MODULE
2 - PSYCHOLOGICAL BASES OF ENGLISH TEACHING
2.1 Linguistic principles, psycho-linguistic
principles
2.2 Implications of theories related to
language development- Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Critical
Pedagogy, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence
2.3 Chomskyan theory of language learning
-Language Acquisition Device (LAD), Universal Grammar (UG)
2.4 Learner factors in second language
acquisition (age, gender, intelligence, aptitude, attitude, cognitive style,
motivation)
2.5 CREDE Model of Instruction (Joint
productive activity, Language development, Contextualization, Challenging
activities, Instructional conversation)
LINGUISTIC PRINCIPLES OF
TEACHING ENGLISH
The modern approach
to all language learning and teaching is based on
sound linguistic principles.
Principle 1.
Speech is Primary: The sounds should appear in proper expressions and
sentences spoken with the intonation and rhythm which would be used by a native
speaker.
Principle 2.
Present Language in Basic Sentence Patterns: Present, and have
the students memorise, basic sentence patterns used in day to day conversation.
From small utterances the students can easily pass on to longer sentences. Thus
the learners can expand the grasp of the language material in respect of sounds
and vocabulary items.
Principle 3.
Language Patterns as Habits. : “To teach a language is to
impart a new system of complex habits, and habits are acquired slowly.”
(R.Lado)
Real language
ability is at the habit level. It does not just mean knowing about the
language. Make language patterns as habit through intensive pattern practice in
variety of situations. The students must be taught to use language patterns and
sentence constructions with appropriate vocabulary at normal speed for
communication
Principle 4.
Imitation. Imitation is an important principle of language
learning. Good speech is the result of imitating good models. The model should
be intelligible.
Principle 5.Practice:
Imitation followed by intensive practice helps in the mastery of
the language system.
Principle 6. Controlled
Vocabulary. Vocabulary should be kept under control. Vocabulary should be
taught and practised only in the context of real situations,so that meaning will be clarified and reinforced.
Principle 7.
Graded Patterns:Language patterns should be taught gradually, in cumulative
graded steps. This means, the teacher should go on adding each new element or
pattern to previous ones. New patterns of language should be introduced and
practised with vocabulary that students already know.
Principle 7.
Selection and Gradation: Selection of the language material to
be taught is the first requisite of good teaching. Selection should be done in
respect of grammatical items and vocabulary and structures
Selection of
language items should involve:
1
frequency (how often a certain item or word is
used)
2.range (in
what different contexts a word or an item can be used)
3.
coverage (how many different meanings a word
or an item can convey)
4.availability (how
far an item is convenient to teach)
5.learnability (how far an item is easy to learn)
6.teachability (how far and item is easy to teach - in the
social context)
Gradation of the
language material means placing the language items in an order. Grading
involves grouping and sequence. Grouping concerns
(i) the system of language, and (ii) its structures. Grouping the system of
language means what sounds, words, phrases and meanings are to be taught.
Thus we have:
(i) Phonetic
grouping, i.e. grouping according to sounds. For example, words
having the same sound are placed in the one group as, cat, bat, mat, pat,
fat, sat; it, bit, fit, hit, kit, it, etc.
(ii) Lexical
grouping, i.e., grouping according to lexical situations. Example:school,
teacher, headmaster, peon, class-room, library. All these words are
grouped around “school.”
(iii) Grammatical
grouping, i.e., grouping according to similar patterns as, my
book/ his book, (pattern grouping): in the room, in the corner/ in the class/in
the garden, etc. (phrase grouping)
(iv) Semantic
grouping, i.e., grouping according to meaning. Example: school,
college, university; bicycle, rickshaw, car, tonga, train,
aeroplane, etc,.
(v) Structure
grouping, i.e., grouping in the structures means how the selected
items fit one into the other-the sounds into the words, the words into phrases,
the phrases into the clauses and sentences, and the sentences into the context.
Sequence meants what comes after
what. Sequence should be there in thearrangement of sounds (phonetic
sequence), phrases (grammatical sequence) words (lexical sequence) and in
meaning (semantic sequence). Sequence of structures implies direction,
expansion, variation and length of the structures.
Principle 8.
The Oral Way. Experts believe that the oral way is the surest way to
language learning. Prof. Kittson rightly observes,. “Learning to speak a
language is always the shortest road to learning to read and write it.” Prof
Palmer also writes,. “We should refrain from reading and writing any
given material until we have learnt to use its spoken form.”
Principle 9.
Priorities of Language Skills: Listening (with understanding),
speaking, reading and writing are the four fundamental skills.
Listening and speaking are primary skills, while reading and
writing are secondary skills. Reading and writing are
reinforcement skills. They reinforce what has been learnt through understanding
and speaking. In fact, understanding and speaking speed up the reading process.
Writing should be introduced after reading.
Principle 10.
Multiple Line of Approach: “The term multiple line implies that
one is to proceed simultaneously from many different points towards the one and
the same end. We should reject nothing except the useless material and should
selected judiciously and without prejudice all that is likely to help in our
work”. In teaching a language, it implies attacking the problem from all
fronts. Say, for example, there is a lesson on ‘Holidays’ in the text book. The
teacher can have a number of language activities connected with the topic such
as oral drill, reading, sentence writing, composition, grammar, translation,
language exercises etc.
Principle 11.
Language Habit through Language Using: A language is best learnt through use
in different contexts and situations. Prof. Eugene A. Nida rightly observes,
“Language learning means plunging headlong into a series of completely
different experiences. It means exposing oneself to situations where the use of
language is required.” Another expert expresses a similar opinion by saying:
“Learning a language means forming new habits through intensive practice in
tearing and speaking. The emphasis should always be on language in actual use”.
Principle 12
Spiral Approach. The “spiral” approach to language learning should be
followed. Previously taught vocabulary and structures should be reintroduced in
subsequent units whenever logical or possible. This is “spiral approach.
Principle 13.
Use Mother-tongue Sparingly. The mother-tongue should be sparingly and judiciously
used during teaching English. Of course, at the early stage, some explanations
will have to be given in pupil’s mother tongue. It is important that students do
not use their mother-tongue in the classroom.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING
ENGLISH
It will not be out
of place to list down certain principles which have been derived from the
science of psychology.
Principle 1.
Motivation. Motivation is an important factor in language learning,
particularly in learning a second language. It creates interest as well as the
need to learn the language in hand. If the need for the language we use is
felt, it is learnt easily. Pupils’ interest can be aroused in a number of ways,
and language learning can be made increasingly interesting and attractive. It
can be done with the help of pictures, charts, models, flash cards, black board
sketches and similar other visual devices. The use of tape-recorder can be most
effective in the teaching of pronunciation. The aim is to have the students
maximally exposed to the target language in variety of contexts and situations,
not in isolation. The teacher should prompt connections, feed back and correct
errors, if any. The rule is teach, test, reteach, retest. The
teacher should make continual and significant use of language material in
class-room situations. Palmer suggests the following six factors which lead to
motivate and create interest among children:
(i) The
limitation of bewilderment, that is, minimum of confusion;
(ii) The
sense of progress achieved;
(iii) Competitions;
(iv) Game-like
exercises;
(v) The right
relation between teacher and student; and
(vi) Variety.
Principle 2.
Immediate Correction. Do make corrections. Corrections make all the difference.
They help in improving pupils’ responses. But remember, when corrections are
made, they should be made immediately. Moreover, the corrections should be made
in such a way as will bring about learning and not frustration or
discouragement.
Principle 3.
Reinforcement Immediate reinforcement is an important principle. It has been
experimentally proved that reinforcement of correct responses helps in better
learning. The student should be told his response is correct immediately after
it is given by him.
Principle 4.
Frequent Review. An important psychological principle is the principle of
frequent review. Frequent review and re-entry of the same material is necessary
for retention. During the process of reviewing, variations in material should
be essentially be introduced and practised.
Principle 5.
Correct Responses. It is an important psychological principle that classroom
activities should strengthen the language skills. The techniques used by the
teacher of English should encourage the maximum rate of correct responses. This
will give children the feeling of success, achievement and assured progress.
Principle 6.
Practice in Everyday Situations. A language is best learnt when its
need is felt in everyday situations. So, English should be practised in every
day situations with which children can easily identify.
In short, the
children, their environment and their experiences, should be the starting
point. Let them recall (and, they should be helped, if they fail) something
familiar which is related to or contrasts with a new language item to be
learnt.
These are, then,
some of the basic principles of language learning and teaching. These
principles are in no way dictative: they are only suggestive.
Remember then.
(i) Teach
the language, not about the language.
(ii) Teach
the’ language, not its written system (at the start).
(iii) Teach
the language, as it is, not as any one thinks it to be.
(iv) Teach
the language, not its literature.
(v) Teach
the language as it is now, not in term of its history.
(vi) Teach
the language as a skill, not as an intellectual task.
(vii) Teach
the language in varied, interesting situations.
(viii) Give
maximum exposure.
(ix)
Give vocabulary its due place.
(x) Use
mother-tongue as a tool, not a medium.
(xi) Immediately
reinforce correct response.
WHAT IS PSYCHO LINGUISTICS?
Psycho linguistics : Psychology of language developed during 1960s.
Deals with
language acquisition process, language research, acoustic phonetics , language
pathology , Physiological process like memory, attention, its influence on
linguistic behaviour., how knowledge of a language is represented in the brain
of a fluent speaker, language acquisition
and utilization of the knowledge of the language in production, and
comprehension of expression.
Chomsky proposed
three corresponding models:1)Competence Model:
reflects the
speaker’s information level 2)A Performance Model:reflects the actual processes
for producing and understanding language. 3)Acquisition Model:Reflects the
changes in the competence and performance of a child during the language
acquisition period. Provides a model for the child’s language learning achievement.
PSYCHOLINGUISTIC THEORIES
Psycholinguistic
theories are important approaches of
psychology to language acquisition. Important schools are:1)
Behaviouristic Approach. 2)Cognitive
Approach 3)Constructive Approach 4)Multiple Intelligence Theory.
2.2 IMPLICATIONS
OF THEORIES RELATED TO LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT- BEHAVIOURISM, COGNITIVISM,
CONSTRUCTIVISM, CRITICAL PEDAGOGY, GARDNER’S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE
Cognitive
Approach
-Also known as ‘Gestalt
School’., the German word which means ‘whole’.
-Emphasis to subjective
cognitive experience of the learner.
Human learning as a result of
both nature and nurture.
Role of practice and corrective
feed back to reduce error correction.
Species specific nature of
language and The existence of
LAD(Language Acquisition Device’ proposed by Chomsky.
Role of reinforcement to
motivate the learner.
Suggests native language
learner’s developmental route for second language learning.
Communicative Approach is based on Cognitivism.
Constructivism owes to
Cognitivism.
COGNITIVE TEACHING
Introduction
To design more effective learning environments, cognitive
scientists have been drawing on a
wide array of knowledge and experience, including: the work
of 19th century and early 20th century educators, analyses of
apprenticeship learning and of the rapid learning of young children, and
cognitive research. In the research examining the development of understanding
in learners, many studies emphasize the importance of building upon learners’
prior knowledge about a topic and of learners’ active involvement in their
learning. Cognitive psychology says that
the learner plays a critical role in determining what he or she gets out of
instruction. Educators employing a cognitive
approach to learning would view learning as internal mental process (including
insight, information processing, memory, perception) where in order to develop
learner capacity and skills to improve learning, the educator structures
content of learning activities to focus on building intelligence and cognitive
and meta-cognitive development.
What is
Cognitive theory?
Cognitive theory is a learning
theory of
psychology that attempts to explain human behavior by understanding the thought
processes. The assumption is that humans are logical beings that make the
choices that make the most sense to them. Cognitive theories are focused
on internal states, such as motivation, problem solving, decision-making,
thinking, and attention.
Cognitive theories are appropriate to the school
situation, for they are concerned with knowing and thinking. They assume that
perceiving and doing, shown in manipulation and play, precede the capacity to
symbolize, which in turn prepares for comprehensive understanding. Although the
sequence of motor-perceptual experience followed by symbolic representation has
been advocated for a long time, Jean Piaget offered the first penetrating
account of this kind of intellectual growth. His views have exercised great
influence on educators.
Cognitive theories of learning also assume that
the complete act of thought follows a fairly common sequence, as follows:
arousal of intellectual interest; preliminary exploration of the problem;
formulation of ideas, explanations, or hypotheses; selection of appropriate
ideas; and verification of their suitability.
In cognitive teaching, importance
is given to the cognitive development of learners and different aspects of cognition.
Cognition is the scientific term for mental processes. It refers to
information-processing abilities of humans, including learning, perception,
remembering, judging and problem-solving (dictionary.com). The cognitive school
starts with Gestalt theories like Piaget, Bruner, Ausbel, Suchma etc. the ideas
formulated in these lines by these theorists have revolutionized the field of
instruction.
GESTALT
THEORY
Being dissatisfied with
behaviouristic views and practices in learning and study of behavior, the
Gestalt theorists Wertheimer, Kohler and Koffka started a new approach. The
gestalt psychologists believe that whole is more important than parts. So
learning also should involve understanding situations and experiences as a
whole.
Educational
Implications of Gestalt Theory
·
From whole to
parts
·
Integrated
approach
·
Emphasis on
understanding
·
Problem solving
approach
PIAGET'S COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY
It is also much influenced
by the developmental psychology of Piaget focusing on the maturational factors
affecting understanding. The accommodation / assimilation and intellectual
equilibrium/ disequilibrium dialectic is the part most useful for understanding
grown learners.
Role
of Teacher
•
Present
problematic situation appropriate to the developmental status- of the learner
as a challenge to the learner and create in him cognitive disequilibrium.
Motivation to operate should arouse as a result.
•
Present learning
experiences geared towards identifying related schemas in the existing
cognitive structure and make the learners reverse those schemas.
•
Help the learner
to establish links between the related schemas by different strategies. Motivate
and enable the learner to shuttle the old and new schemas till the appropriate
relation is established and assimilation happens.
•
Help the learner
accommodate by properly integrating the new schemas at the appropriate regions
of the cognitive structure.
Ø The Cognitive Development
Model of Teaching is developed on
the basis of Piagetian approach.
BRUNER'S
COGNITIVE ASSUMPTIONS
Bruner is the proponent of Discovery Learning. According to Bruner the
process of learning is more important than the mere material learnt. He also
held that to cope up with the explosion of knowledge every learner should know
how to learn. In order to realize this, Bruner has suggested certain strategies
to be followed by teachers.
Role
of Teacher
•
Make use of the
most wonderful gift given to human being by nature, namely curiosity as the
dynamic force leading to discovery.
•
Grade the
curricular material to provide learning experiences formulated by him as
enactive, lkonic and symbolic to suit the development status of the learner
•
Inorder to
ensure proper cognitive development gradual increase in the level of
abstraction of experiences should be ensured
•
There should be
constant and systematic interaction between the teacher and the learner so that
the latter can discover scientifically and precisely
Ø The Concept Attainment Model of teaching is developed on the basis of
Brunerian approach
SUCHMAN’S
THEORY OF LEARNING
Based on the cognitive assumption of
discovery learning, Suchman has developed an instructional strategy which is
often called Inquiry Training. He argues
that by presenting puzzling situations and by arousing curiosity, children
could be made to arrive at solutions for the puzzle. His theory is based on four principles:
v People
inquire naturally when they are puzzled
v They
can become conscious of and learn to analyse their thinking strategies
v New
strategies can be taught directly and added to
the existing ones
v Co-operative
inquiry enriches thinking and helps students to learn about the tentative, emergent nature of
knowledge and to appreciate alternative explanations.
