very powerful proposition. This could potentially lead to the world be changed totally. Once again it is an exciting thought but alarming to think of how little I do in order to bring about this Kingdom of God. It leads me to think that I too am working for the ‘Anti-Kingdom’.
Reading the Signs of a Crisis (Jim Wallis) I found alarming because although it was clearly written a while ago, it seemed more current than ever. It doesn’t matter which political leader is being spoken of, there is always disappointment about how little things have changed since the most recent leader was elected and how things have stayed the same. The video clip I have included ‘Where is the beef?’ asks the questions about what George Bush will say about subjects where he has in the past gone back on his word in a critical way. On the other hand the video clip ‘Believe Me’ reflects this disappointment in a humourous way with an impersonator of John Howard mentioning some of the different issues he has not been honest about.
Looking again at the greed so prevalent in our society and being some one who lives as part of it, also made me very uncomfortable. We learnt much about the whole image of the American Dream with the white, wealthy middle-class man living in suburbia and the 80:20 distribution of wealth of which we are so much a benefitting part.
The truth of the American Dream, which is so dishonest and so unconcerned with the reality of the lives of the people they affect it reflected in the video clip I have included.
I believe like many others that I am doing my best but am I really? I avoid watching violent films, and attempt to treat people I come into contact respectfully. I prevented my children from watching violent films to protect them from the images to avoid some of the toxins as talked of in “overarching sign of our crisis is our poisoned environment. From our toxic wastes to our toxic values, from the pollution of our air and water to the pollution of our hearts and minds” (Wallis), hopefully I thereby avoided some toxicity in my children as they grew up.
Although I go and vote I am aware that I do nothing else. The idea that “The ritual of public polling has now almost completely replaced genuine citizen participation in political life” (Wallis) rings true in my life and once again makes me feel uncomfortable. I am grateful for the opportunity to vote but I also know that I should be doing more politically because this is partly what it is to be Christian on earth.
The issue of societies surviving or not sometimes being dependent on the decisions made about sustainability is also confronting. Learning about ecological footprints and how large my own is, also induces guilt. What can I do to reduce mine? Of course I turn off lights and use little water but how can reduce it further? Having lived in Iceland for two years I saw that their culture somehow managed to survive despite having subjected the country to almost total deforestation. The Icelanders lived in extreme poverty until very recently and perhaps as a result are now as extremely materialist as any First world country. What I saw of Icelanders 20 years ago, they were not environmentally conscious or caring. However, the social structures in place certainly cared for all people equally with remarkable funding for health and education and there seemed to be almost no poverty as there was in Europe at the time. There was an amazing awareness of Spirit in the culture, maybe it was this depth that enabled them to get through the dark winters with singing and story telling being the main entertainment.
The lecture on Moses was also very inspiring. I have always rejected the First Testament because I found it hard to relate to what appeared to be not in line with Christ’s teachings. I now have a new understanding of the prophets and the aim they had of evoking “a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us” as Bruggemann writes of the aim of prophetic ministry. Previously I have not seen the work of the prophets as that of promoting a new social justice through helping people to new understandings by aiding them in a “dismantling of the dominant consciousness” of the world in which they lived, rather I have seen there message to be an inner one. Clearly re-reading the prophets with this understanding gives it meaning to the reader at any time even if the contemporary laws are quite at odds with those at the time of the prophet. Suddenly there seems to be point in reading the First Testament for inspiration.
The idea that a prophet comes at a particular time for a particular community is also inspiring as a reminder for us, on a more humble level, that we also have particular tasks to do in our own particular lives just as the prophets had.
Michael wanted to “get God off the hook for Christ’s crucifixion” by making it clear that Christ had to die because the life that he led came into conflict with the Purity Project of the time. (Leaders of the Purity Project deal with problematic people by murdering them.) From this perspective I can see that God can be let off as Jesus clearly presented a significant problem. However, if God is omnipotent surely nothing that he doesn’t desire can happen? The idea that the people in the Purity Project could have had greater power than God and made Jesus die against God’s will doesn’t make sense in a world where God is omnipotent.
