Rock Star Theorists

ED 710 Blog 1 – Rock Star Theorists

For me the “Rock Star Theorists” are Dewey and Bruner. Both of these guys would have elements of constructivism in their views and that applies to me too. Constructivism means that students are actively engaged in the synthesis of meaning and knowledge (Flinders and Thornton, 2013). One of my favorite quotes, which I have seen attributed to Oscar Wilde is “Education is a wonderful thing, but it is worth remembering from time to, time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught!” I think this fits in well with Bruner, who believed in learning through play, and in the teacher creating opportunities for the students to learn on their own. Students should also work to figure out a use for what the knowledge they have, or apply their knowledge to novel situations (Flinders and Thornton, 2013).  I also appreciate Bruner’s work in looking at cognitive development. It is all well and good knowing everything yourself but if you do not appreciate or understand how others learn you are not going to have the desired results.
I like how seemingly unobtrusive Bruner’s methods seem. As if the teacher is but a facilitator, quietly and guiding the play so students absorb lessons by doing what they always have done, playing! Dewey also had a holistic approach to education that speaks to me. He said education is for now, not as a preparation for life. This fits in perfectly with what should be our goal, producing lifelong learners! By guiding the exercises we can teach students required content, how to behave, and how to think. A word that came up often in the Flinders and Thornton (2013) text on Dewey was “organic”. To Dewey and Bruner, school is not a separate entity, a place to spend hours isolated from life. It is a safe place continue with the constant learning of childhood and to build upon it.

With this in mind, I have made some extra efforts this year. My teaching has many strengths, but also, and what I tend to focus on, many weaknesses. I am trying to include more projects in my classes. Sorely needed, but also surely a great way to allow students the freedom to take control, and create, all in the name of learning. I am also working hard to improve my formative assessment, especially my questioning. Like in my last feedback, the answers may not be forthcoming but if I can get my students to think more, and question further, they are more likely to learn. I have increased my use of scientific literacy also. It is easy to see the benefits. I assign articles, usually from sciencedaily.com, and come up with questions on a worksheet. The best part are the last few questions, which are always on these worksheets. I ask them to tell me three things they learned from the article, and to write three questions they now have. They also have to read a related article of their choosing and write three things they learned in that! What I read in these answers is often enlightening!

Maybe the most important change I have made is in my “winning’ exercise. For years I have spoken with students with whom I have conflict over behavior, about good decisions, and how good decisions for them are, 9 times out of ten, good decisions for me too! I have determined that often students don’t think enough about this concept. I know! You are wowed that I came up with the idea that “students don’t always make good decisions” all on my own! But instead of talking about it with other staff members and occasionally parents, I have spoken about it far more often with my classes. We did an exercise at the start of the year where students got in groups and decided what “wins” would be for them. It was about setting goals and then making decisions to get towards those goals. An important point I wanted made was that sometimes there may be losses on the way to a win, and sometimes what may be a win does not turn out to be positive. If students stopped to think “is this going to be a win for me?” more often there would be more success. While this is not content based it is likely a more fundamental and holistic lesson than I could teach them from a book!

Thanks  

 

 

References

Flinders, D. & Thornton, S. (2013). The Curriculum Series Reader (4^th Ed.). Routledge