Role
of teacher
On
the basis of these principles, a teacher has to take care of providing inquiry
strategies to explore puzzling situations and help the learners to arrive at
feasible solutions.
INTRODUCTION
TO BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
With Blooms Taxonomy cognitive
domain also gained in important in the planning of educational objectives
bloom’s taxonomy was created by Benjamin Bloom during the 1950s and is a way to
categorize the levels of reasoning skills required in classroom situations.
The original handbook in 1956 was
intended only to focus on one of the three domains (as indicated in the domain
specification in title: The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook `1:
Cognitive Domain) but there was expectations that additional material would
be generated for the other domain (as indicated in the numbering of the
handbook in the title)
COGNITIVE
LEARNING
There
are six levels in the taxonomy, each requiring a higher level of abstraction
from the students.
Knowledge:
Exhibit memory of previously learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic
concepts and answers.
In
this level, questions are asked solely to test whether a student’s has gained
specific information from the lesson.
For example, have they memorized the dates for a particular war or do
they know the presidents that served during specific eras of American
History. It also includes knowledge of
the main ideas that are being taught. We
are writing knowledge questions when we use words like tell, list, label, name
etc
Comprehension:
Demonstrative understanding of facts and ideas
by organizing comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and
stating main ideas. This level of Blooms
taxonomy has students go past simply recalling facts and instead has them
understanding the information. With this
level, they will be able to interpret the facts. Instead of simply being able
to name the various types of clouds, for examples, the students would be able
to understand why each cloud formed in that manner. We are probably writing comprehension
questions when we use words like describe, contract, discuss, predict etc.
Application:
Using
new knowledge. Solve problems to new
situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a
different ways. Applications questions
are those where students have to actually apply, or use, the knowledge they
have learned. They might be asked to
solve a problem with the information they have gained in class solve a legal
questions in an American government class using the constitution and its
amendments. We are problem writing
application questions when we use words like complete, solve, examine,
illustrate, show etc.
Analysis:
Examine
and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make inferences and find evidence to support
generalizations. In this level, student will be required to go beyond knowledge
and application and actually see patterns that they can use to analyze a problem. For example, an English teacher might ask
what the motives were behind the protagonist’s actions during a novel. This requires students to analyse the
character and come to a conclusion based on this analysis. We are probably
writing analysising questions when we use words like analyse, explain,
investigate, infer etc.
Synthesis:
Compile
information together in a different way by combining elements a new pattern or
proposing alternative solutions. With
synthesis, students are required to use the given facts to create new theories
or make predictions. They might have to
pull to knowledge from multiple subjects and synthesis this information before
coming to a conclusion. For example, if
a student is asked to invent a new product or game they are being asked to
synthesis. We are probably writing
synthesis questions when we use words like invent, imagine, create compose etc.
Evaluation:
Present and defend opinions by making
judgments about information, validity and ideas or quality of work based on a
set of criteria the top of bloom’s taxonomy is evaluation. Here students are expected to assess
information and come to conclusions such as its value or the bias behind
it. For example, if a student is
completing a DBQ (Document Based System) for an AP US History course, they are
expected to evaluate the bias behind any primary or secondary sources in order
to see how that affects the points that the speaker is making. We are probably writing evaluation question when
we use words like select, judge, debate, recommended etc.
A teacher has to take care to include educational objectives belonging
to cognitive domain while planning for instruction and make sure these
objectives were being materialized in the classroom.
Principles
of Cognitive Learning Theory:
Cognitive learning theory has
provided the framework for guiding instruction for more than half a century,
and during that time we have learned a great deal about learning and people’s
thinking . Cognitive theory is grounded on the following principles:
Ø Learning and development depend on learner’s
experiences.
Ø People want their experiences to make sense.
Ø People construct knowledge in order to make sense
of their experiences.
Ø The knowledge learners construct depends on their
prior knowledge and experiences.
Ø Social interaction and the use of language
facilitate knowledge construction.
Ø Learning requires practise and feedback
Ø Learning is enhanced when learning experiences
are connected to the real world.
Using Cognitive Theories to Improve Teaching
"Learners are not simply
passive recipients of information; they actively construct their own
understanding." Marilia Svinicki then draws six principles from cognitive
theory that operationally define this perspective, with implications for applying
the principles.
Principle
1. If information is to be learned, it must first be recognized as important. The
more attention effectively directed toward what is to be learned, the higher
the probability of learning. This begins simply: instructors write key ideas on
the board; textbooks highlight the most important points. It becomes more
complicated as students within a given major must learn how a discipline
determines what is important. They can do that more readily if instructors make
those determinations explicit.
Principle
2. During learning, learners act on information in ways that make it more
meaningful. Instructor and students should use examples, images,
elaborations, and connections to prior knowledge to make information more
meaningful, to bridge from what is known to what is unknown. This makes it very
important for instructors to know what kinds of knowledge and experiences
students bring to the new learning situation.
Principle
3. Learners store information in long-term memory in an organized fashion
related to their existing understanding of the world. The
instructor can help students organize new information by providing an
organizational structure, particularly one with which students are familiar, or
by encouraging students to create such structures; in fact, students learn best
under the latter condition. Without instructor guidance, students either impose
their own structure-- most generally a structure that reflects an uninformed
view things (and often leads to misconceptions)-- or memorize the material
minus any structure, which leads to fast forgetting.
Principle
4. Learners continually check understanding, which results in refinement and
revision of what is retained. Opportunities for checking and diagnosis aid
learning. Principle 5. Transfer of
learning to new contexts is not automatic, but results form exposure to
multiple applications. During learning, provision must be made for later
transfer. The more (and the more different) situations in which students see a
concept applied, the better they will be able to use what they have learned in
the future. It will no longer be tied to a single context.
Principle
6. Learning is facilitated when learners are aware of their learning strategies
and monitor their use. The instructor should help students learn
how to translate these strategies into action at appropriate points in their
learning. In other words, the application of cognitive theory implies a
responsibility to teach both content and process. Students need to learn how to
learn just as much as they need to learn things.
Cognitivist
teaching methods:
Teaching based on cognitive
theories of learning recognizes, first, the growth in quality of intellectual
activity and capitalizes on this knowledge by organizing instruction to
anticipate the next stage in development but does not await it; otherwise there
would be no instruction; i.e., instruction should pace
development but not outstrip it. Second, it seeks to tune the learning
situation to the sequences of the complete act of thought and to arrange,
simplify, and organize the subject matter accordingly. Some educators emphasize
strongly the arousal phase; in many modern science curricula there is, thus,
the idea of inquiry training, which tries to arouse in the child a spontaneous
rather than a directed interest. Other educators are concerned more with the
middle intellectual phases of the thinking sequence—especially the playing with
hypotheses or hunches and the working with organizing ideas and concepts.
Cognitivist teaching methods aim
to assist students in assimilating new information to existing knowledge, and
enabling them to make the appropriate modifications to their existing
intellectual framework to accommodate that information. Thus, while
cognitivists allow for the use of “skill and drill” exercises in the
memorization of facts, formulae, and lists, they place greater importance on
strategies that help students to actively assimilate and accommodate new
material. For instance, asking students to explain new material in their own
words can assist them in assimilating it by forcing them to re-express the new
ideas in their existing vocabulary. Likewise, providing students with sets of
questions to structure their reading makes it easier for them to relate it to
previous material by highlighting certain parts and to accommodate the new
material by providing a clear organizational structure.
Because learning is largely
self-motivated in the cognitivist framework, cognitivists such as A. L. Brown
and J. D. Ferrara have also suggested methods which require students to monitor
their own learning. For instance, the use of ungraded tests and study questions
enables students to monitor their own understanding of the material. Other
methods that have been suggested include the use of learning journals by
students to monitor progress and highlight any recurring difficulties, and to
analyze study habits.
Cognitive teaching models: In the section below, we briefly review several instructional
systems developed by cognitive psychologists.
Anderson's Intelligent Tutors
John Anderson
accounts for cognitive performance through the ACT* model of information
processing ( Anderson, 1990). According to this model, declarative knowledge is
compiled into procedural skill through repeated practice performing a task.
Whereas a novice must keep a procedure's steps in mind while performing, an
expert turns several steps into an integrated routine, similar to the way
subroutines work together in computer programming. Once knowledge is compiled
from declarative to procedural knowledge, it may be performed with a minimum of
allocated conscious attention.
Instruction
based on the ACT* model would therefore emphasize guiding the learner through
repeated practice opportunities to proceduralize the skills of the curriculum.
Based on a cognitive analysis of the task, a model of the ideal student
performance is developed for varying stages of competence, including assorted
"buggy" procedures. As instruction proceeds, the system fits the
learner's response pattern to its performance model, selects problems to
minimize errors and optimize learning, and provides feedback and remediation
accordingly. The technique of comparing learners' performance with a
preexisting performance model is termed model tracing. The program does
not make available the model's production rules to students directly; rather,
the production rules trigger various instructional events, most notably
intervention and feedback following incorrect performance. Because new
knowledge is best learned in the context of solving relevant problems,
instruction is centered around problem-solving practice.
Clancey's Intelligent Tutoring
Environments
Clancey's
(1986) program GUIDON and its descendents use heuristic classification methods
as the basis for an intelligent tutoring environment for medical diagnosis. The
program differs from ACT* model prescriptions in several ways. First, it
assumes that the learner has a basic understanding of terms, concepts and
disease processes. Second, it assumes that learning is more efficient if the
student determines what he/she needs to know next without being explicitly
controlled by the system. Third, and most significantly, it is failure driven;
that is, primary instruction occurs in the form of feedback to student errors.
GUIDON
requires the student to make a diagnosis, then to justify it with reasons. When
the student's diagnosis "fails," he/she must take steps to correct
the reasoning that led to it. Thus while the student develops expertise in
medical diagnosis in a realistic problem-solving context, he/she also learns to
detect and correct buggy procedures and misconceptions. The program is nearly
completely learner-controlled; at any point, the student can choose to browse
through the expert taxonomies and tables, examine the expert's reasoning during
problem solving, ask questions, or request explanations. But ultimately the
student must generate the appropriate links in a solution graph for each case.
Qualitative
Mental Models
White and
Frederiksen's (1986) program to teach troubleshooting in electrical circuits
emphasizes the relationship between qualitative models and causal explanations.
White and Frederiksen believe that mastery of qualitative reasoning should
precede quantitative reasoning. Their program builds on students' intuitive
understandings of the domain, carefully sequencing "real-world"
problems that require the student to construct increasingly complex qualitative
models of the domain. Although the program encourages students to engage in diverse
learning strategies (exploring, requesting explanations, viewing tutorial
demonstrations or problem solving), it tries to minimize errors.
Reciprocal
Teaching
Brown and
Palincsar (1989; Palincsar & Brown, 1984) have developed a cooperative
learning system for the teaching of reading, termed reciprocal teaching.
The teacher and learners assemble in groups of 2 to 7 and read a paragraph
together silently. A person assumes the "teacher" role and formulates
a question on the paragraph. This question is addressed by the group, whose
members are playing roles
of producer and critic simultaneously. The
"teacher" advances a summary, and makes a prediction or
clarification, if any is needed. The role of teacher then rotates, and the
group proceeds to the next paragraph in the text. Brown and colleagues have
also developed a method of assessment, called dynamic assessment, based on
successively increasing prompts on a realistic reading task. The reciprocal
teaching method uses a combination of modeling, coaching, scaffolding, and
fading to achieve impressive results, with learners showing dramatic gains in
comprehension, retention, and far transfer over sustained periods.
Procedural
Facilitations for Writing
Novices
typically employ a knowledge-telling strategy when they write: They
think about their topic, then write their thought down; think again, then write
the next thought down, and so on until they have exhausted their thoughts about
the topic. This strategy, of course, is in conflict with a more constructive,
planning approach in which writing pieces are composed in a more coherent,
intentional way. To encourage students to adopt more sophisticated writing
strategies, Scardamalia and Bereiter (1985) have developed a set of writing
prompts called procedural facilitations, that are designed to reduce
working-memory demands and provide a structure for completing writing plans and
revisions. Their system includes a set of cue cards for different purposes of
writing, structured under five headings: new idea (e.g. "An even
better idea is..."; "An important point I haven't considered yet
is..."), improve ("I could make my point
clearer..."), elaborate ("An example of this...";
"A good point on the other side of the argument
is..."), goals ("My purpose..."), and putting it
together ("I can tie this together by..."). Each prompt is
written on a notecard and drawn by learners working in small groups. The
teacher makes use of two
techniques, soloing and co-investigation. Soloing gives learners
the opportunity to try out new procedures by themselves, then return to the
group for critique and suggestions. Co-investigation is a process of using
think-aloud protocols that allow learner and teacher to work together on
writing activities. This allows for more direct modeling and immediate direction.
Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987) have found up to tenfold gains in learning
indicators with nearly every learner improving his/her writing through the
intervention.
Schoenfeld's
Math Teaching
Schoenfeld
(1985) studied methods for teaching math to college students. He developed a
set of heuristics that were helpful in solving math problems. His method
introduces those heuristics, as well as a set of control strategies and a
productive personal belief system about math, to students. Like the writing and
reading systems, Schoenfeld's system includes explicit modeling of
problem-solving strategies, and a series of structured exercises affording
learner practice in large and small groups, as well as individually. He employs
a tactic he calls "postmortem analysis," retracing the solution of
recent problems, abstracting out the generalizable strategies and components.
Unlike the writing and reading systems, Schoenfeld carefully selects and
sequences practice cases to move learners into higher levels of skill. Another
interesting technique is the equivalent to "stump the teacher," with
time at the beginning of each class period devoted to learner-generated
problems that the teacher is challenged to solve. Learners witnessing
occasional false starts and dead ends of the teacher's solution can acquire a
more appropriate belief structure about the nature of expert math problem
solving. Schoenfeld's positive research findings support a growing body of math
research suggesting the importance of acquiring a conceptual or schema-based
representation of math problem solving.
Anchored
Instruction
John Bransford
and colleagues at Vanderbilt University have developed several instructional
products using video settings. Young Sherlock Holmes or Indiana
Jones may provide macro contexts within which problems of
various kinds may be addressed. For example, when Indiana Jones quickly
replaces a bag of sand in place of the gold idol, the booby trap is tricked
into thinking the idol is still there. This scene opens up questions of mass
and density: If the idol were solid gold, how big must a sand bag be to weigh
the same, and could Indy have escaped as he did carrying a solid-gold idol
of that size? Based on a single macrocontext, learners may approach a variety
of problems that draw on science, math, language, and history. Bransford and
colleagues have applied the name anchored instruction to this
approach of grounding instruction in information-rich situations, and have
reported favorable findings in field-based and laboratory studies (The
Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1990). Recently, several
videodisc-based macro contexts called the Jasper Series have been developed as
a basis for research and classroom instruction (The Cognition and Technology
Group at Vanderbilt, in press; Sherwood and The Cognition and Technology Group
at Vanderbilt, 1991; Van Haneghan et al., in press).