We once again saw some confronting images (the image of Bishop Romero being shot for example) and I felt overwhelmed by my powerlessness to change the world and the horror of the cruelty we inflict upon one another as humans. I felt that the lecture was trying to address how we would respond to a student’s question “what sort of a God would allow evil to happen?” and I was no clearer at the end than I had been at the beginning. An omnipotent God surely wouldn’t allow such atrocities as the Rwandan genocide to happen and yet for some reason these things do happen, is it in order that humans learn to understand the power of freedom of choice and experience the horrors that certain choices bring with them?
Christ was clearly critical of many practices of the time in which he lived and was also clearly pained by what he saw and as such He sets us an example of how to view the world. Bruggemann talks of the numbness in which most of us live which can be penetrated by the passion of Christ and lead to transformation: “internalization of pain and external transformation” as he says “articulated grief is the gate of newness”. We can change our world as a result of the pain we go through. But this doesn’t explain at all why suffering has to happen in the first place. As Michael expressed it as Christians “we have responsibilities towards God’s kingdom- we need to cooperate”, we need to get active in our own world to do what we can to reduce the suffering.
The full day of JS423 was so inspiring! We all had to speak on an issue of social justice and every single one was so well prepared and each person was fired up by what they had done. I could see that each person was a force to reckoned with and that the world through us teachers can become a better place.
Liz, who spoke about refugees and internally displaced people gave an overview of the current state which when seen from the point of view of nations actually being motivated to help refugees in order to keep them off their own shores as explained in 'Human Cargo' is all the more disturbing.
It seems that self-interest is always at the base of inequalities and injustices and the fact that so many difficulties can be experienced as a result of the character of the person currently in charge of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees) seems insane in a world where humans have responsibilities towards each others. As a result of the High Commissioner being popular or not, attitudes towards the organization itself are changed and with the nature of its work being to save lives, this reality seems almost incredible. That society can be so influenced by personal relationships is very unsettling.
In a similar way the article 'Unpacking Theopolitical Dynamite' argued with subjectivity about what makes a text valid. I was not persuaded that any one has the right to claim that something is true and something else is not when reading the Bible. I am sure that I can say what I personally may or may not wish to believe but that does not mean that I would force my opinions on other people and say that their beliefs are wrong.
On the other hand the reality of terrorist attacks being a response to the colonialism before and the lingering effects of colonialism and the 80:20 world we live in as Michael presented it I am able to accept. Also I agree that the image of fighter bombers is certainly just as terrorist as any 'terrorist attack'. It is terrible idea that people learn through example and that victims see attack as the only way to be liberated from oppression as this is what they have experienced.
The issue of ‘just-war’ theory or pacifism is powerful. The shocking figure of 400 billion dollars spent on the US military per year should be a wake-up call to anyone interested in the ‘Option for the Poor and Vulnerable’, (Nine Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching). What justification could there be to spend any money on armaments when there are people in need of the basics of food and shelter? It is a relief that “Catholic social teaching is on the brink of passing a further negative judgment on almost all forms of warfare.” (Nine Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching).
One would only need to watch the video clip ‘Another Funeral in Iraq’ if one were in any doubt that war is not against God’s will. The matter-of-factness with which the procedure was carried out with people standing in the grave and the final image of the old man crying would surely dispel all questions about war or no war.
CONCLUSION
In this course we have certainly engaged in social analysis and I have enjoyed the work and the thought-provoking nature of it. I am sure that I will be putting into practice many new things in my life as a result of the talks on the Saturday, so this can only be good.
All the students seemed to have been very inspired by the subjects they had chosen and spoke with great passion. Chocolate and coffee will both have a different place in my life, as I will no longer be buying it unless it is fairtrade.
My choice of clothes to buy will also need to change.
We have now started to support a Refugee Charity and my understanding of the prayers for the 'homeless' has changed. Just to mention a few of the inspiring talks.
The depressing nature of the content made the course confronting, (I am not complaining about that at all!) but I feel that if we as a group had been required to do some practical work in social justice, we might have felt more empowered by the course. We could have built up the Body of Christ to everyone’s benefit.