Cognitive
Flexibility Hypertexts
Spiro and
colleagues (Spiro & Jehng, 1990) have developed hypertext programs to
address problems typically associated with acquiring knowledge in complex,
ill-structured domains. The programs utilize videodiscs that construct multiple
"texts" (audio/video mini-cases, about 90 seconds each) of a domain..
Spiro's programs are best thought of as "rich" environments that
allow sophisticated learners to pursue their learning goals in a flexible way.
They do not typically include skill practice in a traditional sense, but
instead rely on learner purposes and externally imposed assignments to give
meaning to student browsing. There is an authoring shell, however, built into
the system for teachers or students to use. Students, for example, may
construct a series of mini-cases into a "visual essay" illustrating a
theme not present on the Theme menu.
Spiro and
Jehng emphasize that this instructional approach is difficult-it places great
metacognitive demands on learners-but it addresses goals which are often
overlooked in instruction precisely because they are difficult.
Expert
Systems.
Lippert (1988,
1990) describes the way in which an expert system shell can be used as both an
instructional and a learning strategy to "facilitate the acquisition of
procedural knowledge and problem-solving skills in difficult topics"
(1988, p. 22). Again, students learn by designing-developing an expert system
individually or in groups, on their own or under the guidance of a teacher.
According to Lippert, the strategy can be used with students as young as grade
6 and in any domain whose knowledge base can be expressed in productions.
Like the Harel
and Papert approach, developing an expert system forces students to construct a
meaningful representation of the domain. Most expert systems are systems which
reduce a content domain to a set of IF-THEN rules. According to Lippert's
scheme, the knowledge base is the key component and includes four parts:
decisions which define the domain; questions which extract information
(answers) from the user; rules that relate the answers to the decisions; and
explanations (of questions or rules), which require the developer to understand
the relationships among the various elements of the domain-the learner must
understand "why" and "when," not merely "what."
The developer constructs the knowledge base which the system then evaluates; if
the system finds inconsistencies or redundancies, the developer must revise the
knowledge base. In doing so, the learner must be reflective and articulate his
or her implicit knowledge. Developing such a system helps students confront
their misconceptions of the content.
Conclusion
Cognition
refers to mental activity including thinking, remembering, learning and using
language. When we apply a cognitive approach to learning and teaching, we focus
on the understanding of information and concepts. If we are able to understand
the connections between concepts, break down information and rebuild with
logical connections, then our retention of material and understanding will
increase.
When we are
aware of these mental actions, monitor them and control our learning processes
it is called meta-cognition, which varies from situation to situation,
will greatly effect how individuals behave in a given situation. Understanding
of language, or psycholinguistics, is essential to our understanding of
print and oral acquisition of knowledge. Comprehension and
perception will allow
individuals to interpret information. Lastly, the
overall motivation of the learner will determine how effectively the
information is retained or processed.
According to
Kate Mc Gilly (1996), students are not learning to their full potential due to
the fact that more often than not, they use rote memory procedures in the
classroom. With the increased competition in the work force and jobs becoming
more demanding, students need to be more prepared for higher learning and the
job market with skills that evolve from cognitive theory. These skills,
including study skills, social skills, problem solving, and organizational
skills to name a few, should be taught and integrated across the curriculum.
What is
meant by constructivism?
of recent development. Most
reputed expounders are: Jean Piaget, Jerome S Bruner, Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky,
Noam Chomsky, Donaldson and Skemp.
The term refers to the idea that learners
construct knowledge for themselves---each learner individually (and socially)
constructs meaning---as he or she learns.
Constructing meaning is learning;
1) we have to focus on the learner in
thinking about learning (not on the subject/lesson to be taught):
2) There is no knowledge independent of the
meaning attributed to experience (constructed) by the learner, or community of
learners.
CHARACTERISTICS
1)
Paradigm shift in the roles: Education is learner centered.
Teacher is only a guide and facilitator a prompter behind the curtain. Learner
constructs knowledge, instead of delivered or spoon-fed as a product.
2)
Learning Process : Learner actively constructs knowledge himself
based on the prior knowledge and experience. ‘Construct Knowledge’ means
‘recreate knowledge.’ Learner interacts with content, teacher, peers, and
environment in the learning process. The immanent potentialities of the humans are infinite but they use
infitesimally small amount of it.
Principles of learning
Guiding principles of constructivist thinking relevant to the educators
1. Learning
involves the active ‘learners
‘(Dewey) engaging with the world:.
Learning is an active process in which the learner uses sensory input and
constructs meaning out of it. The
learner needs to do something. Learning is not the passive acceptance of
knowledge which exists "out there" but that
2. People
learn to learn as they learn: learning consists both of constructing
meaning and constructing systems of meaning.
Each meaning we construct makes us better able to give meaning to other
sensations which can fit a similar pattern.
3. The
crucial action of constructing meaning is mental: It happens in the mind.
Physical actions, hands-on experience may be necessary for learning, especially
for children, but it is not sufficient; we need to provide activities which
engage the mind as well as the hands. (Dewey called this reflective
activity.)
4.
Learning involves language: The language we use influences learning. On the empirical level.
Researchers have noted that people talk to themselves as they
learn. As Vigotsky says that language and learning are inextricably
intertwined.
5. Learning is a social activity: our
learning is intimately associated with our connection with other human beings,
our teachers, our peers, our family as well as casual acquaintances, including
the people before us or next to us at the exhibit. We are more likely to be
successful in our efforts to educate if we recognize this principle rather than
try to avoid it.‘ Progressive education’ (Dewey) recognizes the social aspect
of learning and uses conversation, interaction with others, and the application
of knowledge as an integral aspect of learning.
6. Learning is contextual: we do not learn
isolated facts and theories in some abstract ethereal land of the mind separate
from the rest of our lives: we learn in relationship to what else we know, what
we believe, our prejudices and our fears.
On reflection, it becomes clear that this point is actually a corollary
of the idea that learning is active and social. We cannot divorce our learning
from our lives.
7. One needs knowledge to learn: it is not
possible to assimilate new knowledge without having some structure developed
from previous knowledge to build on. The more we know, the more we can learn.
Therefore any effort to teach must be connected to the state of the learner,
must provide a path into the subject for the learner based on that learner's
previous knowledge.
8. It takes
time to learn: learning is not instantaneous. For significant
learning we need to revisit ideas, ponder them try them out, play with them and
use them. If you reflect on anything you have learned, you soon realize that it
is the product of repeated exposure and thought. Even, or especially, moments
of profound insight, can be traced back to longer periods of preparation.
9. Motivation
is a key component in learning. Not only is it the case that motivation
helps learning, it is essential for learning. This ideas of motivation is
broadly conceived to include an understanding of ways in which the knowledge
can be used. Unless we know "the reasons why", we may not be very
involved in using the knowledge that may be instilled in us even by the most severe and direct teaching.
FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCTIVISM
types:1)Cognitive Constructivism 2)
Social Constructivism. They are
complementary to each other.
Cognitive Constructivism
Propounded by Jean Piaget
Principles
Piaget identified a kind of cognitive scaffold
called ‘schema’ for organising knowledge. ‘Assimilation’ and
‘Accommodation’ are two related
processes in
Assimilation: The process of linking of the
unfamiliar schema with familiar schema already existed in the cognitive
structure. Thus unfamiliar schema is
made familiar.
The assimilated schemas are given a most
suitable place in the cognitive structure to become a part of that entity.
Accommodation: The process of incorporating new
knowledge by modifying the existing cognitive structure of the organism.
Both maturation and experience (nature and
nurture) play significant role in
building knowledge.
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Social Constructivism was
propounded by LS Vygotsky.
Principles
Creation of knowledge takes place
in the social environment of student.
Knowledge is acquired through active collaborative processes.
Learning occurs through social
interaction and debates. Not only the child’s biological aspects but his social
relations, civilization, history etc. make him grow intellectually. Learning
flourishes in a social environment where conversation between learners takes
place.
The learners are challenged both
socially and emotionally as they listen to different perspectives, and are
required to articulate and defend their ideas. Learners create their own unique
conceptual frameworks and not rely solely on an expert's or a text's framework.
The approach is closely related
to co-operative learning and Collaborative learning Activities.
Collaborative learning commonly illustrated when groups of students work
together to search for understanding meaning, or solutions or to create an
artifact or product of their learning. Collaborative Collaborative
learning Activities include:
collaborative writing , group projects,
joint problem solving, debates, study teams and other activities.
Characteristics of collaborative
Learning:
Aspects of Collaborative Learning
: (i) Cross-age tutoring (ii) Peer-tutoring (ii) Mentoring
Other aspects :
1) flexible class management
2) heterogeneous grouping.
3) teacher acts as a facilitator.
4) teacher helps the learner how to learn.
5) emphasis on interaction, self-evaluation and
peer-evaluation.
6) acknowledgment of the innate talents of the
learner.
Teaching Techniques: Group work, Workshops, Group Discussion, Role
playing, Dramatization.
3.CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
Educational
Implications of Critical Pedagogy
Critical Pedagogy
is a valuable approach in planning
teaching - learning experiences.It provides an opportunity to reflect
critically on issues in terms of their political, social, economic and moral
aspects. It entail the acceptance of multiple views on social issues and a
commitment to democratic forms of interaction.
Important in view of the multiple contexts in which our schools
function. A critical framework helps children to see social issues from
different perspectives and understand how such issues are connected to their
lives
For instance,
understanding of democracy as a way of life can be chartered through a path
where children reflect on how they regard others. friends, neighbours, opposite
sex, elders etc.), how they make choices (eg: activities, play, friends, career
etc.) and how they cultivate the ability to make decisions
Issues related to
human rights, caste, religion and gender can be critically reflected on by
children in order to see how these issues are connected to their everyday
experiences, and also how different forms of inequalities become compounded and
are perpetuated. Critical pedagogy facilitates collective decision making
through open discussion and by recognizing multiple views. It helps the
learners to relate the underlying social issues of the content to their day to
day life. It also helps to make choices
in varied situations and to develop the ability for good decision making.
Issue Domains
1. Lack of scientific land-Water
Management
2. Issues related to agriculture
3. Lack of cohesive universal vision
(viswamanavan)
4. Lack of human resource development
5. Lack of cultural consciousness
6. The issues of the marginalised
7. Lack of eco-friendly industrialisation
and urbanisation
8. Issues related to health and public
health
Critical
Pedagogy-Features of a learning material
Based on social
issues
Based on child’s
experiences
Opportunity for
democratic forms of interaction
Opportunity to
reflect critically on social issues and on opinion of others
Promote readiness to
correct
Opportunity for
collective decision making
Entails multiple
views
Chances for
self-evaluation and peer evaluation
Develops social feelings
Develops self concept
***
What is Critical Pedagogy?
A Summary of the Work of
Paulo Freire & His Contemporaries
Paulo Freire - Background
Freire was born in Recife, Brazil. He was born into a middle
class household. His family was impacted by the Great Depression. Freire soon knew what it was like to go
hungry. (Stevens, 2002)
Characteristics of the Great Depression
We have studied the Great Depression at length this year.
Jot down some social & economic repercussions of the Great Depression(misery)
across the globe. How do the points you’ve indicated tie into Freire’s “hunger”
both literally and metaphorically?
Paulo Freire on his Poverty
Freire stated that poverty and hunger severely affected his
ability to learn. This influenced his decision to dedicate his life to
improving the lives of the poor: “I didn't understand anything because of my
hunger. I wasn't dumb. It wasn't lack of interest. My social condition didn't
allow me to have an education. Experience showed me once again the relationship
between social class and knowledge"
(Freire). (Stevens, 2002)
Freire’s Career
Freire's financial situation eventually improved. He
enrolled at the University of Recife, where he earned a law degree. He soon left the legal profession choosing to
teach Portuguese in Brazil’s high schools.
He later switched from teaching high school to a career in adult
education. (Stevens, 2002) Freire completed his PhD and worked in several university and
government agencies in Brazil throughout the 1960s. He worked towards bringing
literacy programs to Brazil’s poor. In April of 1964, a military coup
(revolution) brought all progressive movements in Brazil to a halt(stop) or
(arrest). Freire was imprisoned for 70
days and then exiled for his "subversive"(rebellious) activities.
(Stevens, 2002)
Jailed for being Progressive?
We’ve studied many people throughout the course of the year
who were jailed for being progressive; for wanting change in their societies.
Write down the names of a few people who were incarcerated for being
“subversive”. What connections can you make about being progressive (i.e.
wanting change) and governmental status quo? Why do governments feel the need
to silence people who want change?
Freire’s Career (Cont’d)
In 1968 Freire published his most famous book, Pedagogy
of the Oppressed, where he outlined the characteristics of what he called Critical
Pedagogy. Critical Pedagogy called for people living under conditions of
oppression to develop a new foundation for learning. (Stevens, 2002)
What is Oppression?
We use this word a great deal in our study of 20th
Century history. What does oppression really mean? Write down your own definition. Research
definitions of oppression on the Internet.
How do these definitions compare or contrast with your own? Name groups
of people whom we have studied that you feel were oppressed? What oppressed
these people? Who oppressed them?
Critical Pedagogy
Critical Pedagogy was embraced by the academic community and
university scholars. There has been a lot written about critical pedagogy since
Freire’s first text.
Important names in the field include: Kincheloe ,Macedo ,
Wexler , McLaren, Shor , Darder , Giroux and hooks (Kincheloe, 2007) (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008)
What is Critical Pedagogy?
Critical pedagogy is a
teaching approach which attempts to help students question and challenge
domination, and the beliefs and practices that dominate them. It tries to help students become critically
conscious. (Wikpedia, 2008)
How to
be Critically Conscious?
According
to Ira Shor (1992) a student can be critically conscious by: Thinking, reading,
writing, and speaking while going beneath the surface meaning. A student must
go beyond: Myths, clichés, received wisdom, and mere opinions.
Most
importantly students must understand the deep meaning, root causes, social
context,and personal consequences of:any action, event, object, process,
organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or
discourse. (Shor, 1992)
Characteristics
of Critical Pedagogy
The
following is a list of the goals and methods that critical pedagogy tries to
bring to education.
The
objective of this pedagogy (method of education) is to empower students and
help them help themselves. The aim is to liberate students from oppression.
CLASS EXAMPLE 1. Anti-Colonial Education
Native populations need to have their own education systems.
They need to develop their own culture. Their education should not simply be an
extension of the culture of their colonizer.
(Freire, 1968)
CLASS EXAMPLE: 2. The Role of
Indigenous Knowledge
The knowledge of indigenous and subjugated peoples (people
forced to submit to the will of another group) is very important.When oppressed
people learn about their own culture, history, medicinal practices, religion,
heritage, etc., this can have a transformative effect on their lives and lead
to their own empowerment. Indigenous knowledge is equally important for people
in the West who have ignored it in favour of Western knowledge.There is much to
be learnt from the knowledge of indigenous peoples across the globe.(Kincheloe,
2007)
CLASS EXAMPLE 3. Identifying Sources of Power
Students must be able to analyze competing power interests
between groups and individuals within a society.They must be able to identify
who gains and who loses in specific situations. They must be made aware that
privileged groups often have an interest in supporting the status quo to
protect their advantages. (Kincheloe,
2007)
CLASS EXAMPLE 4. Political Nature of Education
All education is political.Teachers and students must be
made aware of the “politics” that surround education.The way students are
taught and what they are taught serves a political agenda.Teachers, themselves,
have political notions, they bring into the classroom. (Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE: 5. Understanding the
Politics of Knowledge
Students must understand that knowledge itself is
political.Understanding the “power” of knowlegde is crucial. Many educational
instiutions use their “power” to keep the privileged on top and the
underprivileged on the bottom.What we learn in schools/universities is usually
“validated" scientific knowledge. The problem? Often the people who produced this
“scientific” knowledge are the people in positions of power who dominate over
oppressed peoples! How much of the knowledge thay you have learnt in school is
Western and written by dead, white males? (Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE 6. Justice & Equality in Education
A social and educational vision of justice and equality
should be the basis of all education (Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE: 7. The Rejection of Economic Determinism
Critical Pedagogy understands that economic factors alone do
not predetermine who has power and who does not.Students must be made to
realize that people are also oppressed because of issues of: race, class,
gender, sexuality, religion, and physical ability (Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE 8. Goal of Schooling is to Lessen Human
Suffering
The alleviation of oppression and human suffering is a key
aspect of the purpose of education
(Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE: 9. End of “Banking System” of Education
Students should not be viewed as an empty “account” to be
filled in by the teacher. Teachers should know that students have life
experiences and their own knowledge that is key in shaping their education and
learning. Good schools do not blame students for their failures or strip
students of the knowledges they bring to the classroom.(Freire, 1968)
(Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE:10. Change in Relationship between
Student and Teacher
A deep respect should exist between teacher and student. We
should think in terms of teacher-student and student-teacher - that is: a
teacher who learns and a learner who
teaches. (Freire, 1968)
CLASS EXAMPLE: 11. Teachers as
Researchers
The professionalism of teachers must be respected.Part of
the role of any educator involves becoming a scholar and a researcher.It is
vital to know your students; i.e. their culture, knowledge base, language, etc.
Teachers must become “warrior intellectuals”, people who know their students
and their backgrounds and who are willing to fight for them .(Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLEb 12. Education Must Promote Emancipation
& Intellectual Growth
Education must both promote freedom (emancipation) and the
changes that come with it.Education must also allow knowledge, reasoning and
understanding (i.e. intellect) to grow.These two goals should never be in
conflict, they should always be in sync.Those who seek freedom (emancipation)
attempt to gain the power to control their own lives in unity with a community
that seeks justice.Critical pedagogy’s role is to expose the forces that
prevent individuals and groups from making the decisions that will affect their
lives. (Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE 13. Education Meeting the Needs of New
Colonialism
Education often reflects the interests and needs of new
modes of colonialism and empire, i.e. Globalization, TNCs, U.S. foreign
domination….Such dynamics must be exposed, understood, and acted
upon.(Kincheloe, 2008)
CLASS EXAMPLE 14. A Cycle of Critical Praxis Must be
Established
Praxis is a problem-solving method.
15. The Idea of Hegemony
Hegemony(domination)
is a complex notion….Groups/people who have dominant power do not always
get this power through physical force. They gain this power through social and
psychological attempts to win people’s consent. This is often done by
dominating culture, i.e. influencing media, schools, family, the Church. This
is hegemony. (Kincheloe, 2007)
Example: Hitler slowly won over the consent of the German
people; he did not take over power by force. He created organizations that
improved working conditions in factories, he developed loan programs for
families who wanted to go on vacation, he established youth groups to
indoctrinate the young, etc. As we
learnt his manipulation of the German people won them over, i.e. hegemony.
Critical Pedagogy – Final Thoughts
One of the key objectives of critical pedagogy is to allow
students to gain the necessary social skills to allow them to actively
participate in a transformed & inclusive democratic community.When you
can identify the sources of power, recognize your own position in relation to
power and understand the political nature of what you learn you can develop
your own social actions.Critical pedagogy seeks to give those who have been
excluded from power the right and ability to have an input into civic life. (Kincheloe, 2007)
WHAT IS CRITICAL PEDAGOGY?
The purpose
of this paper is to introduce the concept of Critical Pedagogy to the classroom
teacher - the person who literally spends his or her life and energies in
direct interactions and relationship with the students in the public schools -
and to offer examples of Critical Pedagogy itself as implemented in the
classroom. This writer is at heart an elementary teacher, and is well aware of
the many demands placed on teachers today such as standardized testing; the
constant paper mill of reports and documentations; the domİnant, conservative philosophy of education in which the structure
of our schools is established: how schools are organized, the arrangement of
the typical classroom, the state mandated curriculum and textbooks, the
standardized assessment of teachers’ teaching abilities, the concept of the
teacher as the authoritarian giver of knowledge and the student as the passive
receiver. These aspects of education will be addressed, analyzed and evaluated
in relation to freedom, oppression, and democracy.
The basic tenet
of Critical Pedagogy is that there is an unequal social stratification in our
society based upon class, race and gender. McLaren states that Critical
Pedagogy:
“resonates
with the sensibility of the Hebrew symbol of tikkun, which means ‘to heal,
repair, and transform the world, all the rest is commentary.’ It provides
historical, cultural, political, and ethical direction for those in education
who still dare to hope. Irrevocably committed to the side of the oppressed,
critical pedagogy is as revolutionary as the earlier view of the authors of the
Declaration of Independence: is history is fundamentally open to change,
liberation is an authentic goal, and a radically different world can be brought
into being.”
Those of
high power and status are at the top of society and control the rest of
society. By doing so, the unequal conditions can be maintained; in other words,
the status quo remains. Those who wish to maintain this status quo do so
because of the economic and social benefits they derive from this stratification,
hence, not wishing to lose these benefits they fight to keep them by oppressing
others. Your reaction by now may be, “That’s ridiculous. We live in America,
the land of plenty, the land of hope and freedom. Anyone to wants to be
successful in this society is free to do so. We can’t possibly have that
condition in the United States.” After all, that sounds like some sort of
dictatorship, and in a free society no one could get away with that sort of
control and power. Yet, this control is wielded through a tool known as
hegemony. Under hegemony those who are oppressed are giving their permission to
be oppressed to those who are dominating them. It is a subtle, almost
invisible, form of control, in which everyone (including the oppressors and the
oppressed) believe it is the only way, the right way. Apple states that
hegemony acts to “saturate our consciousness”, so that the educational,
economic and social world we see and interact with, and the commonsense
interpretations we put on it, become the real world, the only world. Hegemony
is a process in which domİnant groups in
society come together to form a bloc and sustain leadership over subordinate
groups. Rather than relying on coercion, it relies on winning consent to the
prevailing order by forming an ideological umbrella under which different
groups who usually might not totally agree with each other can stand. The
groups are offered a compromise and feel as if their concerns are being
listened to while the domİnant groups still
maintain their leadership of general social tendencies.
Although
Dewey does not use the term “hegemony”, he too, describes this process.
“Etymologically, the word education means just a process of leading or bringing
up . . . we speak of education as a shaping, forming, molding activity - that
is, a shaping into the standard form of social activity . . . The required
beliefs cannot be hammered in; the needed attitudes cannot be plastered on. But
the particular medium in which an individual exists leads him to see and feel
one thing rather than another; . . . Thus it gradually produces in him a
certain system of behavior, a certain disposition of action.” So, what schools
do is help to create and re-create the existing culture, beliefs and practices,
which is the hegemony. Hegemony is hegemony because of its “invisibility”; it
appears to simply be living and doing in the only way we could, it seems to be
perfectly natural and is therefore accepted as commonsense. Dewey describes how
the structures within schools - the subject matter and the organization of the
school - contribute to the hegemony of our society. “ . . . the bonds which
connect the subject matter of school study with the habits and ideals of the
social group are disguised and covered up. The ties are so loosened that it
often appears as if there were none; as if subject matter existed simply as
knowledge on its own independent behalf, and as if study were the mere act of
mastering it for its own sake, irrespective of any social values. Since it is
highly important for practical reasons to counteract this tendency the chief
purposes of our theoretical discussion are to make clear the connection which
is so readily lost from sight, and to show in some detail the social content
and function of the chief constituents of the course of study. . . . The
material of school studies . . puts before the instructor the essential
ingredients of the culture to be perpetuated.” According to Raymond Williams,
“Schools . . not only process people, they process ‘knowledge’ as well.” As
Apple explains, they act as agents of cultural and ideological hegemony, as
agents of selective tradition and cultural incorporation. . . . They help
create people (with the appropriate meanings and values) who see no other
serious possibility to the economic and cultural assemblage now extant.
Democracy
and freedom from oppression are the cornerstones of Critical Pedagogy. Apple
and Giroux have approached this concept, appropriating or applying the works of
Marcuse and Freire, to the situations of many Americans whom they perceive as
being blocked from fulfilling their potential for happiness and freedom due to
their race, class and gender. Like Marcuse and Freire, the first step for
attaining the necessary change and freedom is a raising of the consciousness of
the people. Both Marcuse’s and Freire’s theories held that the existing
inequalities in their countries, or in any society, were possible to overcome
once the oppressed became aware of the hegemony - the blindness,
unconsciousness of the true situation and possibilities - which held them
captive. They were slaves to a belief system which was an integral part of the
domİnant culture. Once the oppressed become aware of their situation
they can then critique it to determine what is wrong and what should be, then
make decisions and take actions toward the perceived needed change.
Many
renowned educators and theorists works contribute to or support this theory;
they include Peter McLaren, Douglas Kellner, Ira Shor, Henry Levin, John
Goodlad, Theodore Sizer, Jonothan Kozol, the Holmes Group, Michel Foucault, the
Critical Theory of Herbert Marcuse and the Frankfurt School, Pierre Bourdieu,
Stanley Aronowitz, and Antonio Gramsci.
Critical
Pedagogy studies the role which schools play in maintaining the social
stratification of society, and the possibilities for social change through the
schools. “Critical pedagogy is both a way of thinking about and negotiating
through praxis the relationship among classroom teaching, the production of
knowledge, the larger institutional structures of the school, and the social
and material relations of the wider community, society, and nation state.”
Peter McLaren explains that Critical Pedagogy is an approach adopted by
progressive teachers attempting to eliminate inequalities on the basis of
social class, and that it has also sparked a wide array of anti-sexist,
anti-racist, and anti-homophobic classroom-based curricula and policy
initiatives. Common questions for the critical educator include: What knowledge
is of most worth? Whose knowledge is most important? What knowledge should be
taught, and just as important, what knowledge is not to be taught? How does the
structure of the school contribute to the social stratification of our society?
What is the relationship between knowledge and power? What does this imply for
our children? What is the purpose of schooling? Is it to ensure democracy or to
maintain the status quo and support big business? How can teachers enable
students to become critical thinkers who will promote true democracy and
freedom?
Ira Shor
identifies principal goals of Critical Pedagogy: “when pedagogy and curricular
policy reflect egalitarian goals, they do what education can do:
I. Oppose
socialization with desocialization
II. Choose
critical consciousness over commercial consciousness
III.
Transformation of society over reproduction of inequality
IV. Promote
democracy by practicing it and by studying authoritarianism
V. Challenge
student withdrawal through participatory courses
VI.
Illuminate the myths supporting the elite hierarchy of society
VII.
Interfere with the scholastic disabling of students through a critical literacy
program
VIII. Raise
awareness about the thought and language expressed in daily life
IX.
Distribute research skills and censored information useful for investigating
power and policy in society
X. Invite
students to reflect socially on their conditions, to consider overcoming
limits. . . .
Shor says we
must pose the question of critical pedagogy (desocialization) when we discuss
teacher education programs or curriculum at any level of schooling. Once we
accept education’s role as challenging inequality and domİnant myths rather than as socializing students into the status
quo, we have a foundation needed to invent practical methods.”
Critical
Pedagogy, then, is defined by what it does - as a pedagogy which embraces a
raising of the consciousness, a critique of society, as valuing students’
voices, as honoring students’ needs, values, and individuality, as a hopeful,
active pedagogy which enables students to become truly participatory members of
a society who not only belong to the society but who can and do create and
re-create that society, continually increasing freedom. Marcuse states that
liberation “presupposes a knowledge and sensibility which the established
order, through its class system of education, blocks for the majority of the
people.”
Freire
states that there is no such thing as a neutral educational process. “Education
either functions as an instrument that is used to facilitate the integration of
the younger generation in to the logic of the present system and bring about
conformity to it, or it becomes ‘the practice of freedom’ the means by which
men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to
participate in the transformation of their world.” Michael Apple also argues
that education is not a neutral enterprise, that by the very nature of the
institution, the educator is involved, whether he or she is conscious of it or
not, in a political act. He attempts to analyze and understand the relationship
between education and economic structure, and the connections between knowledge
and power. Apple approaches his analysis in three ways: l) the school as an
institution, 2) the educator him or herself, and 3) the knowledge forms. Each
of these are situated within the larger context of society. Ira Shor states
that the strongest potential of education lies in studying the politics and
student cultures affecting the classroom. “It is politically naive or simply
‘technocratic’ to see the classroom as a world apart where inequality,
ideology, and economic policy don’t affect learning
“The first
need is to become aware of the world in which we live; to survey its forces; to
see the opposition in forces that are contending for mastery; to make up one’s
mind which of these forces come from a past that the world in its potential
powers has outlived and which are indicative of a better and happier future.”
In 1958 John Dewey described the contradictions and problems with which our
society was dealing; those issues remain today, and the relevance of Dewey’s
recommendations are as true for us today as they were in 1958. He states that
it is the task of teachers to help put things right, whether or not teachers
feel it is their duty; whether teachers choose to do so or not, they are still
choosing, since the very act of intentionally doing nothing is still doing
something. One cannot not choose. “Drifting is merely a cowardly mode of
choice” His point is that teachers should become aware themselves of our
present situation and after conducting intelligent study they should make a
choice and base whatever actions they choose on that informed decision. He felt
that it was important for teachers, parents and other educators to understand
the social forces and movements of the times and the role of the schools, which
could not be accomplished unless teachers were aware of a social goal. Dewey
knew that teachers, in general, do not feel that they have time for general
theories, yet he states that the first prerequisite of intelligent decision and
action is understanding of the forces at work. “The most specific thing that
teachers can first do is something general.” For this reason, it is imperative
that teachers as well as those in teacher education programs take the time to
study the constructs and power structures within our society, to determine how
these impact educational policies, curriculum, testing, accountability,
teaching methods and materials. Teachers need to reflect upon what they are
doing and why they are doing it.
When
offering suggestions for the elements of an educational platform, Henry Giroux
discusses Critical Pedagogy . . . Rejecting the traditional view of instruction
and learning as a neutral process antiseptically removed from the contexts of
history, power, and ideology, critical educational theory begins with the
assumption that schools are essential sites for organizing knowledge, power and
desire in the service of extending individual capacities and social
possibilities.
PAULO FREIRE AND THE ROLE OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
Critical pedagogy is a teaching method that aims to help
in challenging and actively struggling against any form of social
oppression and the related customs and beliefs. It is a form of theory
and practice which serves to let pupils gain a critical awareness
Critical pedagogy is a type of pedagogy in which criticism of the
established order and social criticism are essential. Critical pedagogy
wants to question society in its understanding of the role that education has.
From this point of view, social critique is necessary if one does not
want an upbringing and education that contributes to the
reproduction of inequality
An important key concept in this is emancipation. It is
emancipation, liberation from oppressive social relations, which critical
pedagogy is committed to. Social critique leads to social change. With this
mode of critique we want students to see clearly that phenomena like
inequality are not necessary, but arose in a certain historical context
that has been established and produced by man-made social processes. Upon
becoming aware of this reality, a person no longer needs to feel like a
manipulable object anymore.