I know that I was not the only person to leave many sessions with a very heavy heart and I feel that if we are to spread the Gospel we need to find positivity in life! I am not, of course, suggesting we don't concern ourselves with depressing subjects, but rather that we need to keep a balance in our attitude and some humour is necessary too.I don’t know what God’s greater plan is, but if I am doing what I can, that is as much as I can do and I am sure that being depressed will not help.
Within the course it may have been interesting to have learnt more about social injustices within Australia. The whole issue of the treatment of the Aboriginal Peoples would certainly warrant some consideration. Only suggestions, I thought it was a very interesting course and I appreciated the conviction with which you spoke.
Bibliography
Unit Reader for Unit Code JS423 Semester1, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
exam stuff
All subjects need ICT…what is it useful for? It can be a cognitive tool
Constructivism= our knowledge is built on other knowledge
Social constructivism= other people affect us too in our learning
CREATE
APPLY
EVALUATE
SYNTHESIZE
ANALYZE
DESCRIBE
Blogs can be seen by anyone, no one controls them.
On the web you need to cross-reference as things may be wrong
NOW facilitator learned, observable, visual, try and see, spontaneous, learner makes choices.
THEN teacher learned, provable verbals, sit and listen, chalk and talk, structured
We don’t know what it means to be a good teacher
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY is not sequential
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Piaget cognitivist
Develop towards increasingly complex levels of organization
Studied development of knowledge
Assimilation, accommodation, adaptation equilibrium
Stages are the same in all children
1. Sensori- motor 2 years
Primary circular- repetition
Secondary circular- more interest
Tertiary- changing things
18 months mental representation – remembering something that’s not there.
2. pre-operational 2-7 years
Uses symbols, can play and remember
3.Concrete operations 7-11 years
Conservation and classification by size.
4. Formal operations 12 years
Hypothetical thinking
Conjunction/ disjunction/ implication/ incompatibility
Children can’t do things until mature enough…cognitive constructivism
Intelligence= adapting to the environment
We need equilibrium between environment and scheme (logical mental structure)
People actively construct knowledge
Interactionism= interaction between heredity and environment
GLASSER
All behaviour is chosen. Not chemical imbalance or unconscious conflict. It is choice not mental illness in response to dissatisfying relationships. Brain chemistry changes with different choice not the other way round.
Total behaviour acting, thinking, feeling and physiology. Strong imaginations.
BRUNER
People interpret the world according to similarities and differences.
2 modes of thought Narrative (sequential, detail-driven) and Paradigmatic (mind transcends particulars to categorize.
3 Modes of representation
Enactive
Iconic
Symbolic
Anything can be learnt at any age if the order is right.
Narrative is a cultural product= language and symbolic system. The mind structures reality through mediation.
Diachronicity
Particularity
Intentional state
Hermaneutics
Canonicity and breach
Referentiality
Genericness
Normativeness
Context sensitivity
Narrative accrual
In order to go beyond information given people think. Learning can happen by thinking without accompanying behaviour.
Man’s growth is related to evolution (hands)
Instrumental Conceptualism: much of what we know cannot be tested.
Man grows by internalizing ways of acting, imagining and symbolizing in culture.
Information is processed rather than constructed, we give things meaning
Gradually memory is being externalized which has changed how we think, remember and communicate.
BRUNER’S EDUCATIONAL THEORY 1. Value- must be worthwhile knowledge
2. How is knowledge different from a belief, mistake or lie.
Knowledge is an “internalizing of tools that are used within the child’s culture”. A lie is anything that takes away from learning.
3. There are no limits to the potential of the human to learn and grow.
4. Learning is and active, social process in which students construct new ideas based on their current knowledge.
It is a continual process, spurts and rests. Related to the environment not to age.
5. Theory of transmission: who teaches? Everyone.
6. Culture enables individuals to make sense.
7. Opportunity: everyone could learn
8. Consensus: who says what is true?
9. Intuitive: you don’t have to learn sequentially… leaps.
10. Interest in the subject is the best motivation.
TO INSTRUCT SOMEONE ISNOT A MATTER OF GETTING HIM TO COMMIT RESULTS TO THE MIND. RATHER IT IS TO TEACH HIM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS THAT MAKES POSSIBLE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF KNOWLEDGE. TO TAKE PART IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING KNOWLEDGE. KNOWING IS A PROCESS NOT A PRODUCT.
HUMAN MENTAL ACTIVITY IS NEITHER SOLO NOR CONDUCTED UNASSISTED EVEN WHEN IT GOES ON INSIDE THE HEAD.
VYGOTSKY
Learning is a collaborative process
Motivation is both extrinsic and intrinsic.
Team work (4 or 5)
No clear separation between social and individual development.
Meaning is constructed by the subject.
Education is primarily for the ruling class.
Internalization, semiotic mediation, zone of proximal development…. This is true for all students. Normal and abnormal.
3 General themes
a) generic development
b) higher mental function emerges out of social process children born with elementary nervous system and it develops and is transformed through interaction
c) cultural/ mediational tools shape human social and psychological processes. “ The central fact about our psychology is the fact of mediation”. External and internal are connected. Literacy instruction
1. comprehension (prediction, make inferences)
2. word identification
3. Text structure ( main points of story)
Metacognition (thinking about thinking) is important
Higher mental processes are mediated by tools: symbols, material or other human
When a human can decontextualise learning semiotic potential is realized. We can then extricate concepts and put learning to new use.
Language is changed by a process of internalization. Every function appears twice in a child’s cultural development… on a social level and then psychological level.
Egocentric speech and inner speech. Language enables people to organize their thoughts. “ In inner speech words die as they bring forth thought. Inner speech isto a large extent thinking in pure meaning.”
The Zone of Proximal Development
“In order to subject a function to intellectual and volitional control we must first possess it.”
The ZPD defines those functions that we have not yeat matured but are in the process of maturation, in an embryonic state. We need empathy to help someone work from their ZPD to execute an action alone.
Intelligence does not have an innate and quantifiable nature. Levels of IQ can be changed by instruction… higher level IQs drop with schooling, lower levels increase.
ALL individual development occurs through mediation in activity and learning leads to development. Scaffolding is the process by which someone is supported to work in the ZPD
Once a new skill can be put in a different context it has become decontextualised.
3 Elements are needed to ensure learning takes place.
A) active learners
B) active teachers
C) active social environment….Strictly speaking you cannot educate anyone else. Learning is an internal process.
Teacher is the railway track whose purpose is to enable railway carriages to travel freely in the direction of their own movement.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY Developed by 1956..relevant still?
Knowledge- involves the recall of specifics and universals, methods and processes
Comprehension- represents the lowest level of understanding (not lowest level of learning but of understanding) and involves translation, interpretation and extrapolation
Application- the use of abstractions in particular and concrete situations
Analysis- is the breakdown of a communication into its constituent element so that the hierarchy is made clear.
Synthesis- the putting together of elements to form a whole
Evaluation- judgements about the value of material and methods for given purposes
Useful for writing objectives, we can see if something is suitable for certain students according to their age.
Useful for assessment structuring. Is it just recall, or actually the intended learning.
Higher Order Learning..application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation
Lower Order Learning knowledge, comprehension
In general deep learners are excited about learning, and connect up different areas of learning. Surface learners focus on unrelated parts of the task, treat tasks as an imposition, simply memorise info to perform well in assessment.
It is to do with Mastery Learning, Any one can learn anything given the time. Take your time, not Hurry up!
Domains of Learning
Affective- feelings, preferences and values
We learn often when we feel strongly about something
Cognitive
Psychomotor- physical and perceptual activities and skills.
What is more important? Depends on what you are doing.
The home environment makes a huge difference on a student (individually considered, not from the family)
Education is a process which is an attempt to realize human potential.
Learning is influenced by opportunity and effort.
Speed is not the issue, mastery is!
Speed is the problem as not everyone takes the same amount of time to learn something…
Bertrand Russell
No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he himself believes to be of value.
Multiple Intelligences
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Musical
Spatial
Bodily-kinesthetic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalist
Fundamental questioner
We all possess all these intelligences… humans are defined by them.