According to the critical pedagogy, education is
inherently political, and any kind of pedagogy should be aware of this
fact. A social and educational vision of justice and equality should
be the basis for any kind of education. The liberation from
oppression and human suffering should be an important dimension in
education.
Education should promote both emancipatory change as well as the
cultivation of the intellect. It should be kept in mind that the
current education system is a reflection of the interests of the
existing system of exploitation. This dynamic must be exposed by critical
pedagogy, understood, after which action should be taken against it as
part of a praxis towards social change; a cycle of theory, practice,
evaluation and reflection.
Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”
Paulo Freire is the grandfather and one of the major
contributors to critical pedagogy. Freire, who became a professor of history
and philosophy of education at the University of Recife in Brazil,
experienced and learned from the plight of poverty and hunger during the Great
Depression of 1929. This experience imbued in him a deep concern for the
poor, which influenced his views on education.
He is best known for his book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”
in which he described how people have have been untaught or have never
learned to think critically about their situation. Most people accept
their situation as inevitable and as belonging to life itself. Only when
they become aware of their situation and are able to assign meaning to
it (collectively called a process of “conscientization”), the step
a step can be made toward changing the situation.
Four levels of consciousness
Freire speaks in this context of four levels of consciousness:
1) Magical consciousness; at this level of consciousness
people experience themselves as completely impotent to do something about
their personal and socio-economic position. They are, as it were,
controlled by outside forces like the gods in mythology who could
intervene in the life of man without being able to defend oneself against
them.
2) Naive consciousness; at this level one is able to make
a distinction between oneself and the outside world. Life is not seen as
something that just happens to you, but it gets contours in the sense
that there are things that are within your reach, and other things that
you think you need others for. They know that they can do something about
their situation, but is also convinced of not being capable of a lot of other
things as well. The difference between the first and second level of
consciousness is that magical consciousness has been transcended by a
more thorough understanding of the existing situation.
3) Critical consciousness; at this level, one discovers not only the distinction between self and others, but one is also, due to the distinction, able to change things. At this level there is a growing understanding of one’s own capabilities and because of that also a way of relativizing the power of others. One will recognize how oppression occurs, which role one has in that situation and how one can fight it by intervening.
4) Political consciousness; on this highest level people discover from their perception of reality that others share their perception of reality, and they also share some of the same problems. This leads to that people combine their strengths and try to influence politics and negate the situation of oppression. According to Freire “Nobody liberates nobody, nobody liberates themselves alone: human beings liberate themselves in communion.”
People create their own consciousness of struggle by changing reality and freeing themselves from the oppression that is embedded by traditional pedagogy. Similarly, when one learns a new way of thinking, the understanding of one’s own social status has a transformative effect. Freire’s method has thus two successive moments: the first relates to the awareness of reality that one is oppressed and is submitted to the decisions imposed by the oppressor, the second refers to the initiative of the oppressed to fight and emancipate themselves from the oppressors.
Critique of educational banking
Freire criticized the traditional education method of simply depositing knowledge, or what he called the “banking concept of education”; which only strengthens the established order. Instead of communicating with the students, the teacher gives deposits which the students have to patiently receive. They are not considered as able to do more than to organize and accumulate the deposits.
This “banking” concept is the reflection of the dichotomous oppressive society we live in: the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing, the teacher thinks and the students are being thought, the teacher talks and the students listen obediently.
The success of this method depends on the willingness to swallow. Those who are not willing to cram themselves with deposits remain supposedly ‘undeveloped’.
Freire looked for a method that is conscientizing and thus comes to the basic principle of his educational theory: Education can never be neutral, it is either an instrument of liberation or an instrument of domestication. Or as Richard Shaull formulated it in the preface of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed:
3) Critical consciousness; at this level, one discovers not only the distinction between self and others, but one is also, due to the distinction, able to change things. At this level there is a growing understanding of one’s own capabilities and because of that also a way of relativizing the power of others. One will recognize how oppression occurs, which role one has in that situation and how one can fight it by intervening.
4) Political consciousness; on this highest level people discover from their perception of reality that others share their perception of reality, and they also share some of the same problems. This leads to that people combine their strengths and try to influence politics and negate the situation of oppression. According to Freire “Nobody liberates nobody, nobody liberates themselves alone: human beings liberate themselves in communion.”
People create their own consciousness of struggle by changing reality and freeing themselves from the oppression that is embedded by traditional pedagogy. Similarly, when one learns a new way of thinking, the understanding of one’s own social status has a transformative effect. Freire’s method has thus two successive moments: the first relates to the awareness of reality that one is oppressed and is submitted to the decisions imposed by the oppressor, the second refers to the initiative of the oppressed to fight and emancipate themselves from the oppressors.
Critique of educational banking
Freire criticized the traditional education method of simply depositing knowledge, or what he called the “banking concept of education”; which only strengthens the established order. Instead of communicating with the students, the teacher gives deposits which the students have to patiently receive. They are not considered as able to do more than to organize and accumulate the deposits.
This “banking” concept is the reflection of the dichotomous oppressive society we live in: the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing, the teacher thinks and the students are being thought, the teacher talks and the students listen obediently.
The success of this method depends on the willingness to swallow. Those who are not willing to cram themselves with deposits remain supposedly ‘undeveloped’.
Freire looked for a method that is conscientizing and thus comes to the basic principle of his educational theory: Education can never be neutral, it is either an instrument of liberation or an instrument of domestication. Or as Richard Shaull formulated it in the preface of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed:
“There is no neutral education process. Education either
functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of
generations into the logic of the present system and bring about
conformity to it, or it becomes the 'practice of freedom’, the means by
which men and women deal critically with reality and discover how to
participate in the transformation of their world.”
Freire adds that this does not depend on the content of the education provided, nor the good will of the educator, decisive here is the educational process itself.
If the individual does not fight for its interests, and its cultural and social emancipation, it seems that one has lost the love for life. Thus the necrophilia, that prevails in the world today, is reproduced by the type of education given at school. The pedagogy that Freire proposes is the opposite of that described above. It suggests that the individual has a love for life, teaches a cultivation of being - by being in the world, not of or under the world - a condition brought about by liberation. This necessitates a kind of education that isn’t alienating and mechanistic.
Education that liberates the individual must be a conscious act in which the content is understood and analyzed, with the dichotomy that exists between teacher and student is transcended; it should negate the unidirectional (coming from one side) relationship to replace it with bidirectionality (coming from both sides) to contribute to the education of both parties, because both have the elements to offer each other insights. The teacher is hereby turned into the pupil of his own pupils. “Nobody educates anybody else, nobody educates himself, people educate each other through their interactions of the world.”
The role of the teacher is to problematize the world, thereby creating the right conditions so that learning process transcends the 'doxa’ (undoubted axioms) to get to the level of “logos” (actual understanding). This type of learning helps people to create new with the expectations and reach a reflective state where they discover their own reality. It creates new challenges that instigates pupils to self-construction of the world, in which they have a real and direct participation in the activities in which they are involved. All this demands that we problematize the individual as such, without mediation by artificial experiences in the learning process.
Dialogics and conscientization
Man is not allowed to understand reality and change it in an education that is just one method to adapt to reality. To bring the awareness process in motion there must be dialogue, because man does not create oneself in silence, but by words, actions and reflection. The use of such a dialogue is the main element in the learning process.
To understand the reasoning of Freire one should start from his image of man. Through their actions people work on the world, they change the world. Because of their ability to reflect, people take distance from themselves, from their actions, from the world; this reflection again leads to action. The aforementioned cycle forms the praxis, that is to say the way in which the human being is manifested in the world. “To become human” happens in praxis. No seperation can therefore be made between action and reflection.
Dialogue can only happen by the speaking of “own words” with which the individual reflects its reality, it is the only way to get the understanding of this reality and change it. In opposition to the depository education system that maintains the system, Freire proposes the problematizing education with consciëntisering (coming to consciousness) as a goal. Learning is not 'eating’ of false words, it is not programming, learning problematizing by raising questions. The subject matter is the life situation of the pupil.
Dialogics and antidialogics
Freire adds that this does not depend on the content of the education provided, nor the good will of the educator, decisive here is the educational process itself.
If the individual does not fight for its interests, and its cultural and social emancipation, it seems that one has lost the love for life. Thus the necrophilia, that prevails in the world today, is reproduced by the type of education given at school. The pedagogy that Freire proposes is the opposite of that described above. It suggests that the individual has a love for life, teaches a cultivation of being - by being in the world, not of or under the world - a condition brought about by liberation. This necessitates a kind of education that isn’t alienating and mechanistic.
Education that liberates the individual must be a conscious act in which the content is understood and analyzed, with the dichotomy that exists between teacher and student is transcended; it should negate the unidirectional (coming from one side) relationship to replace it with bidirectionality (coming from both sides) to contribute to the education of both parties, because both have the elements to offer each other insights. The teacher is hereby turned into the pupil of his own pupils. “Nobody educates anybody else, nobody educates himself, people educate each other through their interactions of the world.”
The role of the teacher is to problematize the world, thereby creating the right conditions so that learning process transcends the 'doxa’ (undoubted axioms) to get to the level of “logos” (actual understanding). This type of learning helps people to create new with the expectations and reach a reflective state where they discover their own reality. It creates new challenges that instigates pupils to self-construction of the world, in which they have a real and direct participation in the activities in which they are involved. All this demands that we problematize the individual as such, without mediation by artificial experiences in the learning process.
Dialogics and conscientization
Man is not allowed to understand reality and change it in an education that is just one method to adapt to reality. To bring the awareness process in motion there must be dialogue, because man does not create oneself in silence, but by words, actions and reflection. The use of such a dialogue is the main element in the learning process.
To understand the reasoning of Freire one should start from his image of man. Through their actions people work on the world, they change the world. Because of their ability to reflect, people take distance from themselves, from their actions, from the world; this reflection again leads to action. The aforementioned cycle forms the praxis, that is to say the way in which the human being is manifested in the world. “To become human” happens in praxis. No seperation can therefore be made between action and reflection.
Dialogue can only happen by the speaking of “own words” with which the individual reflects its reality, it is the only way to get the understanding of this reality and change it. In opposition to the depository education system that maintains the system, Freire proposes the problematizing education with consciëntisering (coming to consciousness) as a goal. Learning is not 'eating’ of false words, it is not programming, learning problematizing by raising questions. The subject matter is the life situation of the pupil.
Dialogics and antidialogics
Freire recognizes that the practice of conscientization that
he recommends can run up against “limiting situations”, and that
these situations are a product of the resistance by the oppressing
classes to any change of the status quo, which is so important to them.
This can lead to defeat and apathy among the oppressed classes. According to Freire
it is “not the apathy of the masses which leads to the power of the
elite, but it is the power of the elite, which makes the masses apathetic.”
For this Freire worked out opposing frameworks for cultural
action, antidialogics and dialogics, the former being the oppressive
one, and works through submission, division, manipulation, and
cultural invasion and the latter the liberating one, which works
through cooperation, association, organization, and cultural synthesis.
The oppressor uses antidialogics in different ways in order to maintain the status quo. He subdues the oppressed with an unwavering unilateral dialogue , in which the communication is transformed into a necrophiliac act . The ideological instrument is often used here for complete submission.
The oppressor also attempts to dissuade people to unite through dialogue. One of their main activities is to weaken the oppressed through alienation , with the idea that this will provide internal divisions, and that in this way things will remain stable. In their implicit discourse they warn that it is dangerous for “social harmony” to talk about concepts like association and organization. Compared with those who fight against them, the oppressors seem the the only ones who can maintain the needed harmony in life. But this is only an attempt to ensure divisions. If an individual decides to fight for liberation the person is stigmatized, all in an attempt to avoid the historically inevitable realization of freedom.
The oppressor also uses antidialogics by abusing ideology to manipulate people and to agree with the goals proposed by the oppressor, but entirely at the expense of the oppressed.
Freire discussed as the last feature of antidialogics that of cultural invasion, where the oppressed are the turned into objects, while the oppressors are the actors and authors of the process. This is a subliminal tactic that is used to control and leads to the inauthenticity of individuals. The greater the level of imitation by the oppressed, the greater the calm for the oppressors. What happens to the masses is a loss of values, a transformation in their way of speaking and willingly supporting the oppressor.
In contrast with antidialogics, dialogics is a form of community empowerment. This process is not due to the presence of some prophetic leader, but by the covenant that occurs when there is communication and interaction between the leader and the masses in order to to achieve liberation and discover the world, instead of adjust to it. This happens when there is mutual trust, so that a revolutionary praxis can be developed, where humility and constant dialogue is needed by all participants.
To complement this collaboration it is necessary to form associations with the joint effort towards liberation. This implies a form of cultural action that teaches to join a revolutionary aspiration without falling into ideological hyperbole. Instead, the goal should be described as something it really is, namely a human act, not some exaggerated event. Dialogical action also requires the organization to avoid ideological coercion from above.
Organization is a necessary element of revolutionary struggle, it implies coherence between action and practice, courage, radicalization without sectarianism and the courage to love. All these aspects should be present without naivety . Of course, for revolutionary action, there must also be discipline, order, precise objectives, clear tasks to be fulfilled and accountability, but dialogics is mainly about the awakening that is required from the encountered oppression.
The final characteristic of dialogical action is the cultural synthesis that aims to overcome the contradiction created by the oppressor. This addresses the strength of one’s own culture as a creative act and avenges the oppressed by giving another perception on the world than the one imposed without consultation or assessment.
The role of revolution
Revolution is for Paulo Freire removal of the structures and mechanisms that cause different forms of oppression in the society. It is about overturning political and economic powers that the are the cause of the oppression of the majority. The conscientization is assigned an essential role here. The oppressed must be made not only aware of their own value, they must also be freed from their image of man that they derive from the oppressors with whom they have an ambivalent relationship.
For Freire dialogue belongs to the essence of being human: human life is not live 'alone’, they live 'together’ in the world. In that sense, the oppressor maimed his own humanity, because he is not 'the others’. Revolution implies, in addition to the empowerment and recognition of the human dignity of the oppressed, at the same time humanizing the oppressors.
On Utopia
Freire want individuals to forms themselves rather than being formed (from above). With this goal in mind, he suggests that subjects must be taught that come from the everyday experience of the individual and that we have to avoid the pitfalls of current education to gravitate towards artificial oppressive experiences.
Paulo Freire teaches us that only dialogue, which requires critical thinking, can bring forthh critical thinking. He proposes to problematize one’s life to realize that one needs both another situation without oppression as well one can really achieve such a situation. Is this utopian? Maybe. But utopia serves as the receding horizon, where the journey never ends, and the effort of the journey can makes the chance of a more humane society, where peace reigns, larger every day.
The oppressor uses antidialogics in different ways in order to maintain the status quo. He subdues the oppressed with an unwavering unilateral dialogue , in which the communication is transformed into a necrophiliac act . The ideological instrument is often used here for complete submission.
The oppressor also attempts to dissuade people to unite through dialogue. One of their main activities is to weaken the oppressed through alienation , with the idea that this will provide internal divisions, and that in this way things will remain stable. In their implicit discourse they warn that it is dangerous for “social harmony” to talk about concepts like association and organization. Compared with those who fight against them, the oppressors seem the the only ones who can maintain the needed harmony in life. But this is only an attempt to ensure divisions. If an individual decides to fight for liberation the person is stigmatized, all in an attempt to avoid the historically inevitable realization of freedom.