Musical experiences may enhance spatial capacities. The brain is modular and areas develop for specific purposes. The more types of learning we use the more students we can reach….It is a tool not a goal. We don’t have to teach each subject in 8 ways.
Judging capacities needs to be expanded, creativity, wisdom or morality need to be included too.
Real life demonstrations rather than proxy instruments.
CONNECTIVISM A learning theory for a digital age
Many people will change jobs in fields over life
Informal learning is significant
Knowledge is doubling every 18 months and obsolete really quickly.
Learning is a continual process
Technology is rewiring our brains
Knowledge management is more important
Technology means we don’t need to know so much
Know- where is more important than know-how or know-what
We need to be concerned with the value of what we are learning. We can’t expect to experience as much as we need to learn…we learn from everyone around us.
Chaos is a new reality…a cryptic form of order. The learner’s challenge is to see patterns which appear to be hidden and to adjust as things change. Self-organization is necessary.
How people learn is altered when new tools are used.
BEHAVIOURISM
Drill and skill repetition
Skinner Knowledge is a repertoire of behaviours
Continual positive reinforcement is important as without themlearned responses will become extinct. Proven effective for teaching foreign language vocabulary!
Knowledge is passively absorbed
Learning is unknowable, we don’t know what is going on inside someone
Observable behaviour is more important than understanding internal activities
Behaviour should be focused on simple elements
Learning is about behaviour change
COGNITIVISM COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIVISM
Piaget
Motivation largely intrinsic
Learners actively construct knowledge by testing theories
Computer processes as model
Learning is a process of inputs, managed in short-term memory and coded for long-term memory
Knowledge is symbolic mental construct in the learner’s mind, learning is committing symbols to memory
Students monitor their own learning
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Learners create knowledge as they attempt to understand their experiences. Learners actively attempt to create meaning. Learners select their own learning. Life is messy!
Generally learning happens within people…how about organizations and when it is stored in technology.
Constructivism= our knowledge is built on other knowledge
Social constructivism= other people affect us too in our learning
CREATE
APPLY
EVALUATE
SYNTHESIZE
ANALYZE
DESCRIBE
Blogs can be seen by anyone, no one controls them.
On the web you need to cross-reference as things may be wrong
NOW facilitator learned, observable, visual, try and see, spontaneous, learner makes choices.
THEN teacher learned, provable verbals, sit and listen, chalk and talk, structured
We don’t know what it means to be a good teacher
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY is not sequential
Use COMPOSE on blog to make hyperlink active.
VIDEO CLIP
Get code
Embed
Highlight number
Edit
Copy
Open blog
New post
Edit html
Paste
HYPERLINK "http://WWW.SLIDE.COM" WWW.SLIDE.COM HYPERLINK "http://WWW.SONIFIC.COM" WWW.SONIFIC.COM
Choose song
Use
Name song
Back to blog
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Copy to address
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Copy code to blog
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Piaget cognitivist
Develop towards increasingly complex levels of organization
Studied development of knowledge
Assimilation, accommodation, adaptation equilibrium
Stages are the same in all children
1. Sensori- motor 2 years
Primary circular- repetition
Secondary circular- more interest
Tertiary- changing things
18 months mental representation – remembering something that’s not there.
2. pre-operational 2-7 years
Uses symbols, can play and remember
3.Concrete operations 7-11 years
Conservation and classification by size.
4. Formal operations 12 years
Hypothetical thinking
Conjunction/ disjunction/ implication/ incompatibility
Children can’t do things until mature enough…cognitive constructivism
Intelligence= adapting to the environment
We need equilibrium between environment and scheme (logical mental structure)
People actively construct knowledge
Interactionism= interaction between heredity and environment
GLASSER
All behaviour is chosen. Not chemical imbalance or unconscious conflict. It is choice not mental illness in response to dissatisfying relationships. Brain chemistry changes with different choice not the other way round.
Total behaviour acting, thinking, feeling and physiology. Strong imaginations.
BRUNER
People interpret the world according to similarities and differences.
2 modes of thought Narrative (sequential, detail-driven) and Paradigmatic (mind transcends particulars to categorize.