The oppressor also uses antidialogics by abusing ideology to manipulate people and to agree with the goals proposed by the oppressor, but entirely at the expense of the oppressed.
Freire discussed as the last feature of antidialogics that of cultural invasion, where the oppressed are the turned into objects, while the oppressors are the actors and authors of the process. This is a subliminal tactic that is used to control and leads to the inauthenticity of individuals. The greater the level of imitation by the oppressed, the greater the calm for the oppressors. What happens to the masses is a loss of values, a transformation in their way of speaking and willingly supporting the oppressor.
In contrast with antidialogics, dialogics is a form of community empowerment. This process is not due to the presence of some prophetic leader, but by the covenant that occurs when there is communication and interaction between the leader and the masses in order to to achieve liberation and discover the world, instead of adjust to it. This happens when there is mutual trust, so that a revolutionary praxis can be developed, where humility and constant dialogue is needed by all participants.
To complement this collaboration it is necessary to form associations with the joint effort towards liberation. This implies a form of cultural action that teaches to join a revolutionary aspiration without falling into ideological hyperbole. Instead, the goal should be described as something it really is, namely a human act, not some exaggerated event. Dialogical action also requires the organization to avoid ideological coercion from above.
Organization is a necessary element of revolutionary struggle, it implies coherence between action and practice, courage, radicalization without sectarianism and the courage to love. All these aspects should be present without naivety . Of course, for revolutionary action, there must also be discipline, order, precise objectives, clear tasks to be fulfilled and accountability, but dialogics is mainly about the awakening that is required from the encountered oppression.
The final characteristic of dialogical action is the cultural synthesis that aims to overcome the contradiction created by the oppressor. This addresses the strength of one’s own culture as a creative act and avenges the oppressed by giving another perception on the world than the one imposed without consultation or assessment.
The role of revolution
Revolution is for Paulo Freire removal of the structures and mechanisms that cause different forms of oppression in the society. It is about overturning political and economic powers that the are the cause of the oppression of the majority. The conscientization is assigned an essential role here. The oppressed must be made not only aware of their own value, they must also be freed from their image of man that they derive from the oppressors with whom they have an ambivalent relationship.
For Freire dialogue belongs to the essence of being human: human life is not live 'alone’, they live 'together’ in the world. In that sense, the oppressor maimed his own humanity, because he is not 'the others’. Revolution implies, in addition to the empowerment and recognition of the human dignity of the oppressed, at the same time humanizing the oppressors.
On Utopia
Freire want individuals to forms themselves rather than being formed (from above). With this goal in mind, he suggests that subjects must be taught that come from the everyday experience of the individual and that we have to avoid the pitfalls of current education to gravitate towards artificial oppressive experiences.
Paulo Freire teaches us that only dialogue, which requires critical thinking, can bring forthh critical thinking. He proposes to problematize one’s life to realize that one needs both another situation without oppression as well one can really achieve such a situation. Is this utopian? Maybe. But utopia serves as the receding horizon, where the journey never ends, and the effort of the journey can makes the chance of a more humane society, where peace reigns, larger every day.
How does Critical Pedagogy look like in
the classroom?
In order to understand how critical
pedagogy can be applied and how it may be demonstrated in the classroom. Understanding that critical pedagogy is a
movement in which in education it empowers students and teachers to recognize
hegemony tendencies by developing consciousness social justice and connecting
the knowledge to take action and creating change. Critical pedagogy is based on
Paulo Freire, who is known to be the
founder of critical pedagogy. His
philosophies centered on adult education.
Since then, other critical thinkers have applied his practices in the
classroom such as Henry Giroux, Ira Shor, John Dewey to name a few.
Critical pedagogy can be identified by
the following:
Discourse
The teacher can either pose a question
or an idea as students interact in conversation about the particular subject
selected. A teacher can also pose a problem that exists in their community. The
students learn about the idea as they interact in discourse with the teacher,
members of community, and between students.
Guided by the Teacher
The teacher guides the students to the
objective, that is what they are going to learn through the use of past events
in history or current events that are occurring. The activities selected by the teacher
promote communication and allows the student to view other perspectives and
incorporate real-word experiences.
However, the idea or concept they
learn is relevant in some way to the students. A possible event in
history that impacted their community connected to a world event, similar to
the video can be used in the lesson.
Students' Create/Explore/Develop
The teacher allows the students to
expand on the idea or point of view the teacher wants them to
understand and reflect. This is similar to the exploration and evaluation of
the 5 E model. However, students do not
use materials given by the teacher.
The students input is based on
what they think and particularly seeking the right or wrong answer is not the
objective of the lesson. Students should
feel empowered in learning. The outcome
of the lesson depends on the students interest and effort
Here are four dimensions of critical
pedagogy (Lewison,Flint, and Sluys, 2002) that can be applied in the classroom.
Disrupting the commonplace
Interrogating multiple viewpoints
Focusing on social political issues
Taking action and promoting social
justice
A Great Example of incorporating Critical Pedagogy
“Education either functions as an instrument
which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the
logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the
practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and
creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation
of their world.”
― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the
Oppressed
Conclusion
Critical
pedagogy is a philosophy of education and social
movement that combines education with critical
theory.[1] First
described by Paulo Freire, it has since been developed by Henry
Giroux and others as a praxis-oriented
"educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students
develop consciousness of freedom,
recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the
ability to take constructive action."[2] Among
its leading figures are Michael
Apple, bell hooks, Joe L.
Kincheloe, Peter
McLaren, Henry Giroux, and Patti Lather.
"Habits
of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning,
first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional
clichés, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning,
root causes, social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action,
event, object, process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy,
mass media, or discourse." (Empowering Education, 129)
Critical
pedagogy includes relationships between teaching and learning. Its proponents
claim that it is a continuous process of what they call "unlearning",
"learning", and "relearning", "reflection",
"evaluation", and the impact that these actions have on the students,
in particular students whom they believe have been historically and continue to
be disenfranchised by what they call "traditional schooling".
***
***
4.MULTIPLE
INTELLIGENCE (MI
Theory)
-Multiple
Intelligence Theory was introduced by Howard Gardner in his work, ‘Frames of Mind’ in 1983. MI theory ensures multifaceted intellectual development for the all round development of
the child.
-
MI Theory proposes the harmonies
nurturing of the nine areas of human intellect-
the issue based curriculum in the
schools, is designed based on MI theory.
The discourse oriented pedagogy
where various discourses are taught through various discourses are meant
to develop the nine areas of human
intellect.
Multiple Intelligence
by Howard Gardner-1983, modified in 1999
Verbal/linguistic
Logical/mathematical
Visual/spatial
Musical/rhythmic
Bodily/kinesthetic
Interpersonal
Intra-personal
Naturalistic
Existential
Verbal/linguistic-(realising
objectives through reading, writing and speaking).
Logical/mathematical-(ability
to locate areas region, nation, measure distance between two places)
Visual/spatial-creative
and artistic talents-models, pictures, specimen, constructive work, murals
Musical/rhythmic-singing,
composing songs, playing instruments,
Bodily/kinesthetic-Skills
in performing arts-dance, games artforms
Interpersonal-Desirable
behaviour and mutual transactions ,accepted styles of social behaviour
Intra-personal-identifying
and finding solutions for his own personal and internal stress and conflicts
Naturalistic-Ability
to learn and appreciate the natural phenomena around-appreciate natural
Existential-More realistic
insight into realities
Multiple Intelligences Theory
Howard Gardner's Multiple
Intelligence Theory was first published in Howard Gardner's book, Frames Of
Mind (1983), and quickly became established as a classical model by which to understand
and teach many aspects of human intelligence, learning style, personality and
behaviour - in education and industry. Howard Gardner initially developed his
ideas and theory on multiple intelligences as a contribution to psychology,
however Gardner's theory was soon embraced by education, teaching and training
communities, for whom the appeal was immediate and irresistible - a sure sign
that Gardner had created a classic reference work and learning model.
Howard Gardner was born in Scranton,
Pennsylvania USA in 1943 to German Jewish immigrant parents, and entered
Harvard in 1961, where, after Gardner's shift from history into social
relations (which included psychology, sociology, and anthropology) he met his
early mentor Erik Erikson. Later Gardner was also influenced by psychologists
Jeane Piaget, Jerome Bruner, and philosopher Nelson Goodman, with whom Gardner
co-founded 'Project Zero' in 1967 (focusing on studies of
artistic thought and creativity). Project Zero's 1970's 'Project on Human
Potential', whose heady aim was to address 'the state of scientific knowledge
concerning human potential and its realization', seems to have been the
platform from which Gardner's multiple intelligences ideas grew, and were
subsequently published in Gardner's Frames Of Mind 1983 book. A wonderful
example of 'thinking big' if ever there was one.
At the time I write/revise this
summary (2005-2012) Howard Gardner is the (John H and Elisabeth A) Hobbs
Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education; he serves as adjunct Professor at Harvard University, Boston
University School of Medicine, and remains senior director of Harvard Project
Zero. Gardner has received honorary degrees from at least twenty foreign
institutions, and has written over twenty highly regarded books on the human
mind, learning and behaviour. How ironic then that Gardner, who has contributed
so much to the understanding of people and behaviour, was born (according to
his brief auto-biographical paper 'One Way To Make Social Scientist', 2003),
cross-eyed, myopic, colour-blind and unable to recognise faces. There's hope
for us all.
Since establishing his original
multiple intelligences model, Howard Gardner has continued to develop his
thinking and theory, so you will see references to more than the seven
intelligences nowadays. Gardner most recently refers to their being eight or
nine intelligences.
This article chiefly focuses on the
original seven intelligences model.
howard
gardner's multiple intelligences theory
This simple grid diagram illustrates
Howard Gardner's model of the seven Multiple Intelligences at a glance.
|
intelligence type
|
capability and perception
|
|
Linguistic
|
words and language
|
|
Logical-Mathematical
|
logic and numbers
|
|
Musical
|
music, sound, rhythm
|
|
Bodily-Kinesthetic
|
body movement control
|
|
Spatial-Visual
|
images and space
|
|
Interpersonal
|
other people's feelings
|
|
Intrapersonal
|
self-awareness
|
Free multiple intelligences tests based on Howard Gardner's
seven-intelligences model are available below in MSExcel self-calculating format,
manual versions in MSExcel and pdf, and manual test versions for young people.
Gardner said that multiple
intelligences were not limited to the original seven, and he has since
considered the existence and definitions of other possible intelligences in his
later work. Despite this, Gardner seems to have stopped short of adding to the
seven (some might argue, with the exception of Naturalist Intelligence) with
any clearly and fully detailed additional intelligence definitions. This is not
because there are no more intelligences - it is because of the difficulty of
adequately and satisfactorily defining them, since the additional intelligences
are rather more complex than those already evidenced and defined.
Not surprisingly, commentators and
theorists continually debate and interpret potential additions to the model,
and this is why you might see more than seven intelligences listed in recent
interpretations of Gardner's model. As mentioned above, Naturalist Intelligence
seems most popularly considered worthy of inclusion of the potential additional
'Gardner' intelligences.
gardner's
suggested possible additional intelligences
|
intelligence type
|
capability and perception
|
|
Naturalist
|
natural environment
|
|
Spiritual/Existential
|
religion and 'ultimate issues'
|
|
Moral
|
ethics, humanity, value of life
|
If you think about the items above
it's easy to see why Gardner and his followers have found it quite difficult to
augment the original seven intelligences. The original seven are relatively cut
and dried; the seven intelligences are measurable, we know what they are, what
they mean, and we can evidence or illustrate them. However the potential
additional human capabilities, perceptions and attunements, are highly
subjective and complex, and arguably contain many overlapping aspects. Also,
the fact that these additional intelligences could be deemed a measure of good
or bad poses extra questions as to their inclusion in what is otherwise a model
which has hitherto made no such judgement (good or bad, that is - it's a long
sentence...).
gardner's
multiple intelligences - detail
The more detailed diagram below
expands the detail for the original seven intelligences shown above, and also
suggests ideas for applying the model and underpinning theories, so as to optimise
learning and training, design accelerated learning methods, and to assess
training and learning suitability and effectiveness.
|
|
intelligence type
|
description
|
typical roles
|
related tasks, activities or tests
|
preferred learning style clues
|
|
1
|
Linguistic
|
words and language,
written and spoken; retention, interpretation and explanation of ideas and
information via language, understands relationship between communication and
meaning
|
writers, lawyers, journalists, speakers, trainers,
copy-writers, english teachers, poets, editors, linguists, translators, PR
consultants, media consultants, TV and radio presenters, voice-over artistes
|
write a set of instructions; speak on a subject; edit a
written piece or work; write a speech; commentate on an event; apply positive
or negative 'spin' to a story
|
words and language
|
|
2
|
Logical-Mathematical
|
logical thinking,
detecting patterns, scientific reasoning and deduction; analyse problems,
perform mathematical calculations, understands relationship between cause and
effect towards a tangible outcome or result
|
scientists, engineers, computer experts, accountants,
statisticians, researchers, analysts, traders, bankers bookmakers, insurance
brokers, negotiators, deal-makers, trouble-shooters, directors
|
perform a mental arithmetic calculation; create a process
to measure something difficult; analyse how a machine works; create a
process; devise a strategy to achieve an aim; assess the value of a business
or a proposition
|
numbers and logic
|
|
3
|
Musical
|
musical ability,
awareness, appreciation and use of sound; recognition of tonal and rhythmic
patterns, understands relationship between sound and feeling
|
musicians, singers, composers, DJ's, music producers,
piano tuners, acoustic engineers, entertainers, party-planners, environment
and noise advisors, voice coaches
|
perform a musical piece; sing a song; review a musical
work; coach someone to play a musical instrument; specify mood music for
telephone systems and receptions
|
music, sounds, rhythm
|
|
4
|
Bodily-Kinesthetic
|
body movement control,
manual dexterity, physical agility and balance; eye and body coordination
|
dancers, demonstrators, actors, athletes, divers,
sports-people, soldiers, fire-fighters, PTI's, performance artistes;
ergonomists, osteopaths, fishermen, drivers, crafts-people; gardeners, chefs,
acupuncturists, healers, adventurers
|
juggle; demonstrate a sports technique; flip a beer-mat;
create a mime to explain something; toss a pancake; fly a kite; coach
workplace posture, assess work-station ergonomics
|
physical experience and movement, touch and feel
|
|
5
|
Spatial-Visual
|
visual and spatial perception; interpretation and creation of visual images; pictorial
imagination and expression; understands relationship between images and
meanings, and between space and effect
|
artists, designers, cartoonists, story-boarders,
architects, photographers, sculptors, town-planners, visionaries, inventors,
engineers, cosmetics and beauty consultants
|
design a costume; interpret a painting; create a room
layout; create a corporate logo; design a building; pack a suitcase or the
boot of a car
|
pictures, shapes, images, 3D space
|
|
6
|
Interpersonal
|
perception of other people's feelings; ability to relate to others; interpretation of behaviour
and communications; understands the relationships between people and their
situations, including other people
|
therapists, HR professionals, mediators, leaders,
counsellors, politicians, eductors, sales-people, clergy, psychologists,
teachers, doctors, healers, organisers, carers, advertising professionals,
coaches and mentors; (there is clear association between this type of
intelligence and what is now termed'Emotional
Intelligence' or EQ)
|
interpret moods from facial expressions; demonstrate
feelings through body
language; affect the feelings of others in
a planned way; coach or counsel another person
|
human contact, communications, cooperation, teamwork
|
|
7
|
Intrapersonal
|
self-awareness,
personal cognisance, personal objectivity, the capability to understand
oneself, one's relationship to others and the world, and one's own need for,
and reaction to change
|
arguably anyone (see note below) who is self-aware and
involved in the process of changing personal thoughts, beliefs and behaviour
in relation to their situation, other people, their purpose and aims - in
this respect there is a similarity to Maslow's
Self-Actualisation level, and again there is
clear association between this type of intelligence and what is now termed'Emotional
Intelligence' or EQ
|
consider and decide one's own aims and personal changes
required to achieve them (not necessarily reveal this to others); consider
one's own 'Johari Window',
and decide options for development; consider and decide one's own position in
relation to the Emotional Intelligence model
|
self-reflection, self-discovery
|
Roles and intrapersonal intelligence: Given that a 'role' tends to imply
external style/skills, engagement, etc., the intrapersonal ability is less
liable to define or suggest a certain role or range of roles than any of the
other characteristics. That said, there is a clear correlation between
intrapersonal ability/potential and introverted non-judgemental roles/working
styles. Intrapersonal capability might also be seen as the opposite of ego and
self-projection. Self-awareness is a prerequisite for self-discipline and
self-improvement. Intrapersonal capacity enables an emotionally mature ('grown-up') response to external
and internal stimuli. The intrapersonal characteristic might therefore be found
among (but most definitely not extending to all) counsellors, helpers,
translators, teachers, actors, poets, writers, musicians, artists,and also
any other role to which people can bring emotional maturity, which commonly manifests as
adaptability, flexibility, facilitation, reflection, and other 'grown-up'
behaviours. There are also associations between intrapersonal capacity and Erikson's 'generative' perspective, and
to an extent Maslow's self-actualization, that is to say: both of these
'life-stages' surely demand a reasonably strong level of self-awareness,
without which adapting one's personal life, outlook and responses to one's
environment is not easy at all.