3 Modes of representation
Enactive
Iconic
Symbolic
Anything can be learnt at any age if the order is right.
Narrative is a cultural product= language and symbolic system. The mind structures reality through mediation.
Diachronicity
Particularity
Intentional state
Hermaneutics
Canonicity and breach
Referentiality
Genericness
Normativeness
Context sensitivity
Narrative accrual
In order to go beyond information given people think. Learning can happen by thinking without accompanying behaviour.
Man’s growth is related to evolution (hands)
Instrumental Conceptualism: much of what we know cannot be tested.
Man grows by internalizing ways of acting, imagining and symbolizing in culture.
Information is processed rather than constructed, we give things meaning
Gradually memory is being externalized which has changed how we think, remember and communicate.
BRUNER’S EDUCATIONAL THEORY 1. Value- must be worthwhile knowledge
2. How is knowledge different from a belief, mistake or lie.
Knowledge is an “internalizing of tools that are used within the child’s culture”. A lie is anything that takes away from learning.
3. There are no limits to the potential of the human to learn and grow.
4. Learning is and active, social process in which students construct new ideas based on their current knowledge.
It is a continual process, spurts and rests. Related to the environment not to age.
5. Theory of transmission: who teaches? Everyone.
6. Culture enables individuals to make sense.
7. Opportunity: everyone could learn
8. Consensus: who says what is true?
9. Intuitive: you don’t have to learn sequentially… leaps.
10. Interest in the subject is the best motivation.
TO INSTRUCT SOMEONE ISNOT A MATTER OF GETTING HIM TO COMMIT RESULTS TO THE MIND. RATHER IT IS TO TEACH HIM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS THAT MAKES POSSIBLE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF KNOWLEDGE. TO TAKE PART IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING KNOWLEDGE. KNOWING IS A PROCESS NOT A PRODUCT.
HUMAN MENTAL ACTIVITY IS NEITHER SOLO NOR CONDUCTED UNASSISTED EVEN WHEN IT GOES ON INSIDE THE HEAD.
VYGOTSKY
Learning is a collaborative process
Motivation is both extrinsic and intrinsic.
Team work (4 or 5)
No clear separation between social and individual development.
Meaning is constructed by the subject.
Education is primarily for the ruling class.
Internalization, semiotic mediation, zone of proximal development…. This is true for all students. Normal and abnormal.
3 General themes
a) generic development
b) higher mental function emerges out of social process children born with elementary nervous system and it develops and is transformed through interaction
c) cultural/ mediational tools shape human social and psychological processes. “ The central fact about our psychology is the fact of mediation”. External and internal are connected. Literacy instruction
1. comprehension (prediction, make inferences)
2. word identification
3. Text structure ( main points of story)
Metacognition (thinking about thinking) is important
Higher mental processes are mediated by tools: symbols, material or other human
When a human can decontextualise learning semiotic potential is realized. We can then extricate concepts and put learning to new use.
Language is changed by a process of internalization. Every function appears twice in a child’s cultural development… on a social level and then psychological level.
Egocentric speech and inner speech. Language enables people to organize their thoughts. “ In inner speech words die as they bring forth thought. Inner speech isto a large extent thinking in pure meaning.”
The Zone of Proximal Development
“In order to subject a function to intellectual and volitional control we must first possess it.”
The ZPD defines those functions that we have not yeat matured but are in the process of maturation, in an embryonic state. We need empathy to help someone work from their ZPD to execute an action alone.
Intelligence does not have an innate and quantifiable nature. Levels of IQ can be changed by instruction… higher level IQs drop with schooling, lower levels increase.
ALL individual development occurs through mediation in activity and learning leads to development. Scaffolding is the process by which someone is supported to work in the ZPD
Once a new skill can be put in a different context it has become decontextualised.
3 Elements are needed to ensure learning takes place.
A) active learners
B) active teachers
C) active social environment….Strictly speaking you cannot educate anyone else. Learning is an internal process.
Teacher is the railway track whose purpose is to enable railway carriages to travel freely in the direction of their own movement.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY Developed by 1956..relevant still?
Knowledge- involves the recall of specifics and universals, methods and processes
Comprehension- represents the lowest level of understanding (not lowest level of learning but of understanding) and involves translation, interpretation and extrapolation
Application- the use of abstractions in particular and concrete situations
Analysis- is the breakdown of a communication into its constituent element so that the hierarchy is made clear.
Synthesis- the putting together of elements to form a whole
Evaluation- judgements about the value of material and methods for given purposes
Useful for writing objectives, we can see if something is suitable for certain students according to their age.
Useful for assessment structuring. Is it just recall, or actually the intended learning.
Higher Order Learning..application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation
Lower Order Learning knowledge, comprehension
In general deep learners are excited about learning, and connect up different areas of learning. Surface learners focus on unrelated parts of the task, treat tasks as an imposition, simply memorise info to perform well in assessment.
It is to do with Mastery Learning, Any one can learn anything given the time. Take your time, not Hurry up!
Domains of Learning
Affective- feelings, preferences and values
We learn often when we feel strongly about something
Cognitive
Psychomotor- physical and perceptual activities and skills.
What is more important? Depends on what you are doing.
The home environment makes a huge difference on a student (individually considered, not from the family)
Education is a process which is an attempt to realize human potential.
Learning is influenced by opportunity and effort.
Speed is not the issue, mastery is!
Speed is the problem as not everyone takes the same amount of time to learn something…
Bertrand Russell
No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he himself believes to be of value.
Multiple Intelligences
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Musical
Spatial
Bodily-kinesthetic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalist
Fundamental questioner
We all possess all these intelligences… humans are defined by them.
Musical experiences may enhance spatial capacities. The brain is modular and areas develop for specific purposes. The more types of learning we use the more students we can reach….It is a tool not a goal. We don’t have to teach each subject in 8 ways.
Judging capacities needs to be expanded, creativity, wisdom or morality need to be included too.
Real life demonstrations rather than proxy instruments.
CONNECTIVISM A learning theory for a digital age
Many people will change jobs in fields over life
Informal learning is significant
Knowledge is doubling every 18 months and obsolete really quickly.
Learning is a continual process
Technology is rewiring our brains
Knowledge management is more important
Technology means we don’t need to know so much
Know- where is more important than know-how or know-what
We need to be concerned with the value of what we are learning. We can’t expect to experience as much as we need to learn…we learn from everyone around us.
Chaos is a new reality…a cryptic form of order. The learner’s challenge is to see patterns which appear to be hidden and to adjust as things change. Self-organization is necessary.
How people learn is altered when new tools are used.
BEHAVIOURISM
Drill and skill repetition
Skinner Knowledge is a repertoire of behaviours
Continual positive reinforcement is important as without themlearned responses will become extinct. Proven effective for teaching foreign language vocabulary!
Knowledge is passively absorbed
Learning is unknowable, we don’t know what is going on inside someone
Observable behaviour is more important than understanding internal activities
Behaviour should be focused on simple elements
Learning is about behaviour change
COGNITIVISM COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIVISM
Piaget
Motivation largely intrinsic
Learners actively construct knowledge by testing theories
Computer processes as model
Learning is a process of inputs, managed in short-term memory and coded for long-term memory
Knowledge is symbolic mental construct in the learner’s mind, learning is committing symbols to memory
Students monitor their own learning
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Learners create knowledge as they attempt to understand their experiences. Learners actively attempt to create meaning. Learners select their own learning. Life is messy!
Generally learning happens within people…how about organizations and when it is stored in technology.
mind map
Ways of learning
constructivist
social constructivist
behaviourist
I.
II.
A. naturalist
III.
IV.
Visual
I. videos would be good
II. mind maps
Kinaesthtic
I.
aural
interpersonal
intrapersonal
Compass rose
Flower
Buddha
constructivist
social constructivist
behaviourist
I.
II.
A. naturalist
III.
IV.
Visual
I. videos would be good
II. mind maps
Kinaesthtic
I.
aural
interpersonal
intrapersonal
Compass rose
Flower
Buddha
Saturday, June 2, 2007
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