multiple
intelligences tests
free Multiple
Intelligences test (based on Howard Gardner's model) - in MSExcel self-calculating format, and other versions:
free Multiple
Intelligences test - manual test in MSExcel
free Multiple
Intelligences test - manual test in pdf format
free Multiple
Intelligences test - manual test for young people in MSExcel
free Multiple
Intelligences test - manual test for young people in pdf format
Multiple Intelligences
descriptions - pdf format
(If you are using a test to help people identify and develop unique personal potential, especially for young people, try using the test in conjunction with the Fantasticat idea, or similar ways to focus on individual potential, rather than the more narrow imposed measures found typically in young people's education systems. Many young people (and older people too..) mistakenly form a dim view of their capabilities and potential according to typical academic measures in schools, which remain largely oriented towards university and higher education expectations. The spectrum of human capability, and the potential to be valued and productive in life, are much broader than this, which are central aspects of multiple intelligence theory. Encouraging people to think beyond traditional academic measures of value and talent is a vital early step to enabling better self-esteem and bigger personal belief, confidence and aspiration.)
Is this test
scientifically validated or normed?..
This free Multiple Intelligences
testing instrument has not been scientifically validated or normed.
If your research or study requires
the use of a scientifically validated instrument then this instrument may not
be suitable for your work. However, where you have reason/flexibility to
justify the use of a free 'non-scientifically-validated' instrument, the
following details about this test (and its various versions) might be of help
to you in deciding whether to use it:
This instrument is a simple directly
reflective assessment tool which works in a single dimension. That is, the
results are produced directly from the inputs (the scored answers to the
statement questions). There are no complex computations or correlations or
scaling. As such it less prone to distortion or confusion than a more
complicated testing methodology might be, especially one involving convoluted
formulae or scales on several dimensions. The instrument in its various
versions has been downloaded and used tens of thousands of times by teachers,
trainers, managers, academics, and researchers all around the world since 2005,
and (to my knowledge) has not generated any complaint or criticism about its
reliability and suitability for purpose. Additionally, this webpage featuring
the instrument download links has been highly ranked (top five or so in Google's
listings for keywords such as 'multiple intelligence tests') for several years
and remains so, with zero advertising and promotion, which is perhaps a virtual
validation of sorts.
That said, I repeat, the instrument
has not been scientifically validated, and where you are definitely required to
use an instrument that has been scientifically validated or normed, then this
free tool is probably not the right one for you.
Gardner's Multiple Intelligences - Principles and Interpretation
Howard Gardner asserts certain
principles relating to his multiple intelligence theory, which are explained
and interpreted here, along with implications and examples:
The multiple intelligences theory
represented/represents a definition of human nature, from a cognitive perspective,
ie., how we perceive; how we are aware of things.
This provides absolutely pivotal and
inescapable indication as to people's preferred learning styles, as well as their behavioural and working styles, and their natural strengths. The types of intelligence that a
person possesses (Gardner suggests most of us are strong in three types)
indicates not only a persons capabilities, but also the manner or method in
which they prefer to learn and develop their strengths - and also to develop
their weaknesses.
So for example:
- A person who is strong
musically and weak numerically will be more likely to develop numerical
and logical skills through music, and not by being bombarded by numbers
alone.
- A person who is weak spatially
and strong numerically, will be more likely to develop spatial ability if
it is explained and developed by using numbers and logic, and not by
asking them to pack a suitcase in front of an audience.
- A person who is weak bodily and
physically and strong numerically might best be encouraged to increase
their physical activity by encouraging them to learn about the
mathematical and scientific relationships between exercise, diet and
health, rather than forcing them to box or play rugby.
The pressure of possible failure and
being forced to act and think unnaturally, have a significant negative
influence on learning effectiveness. Happy relaxed people learn more readily
than unhappy stressful people.
A person's strength is also a
learning channel. A person's weakness is not a great learning channel. Simple
huh?
When you add in what we know about
personal belief and confidence it all begins to make even more sense. Develop
people through their strengths and we not only stimulate their development - we
also make them happy (because everyone enjoys working in their strength areas)
- and we also grow their confidence and lift their belief (because they see
they are doing well, and they get told they are doing well too).
Developing a person's strengths will
increase their response to the learning experience, which helps them to develop
their weaknesses as well as their strengths.
Having illustrated that sensible use
of a person's natural strengths and types of intelligence is a good thing it's
important to point out that intelligence in itself is not a measure of good or
bad, nor of happy or sad.
The different intelligences - in
Gardner's context (and normally in most other interpretations and definitions
of the term) - are not a measure or reflection of emotion type. Intelligences
are emotionally neutral. No type of intelligence is in itself an expression of
happiness or sadness; nor an expression of feeling good or good or bad.
In the same way, the multiple
intelligences are morally neutral too. No type of intelligence is intrinsically
right or wrong. In other words intelligences are amoral, that is, neither moral
nor immoral - irrespective of a person's blend of intelligences.
Intelligences are separate to the
good or bad purposes to which people apply whatever intelligences they possess
and use. Intelligences are not in themselves good or bad.
The types of intelligences that a
person possesses are in themselves no indication or reflection - whatsoever -
of whether the person is good or bad; happy or sad, right or wrong.
People possess a set of
intelligences - not just one type and level of intelligence. This was a primary
driver of Gardner's thinking; the fact, or assertion, that intelligence is not
a single scalable aspect of a person's style and capability. Historically, and
amazingly a perception that still persists among many people and institutions
and systems today, intelligence was/is thought to be measurable on a single
scale: a person could be judged - supposedly - to have a high or low or average
intelligence; or a person would be considered 'intelligent or 'unintelligent'.
Gardener has demonstrated that this notion is ridiculous.
Intelligence is a mixture of several
abilities (Gardner explains seven intelligences, and alludes to others) that
are all of great value in life. But nobody's good at them all. In life we need
people who collectively are good at different things. A well-balanced world,
and well-balanced organisations and teams, are necessarily comprised of people
who possess different mixtures of intelligences. This gives the group a fuller
collective capability than a group of identically able specialists.
Incredibly many schools, teachers,
and entire education systems, persist in the view that a child is either
intelligent or not, and moreover that the 'intelligent' kids are 'good' and the
'unintelligent' kids are 'bad'. Worse still many children grow up being told
that they are not intelligent and are therefore not of great worth; (the
"you'll never amount to anything" syndrome is everywhere).
Schools aren't the only organisations
which, despite all that Gardner has taught us, commonly still apply their own
criteria (for example IQ - 'Intelligence Quotient' - tests) to judge
'intelligence', and then label the candidate either worthy or not. Adult people
in work in organisations and business are routinely judged by inappropriate
criteria, and then written off as being worthless by the employer. This type of
faulty assessment is common during recruitment, ongoing management, and matters
of career development and performance review.
The fact is that we are all
intelligent in different ways.
The most brilliant scientific
professor may well have exceptional intelligence in a number of areas (probably
Logical-Mathematical, and one or two others) but will also be less able in
other intelligences, and could well be inept in some.
By the same token a person who
struggles with language and numbers might easily be an excellent sportsman, or
musician, or artist.
A hopeless academic, who is
tone-deaf and can't add up, could easily possess remarkable interpersonal
skills.
Many very successful business-people
were judged to be failures at school. They were of course judged according to a
very narrow definition of what constitutes intelligence.
Many very successful and fulfilled
people in life were also judged to be failures at school - brilliant
scientists, leaders, writers, entertainers, sports-people, soldiers,
humanitarians, healers, religious and political leaders - all sorts of happy,
fulfilled remarkable people - they too were judged according to a very narrow
definition of what constitutes intelligence.
Each one of us has a unique and
different mix of intelligence types, and commonly the people with the least
'conventional' intelligence (as measured using old-fashioned narrow criteria),
actually possess enormous talent - often under-valued, unknown and
under-developed.
Gardner, and others of course,
pointed out that managing people and organising a unique mixture of
intelligence types is a hugely challenging affair.
It starts however with the
recognition that people have abilities and potential that extend far beyond
traditional methods of assessment, and actually far beyond Gardner's seven
intelligences, which after all are only a starting point.
Gardner was one of the first to
teach us that we should not judge and develop people (especially children,
young people, and people at the beginnings of their careers) according to an
arbitrary and narrow definition of intelligence. We must instead rediscover and
promote the vast range of capabilities that have a value in life and
organisations, and then set about valuing people for who they are, what they
can be, and helping them to grow and fulfil their potential.
Using Multiple- Intelligences in the Classroom:
Accepting Gardner's
Theory of Multiple Intelligences has several implications for teachers in terms
of classroom instruction. The theory states that all nine intelligences are
needed to productively function in society. Teachers, therefore, should think of
all intelligences as equally important. This is in great contrast to
traditional education systems which typically place a strong emphasis on the
development and use of verbal and mathematical intelligences. Thus, the Theory
of Multiple Intelligences implies that educators should recognize and teach to
a broader range of talents and skills. (Amy C. Brualdi: 1996). Rather than functioning as a prescribed
teaching method, curriculum, or technique, MI theory provides a way of
understanding intelligence, which teachers can use as a guide for developing
classroom activities that address multiple ways of learning and knowing
(Christison, 1999b). Teaching strategies informed by MI theory can transfer
some control from teacher to learners by giving students choices in the ways
they will learn and demonstrate their learning. By focusing on problem-solving
activities that draw on multiple intelligences, these teaching strategies
encourage learners to build on existing strengths and knowledge to learn new
content and skills (Kallenbach, 1999). It may also mean the adult learners who
have had little success in traditional classrooms where only linguistic and
mathematics skills are valued may experience more success when other
intelligences are tapped.
The MI theory and
ELT: Language educators have long used the concepts of four basic language
skills: Listening
Speaking Reading Writing
The four basic skills are related to each
other by two parameters: the mode of communication: oral or
written. the direction of
communication: receiving or producing the message. Specialists in the field of
ELT conducted a number of studies to explore implications of various
psychological theories in the
educational field. Richards and Rodgers
(2001) describe MI theory as an approach that has been considered not only in
general education but also in language teaching. “Application of MI in language teaching have
been more recent, so it is not surprising that MI theory lacks some of the
basic elements that might link it more directly to language education”
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001) Christison and Kennedy (1999) identified four
ways in which the MI theory can be used in the classroom as follows: 1- As a
tool to help students develop a better understanding and appreciation of their
own strengths and their preferred ways of learning. 2- As a tool to develop a
better understanding of learners’ intelligences. 3- As a guide to provide a
greater variety of ways for students to learn and to demonstrate their
learning. 4- As a guide to develop lesson plans that address the full range of
learners needs.
With regard to the
procedures of implementing MI theory in ELT, Christison (1996) suggests the
following steps: - Identifying the activities frequently used in the class and
categorize them to each particular type of intelligence. - Making plans by
selecting appropriate classroom activities/ tasks. - Using ELT Multiple
Intelligences weekly/ monthly checklist to keep track of different activities
and tasks conducted in the class. - Expanding classroom activities for the
neglected intelligences by way of examining and analyzing the checklists for a
period of time. (Khamis: 2004).
The Special Issue on
Contemporary Issues in Social Science © Centre for Promoting
Ideas, USA
295
Furthermore, a number of studies conducted in
ELT field recommend the following techniques to implement the MI theory in ELT
field in the class:
Words Are Not Enough
: Do not rely on the spoken word only. Most activities for the younger learners
should include movement and involve the senses, colors and sounds (Bas
2008).
Play with the
Language : Let the pupils talk to themselves. Make them play with the language
by making up rhymes, singing songs, telling stories, etc. in the classroom
(Scott and Ytreberg, 1990). Cooperation
not Competition : The ideology of the theory of Multiple Intelligences is based
on "cooperation" not on competition. So because of this reason, avoid
prizes and awards in the class. In this regard, according to Scott and Ytreberg
(1990), make room for shared experiences.
Using Storybooks : The educational value of using storybooks and
storytelling has always been undisputed throughout the world. EFL teachers of
young learners are now more familiar with an acquisition-based methodology, and
recognise the true value of using storybooks and storytelling as a way to
create an acquisition rich environment and ideal learning conditions which
provide "comprehensible input" or "language a little beyond
child’s current level of competence" (Brewster, Ellis and Girard, 2003;
Krashen, 1981). Drawing and Colouring:
Children can redraw the characters; create maps showing where the story takes
place, think of other possible cover illustrations, and so on (Bas 2008).
Handicrafts : Craft
activities are extremely useful as learners can develop their listening and
reading skills while following the written or oral instructions. Teachers
should always make the craft activity themselves before doing it with their
class. The finished work should be shown to the learners to give them a general
idea of what is expected from them. Teachers should have the necessary
materials with them so that they can do the activity together with their
students while also giving the instructions (Ersoz et al. 2006: 42). Songs and Rhymes : Very often, the rhymes
developed in stories are to be found in various songs and rhymes (Brewster,
Ellis and Girard, 2003). Pupils can also compose songs for the storybook(s)
they have read and then sing the song they have composed in the classroom. Vocabulary Activities: Pupils can create
their own "picture dictionary", based on words from the stories they
have read or heard. They can work individually or pool their efforts to
illustrate the words, either by drawing pictures or by cutting pictures out of
magazines or catalogues. They can choose whether to arrange the words
alphabetically or thematically (Brewster, Ellis and Girard, 2003). Drama: Pupils can act out the story in the
storybooks or song they have read or listened to. They can organise a place and
write, if they want, a different end for the story and then perform the story
in the classroom. The pupils can also compose a song for the story and sing it
in some parts of the drama if they wish (Bas 2008).
Games: Students may
wish to play games purely for fun. Teachers, however, need to make sure that
whatever done in the classroom is for teaching and learning purposes (Ersoz et
al. 2006). Related Studies This part deals with studies that addressed
the effect of MI Strategies on English Language Arts. Chen (2004) examined the
use of multiple Intelligences (MI) theory in large computer assisted EFI
college classes in Taiwan to promote quality language teaching for large
classes. Therefore, the researcher combined MI theory and computer assisted
instruction in the intervention. The findings indicated that using the theory
of MI in multimodal classroom proved to be effective to promote individualized
and student-centered. It also helped students to achieve essential task of team
work especially for large EFL classes. They were highly motivated and showed a
great effective response. Hall Haley
(2004) investigated the effect of MI strategies in foreign and second language
instruction through his action research project. Twenty three foreign language
and English as second language teachers and 650 students from eight states and
three countries participated in the study to determine the impact of
implementing the theory of multiple Intelligences (MI) in daily classroom
activities. Results showed that the students in the experimental group
receiving MI-based instruction performed better than those in the control
group.
International Journal
of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 3 No. 4 [Special
Issue – February 2013]
The students in the
experimental classes were more enthusiastic about learning and behavior
problems were minimized. Teachers felt that their classroom management skills
were enhanced. One surprising result of MI was the effective outcome. Most
students expressed positive feelings about teachers using a variety of
instructional strategies as well as assessment practices that address the
multiple intelligences. Hutchinson,
McCavitt, Rude and Vallow (2002) conducted an action research project to
implement language arts program using multiple intelligences to develop more
positive attitudes towards grammar instruction and to help promote the transfer
of grammar skills to daily writing and speaking tasks. The targeted population
consisted of second, fourth and eighth grade students in four different school
setting. During the intervention period, lessons and activities targeted the
problem area of grammar education. Analysis of probable cause data revealed a
great deal of controversy on the strategies of teaching grammar. Teachers are
concerned over the lack of transfer of grammar skills into content areas.
Students struggle to see the grammar instruction and its relationship to their
daily communication skills. As a result, incorporating multiple intelligences
strategies to meet the needs of different learning styles was the suggested
solution. Post intervention data indicated the transfer of grammar skills into
daily tasks. Student’s attitudes towards grammar instruction improved. These
results were consistent in all classroom studied. Shore (2001) examined the use of multiple
intelligences in George Washington University second language classroom. The
findings indicated that utilizing multiple intelligences based lessons in
English foreign language classroom has led to a higher self-efficacy and
therefore a greater achievement in English language learning. Geimer, Getz,
Pochert and pullam (2000) carried out an action research project to determine
the effect of incorporating multiple intelligences strategies into the language
arts curriculum. The targeted students were in the second, third and fifth
grades. It was discovered that reading was the lowest academic area tested on
the Illinois Goal Assessment Program, (IGAP). Howard Gardner’s theory of
multiple intelligences appeared as a suggested solution. The selected
intervention led to a comparison between traditional methods of teaching and
multiple intelligences strategies. The intervention of multiple intelligences
strategies showed an improvement in English grammar and reading comprehension.
Spelling results showed a slight trend towards traditional instruction in three
out of four targeted classrooms. Snyder
(1999) studied the relationship between learning styles/multiple intelligences
and academic achievements. The sample consisted of high school students (128)
American high school taking a United States history (required) class at a large
public high school whose racial diversity was representative of that of the
United States population. Data collection techniques included observations,
interviews with students and teachers and assessments. She found that the
females tended to be stronger than the males in the intrapersonal, linguistic
and musical intelligences while the male students were more gifted than the
females in the bodily-kinesthetic, logical- mathematical and visual-spatial
intelligences. Female students were
often more eager work alone on a project while male students preferred to work
as groups. Conclusion In the second language classroom it is
possible to motivate learners by activating multiple ways of meaning- making
through the use of tasks relating to the different intelligences. Providing a
variety of language activities that stimulate the different tools or intelligences
proposed by Gardner (1999) makes it possible to engage multiple memory pathways
necessary to produce sustained deep learning (Schumann 1997). Christison (1999) indicates that teachers who
use MI theory to inform their curriculum development find that they gain a
deeper understanding of students' learning preferences and a greater
appreciation of their strengths. Students are likely to become more engaged in
learning as they use learning modes that match their intelligence strengths. In
addition, students' regular reflection on their learning broadens their
definitions of effective and acceptable teaching and learning practices.
Students' increased engagement and success in learning stimulates teachers to
raise their expectations, initiating a powerful expectation-response cycle that
can lead to greater achievement levels for all. Based on what has been mentioned, the
researchers concluded that the MI theory could have a vital role in creating an
attractive, encouraging and motivating atmosphere in ELT class.
The Special Issue on
Contemporary Issues in Social Science © Centre for
Promoting Ideas, USA
ELT teachers and
specialists need to make use of the nine different types of intelligence
described by Gardner (1983, 1999) and
design activities that take into account the students’ attitudes, interests and
levels in order to keep them engaged and involved and motivate them to put more
effort into learning. Recommendations
of the Study Based on findings of the study,
the researchers recommend: - Spreading
awareness among EFL teachers on the MI theory and its implications in education
in general and in ELT field in particular. - Enriching the current English
Language Curricula with extra activities based on the MI theory. - Holding
training sessions for teachers on the MI theory and its educational
implications.
2.3 CHOMSKYAN
THEORY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING -LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE (LAD), UNIVERSAL
GRAMMAR (UG)
Chomsky's research and influence on
linguistics changed and modernized the discipline. Chomsky argues that language acquisition is an innate structure, or function,
of the human brain.
Supporting
factors of Chomskyan theory of language acquisition.
1. There
is an optimal learning age. Between the ages 3 to 10 a child is the most
likely to learn a language in its entirety (whole) and grasp fluency. After
this age, it is hard and even considered impossible for the child to completely
grasp the language.
2.The
child does not need a trigger to begin language acquisition, it happens on its
own. The parent does not
need to coax(persuade) the child to speak, if it around language production,
the child will work to produce that language on its own.
3.It
does not matter if a child is corrected, they still grasp the language in the same manner and speak the
same way. During one stage, a child will make things plural that are
already plural.
4.Children
go through stages of language acquisition in which they learn certain parts of
the language.
They all go through these stages at the same time, around the same age. A child
in China, will follow the same linguistic patterns of language acquisition as a
child in the United States.
5.It is with these observations, along with knowledge about neurological
structures that control linguistic communication and interpretation, that
Chomsky argues that language is innately organized.
Noam Chomsky believes that children are
born with an inherited ability to learn any human language. He claims that
certain linguistic structures which children use so accurately must be already
imprinted on the child’s mind. Chomsky believes that every child has a
‘language acquisition device’ or LAD which encodes the major principles of a
language and its grammatical structures into the child’s brain. Children have
then only to learn new vocabulary and apply the syntactic structures from the
LAD to form sentences. Chomsky points out that a child could not possibly
learn a language through imitation alone because the language spoken around
them is highly irregular – adult’s speech is often broken up and even sometimes
ungrammatical.
Chomsky’s theory applies to all
languages as they all contain nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels and children
appear to be ‘hard-wired’ to acquire the grammar. Every language is
extremely complex, often with subtle distinctions which even native speakers
are unaware of. However, all children, regardless of their intellectual
ability, become fluent in their native language within five or six years.
Evidence to
support Chomsky’s theory
1.Children learning to speak never make
grammatical errors such as getting their subjects, verbs and objects in the
wrong order.
2.If an adult deliberately said a
grammatically incorrect sentence, the child would notice.
3.Children often say things that are
ungrammatical such as ‘mama ball’, which they cannot have learnt passively.
4.Mistakes such as ‘I drawed’ instead
of ‘I drew’ show they are not learning through imitation alone.
5.The sentence ‘colourless green ideas
sleep furiously’, shows that sentences can be grammatical without having any
meaning.
Evidence against Chomsky’s theory
Critics of Chomsky’s theory say that
although it is clear that children don’t learn language through imitation
alone, this does not prove that they must have an LAD – language learning
could merely be through general learning and understanding abilities and
interactions with other people.
UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR (UG)
Universal grammar (UG) is
a theory in linguistics,
usually credited to Noam Chomsky,
proposing that the ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain. The
theory suggests that linguistic ability manifests itself without being
taught and that there are properties
that all natural human languages share.
Universal grammar, then, consists of a set of
unconscious constraints(restrictions/rules) that let us decide whether a
sentence is correctly formed. This mental grammar is not necessarily the same
for all languages. But according to Chomskyian theorists, the process by which,
in any given language, certain sentences are perceived as correct while others
are not, is universal and independent of meaning.Thus, we immediately perceive
that a sentence such as “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” is
grammatically correct English, even though it is nonsense.
In Chomsky’s view, the reason that children so easily master the complex
operations of language is that they have innate knowledge of certain principles
that guide them in developing the grammar of their language. Chomsky and other
generative linguists like him have shown that the 5000 to 6000 languages in the
world, despite their very different grammars, do share a set of syntactic rules
and principles. These linguists believe that this “universal grammar” is innate
and is embedded somewhere in the neuronal circuitry of the human brain. And
that would be why children can select, from all the sentences that come to
their minds, only those that conform to a “deep structure” encoded in the
brain’s circuits.
Observations that support the Chomskyian
view of language
Presence of creole languages
: Pidgin languages are not languages in the true sense, because they
employ words so chaotically—there is tremendous variation in word order, and
very little grammar. the children spontaneously introduced grammatical
complexity into their speech, thus in the space of one generation creating new
languages, known as creoles.
GENERATIVE GRAMMAR
Chomsky’s theory is that language
learning is facilitated by a predisposition(tendency) that our brains have for
certain structures of language. The term “generative grammar” refers to the set
of rules that enables us to understand sentences but of which we are usually
totally unaware.
Generative Grammar posits a way to analyze
sentences using an idea of Universal Grammar: that human languages use specific
structures to combine words into phrases, which can be predicted by Generative
Grammar. It relies on hierarchies of phrases, stemming from the words of a
sentence to small phrases to bigger and bigger phrases until the statement is
all tied together. These hierarchical structures are shown in tree structure
diagrams like this simple version:
The syntax tree found in this section is a very
simplified version of trees which are now created using UG and GG, but it shows
the use of the basic tenets (views) of Universal Grammar. Universal Grammar is
also extremely important for Generative Grammar and
therefore, also the Minimalist Program which
was proposed by Noam Chomsky.
CRITICISMS OF CHOMSKY’S THEORIES
1.Geoffrey Sampson, Jeffrey Elman , James Hurford and Roediger argues that several of the basic
assumptions of Universal Grammar are unfounded.(unproven, groundless)
2.Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater have argued that instead of an innate Universal Grammar, they
claim that, "apparently arbitrary(illogical, random)
aspects of linguistic structure may result.
3.Michael Ramscar has suggested that how children correct
grammar generalizations like goed to went through
repetitive failure. This implies
that word learning is a probabilistic, error-driven process, rather than a
process of fast
mapping, as many nativists
assume.
4 The Pirahã language is claimed to be a counter
example to the basic tenets of Universal Grammar, by Daniel Everett. This language is alleged to lack all
evidence for recursion, including embedded clauses, as well as quantifiers and color terms.
5.Michael Tomasello, a developmental psychologist,says
that “universals in the grammatical
structure of different languages have come from more general processes and
constraints (limitations) of human
cognition, communication, and vocal-auditory processing, operating during the
conventionalization and transmission of the particular grammatical
constructions of particular linguistic communities.”
6. According to evolutionary biologists like, Philip
Lieberman, for example, language is rather a learned skill based on a
“functional language system” distributed across numerous cortical and
subcortical structures.
7.According to Terrence Deacon, it is the neural circuits of
this system, and not some “language organ”, that constitute a genetically
predetermined set that limits the possible characteristics of a language..
8.Generative semantics, developed by linguist George Lakoff
shows that semantics, context, and other factors can come into play in the
rules that govern syntax.
9.Even among authors like
Steven Pinker, who embrace Chomsky’s universal grammar, there are
various conflicting positions, in particular about how this universal grammar
may have emerged.
***
***
2.4 LEARNER
FACTORS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (AGE, GENDER, INTELLIGENCE, APTITUDE,
ATTITUDE, COGNITIVE STYLE, MOTIVATION)
LEARNER FACTORS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Differences among learners
No two individuals are alike.
There are probably no two
individuals
The individuals may differ in their mental physical abilities , or
personality traits.
In the same way, no two children are alike in their endowments and
intellectual attainments.
Learner Factors
Learner factor is one of the major factors or conditions prevailing in
schools or classroom.
when we take a class, we can see
the hierarchical level of the students.
A class may range from ‘eager-beaver’, ‘goodie-good’, ‘book-worm’,
‘teacher- led’ students to the ‘I dare you teach me anything’ one.
So we have to pay special attention to each pupil in the class.
The problems that adversely affect the teaching processes
Dislike of the teacher, classmates
and schools,
Devote too much time to sports and games,
Lack of co ordination between studies and life,
Lack of sympathetic understanding of peers,
The adolescents want to be heroes,
They hold on the values,
They hope and like humour in class.
They want a facilitator to make them learn.
Factors Influencing Language Acquisition
§ H.E. Palmer
says,” Language teaching is
essentially a habit forming
process, a
process during which we acquire new habits.”
§ The learner
factors influencing language acquisition may be broadly classified into:
i)
Psychological,
ii)
Physiological, and
iii) Sociological.
Dependent Variables on language acquisition :
Age
Sex
Intelligence
Aptitude
Interest
Motivation
Personality Disposition
Cognitive Style
External Factors
There are other factors rather than the learner factors which influence
language acquisition are :
1)Infrastructural factors, and
2)Environmental factors
Infrastructural factors: This factor includes the quality of the institution, infrastructural facilities provided, strength, interest and vision, and culture of the institutions.
Availability of audio- visual aids is a significant item of
infrastructure, especially for the teaching of English.
Infrastructural factors: Maximum use of radio, gramophone, tape- recorder, epidiascope, films, charts, pictures, real objects, models, black boards, overhead projector, slides, video and films, television sets, etc for the teaching of English will give children exposure
In an institution where infrastructural facilities are available, the
children will really be motivated, provided the administration is efficient and
keen to make use of them.
Environmental factors: Acquisition of one’s native language is affected by physical environment, social environment, physical and social resources, sources of motivation etc.
It is the duty and responsibility
of the teacher to consider the number of students, their individual traits etc
even from the pre- planning stage.
The classroom environment must
be relaxed and secure.
Only in a democratic environment, the learners, especially those who are
weak in the language, will be motivated to use the language.
Schools should be equipped with multi- media aids, language labs,
teaching machines, etc.
There is marked relationship between the child’s linguistic development
and socio economic status.
Learning of vocabulary, structures, complexity of sentences, etc were the
areas where the relation was highlighted.
***
2.5 CREDE MODEL
OF INSTRUCTION (JOINT PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY, LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT,
CONTEXTUALIZATION, CHALLENGING ACTIVITIES, INSTRUCTIONAL CONVERSATION)
CREDE MODEL-HAWAAI
The Center for Research on Education,
Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) Hawai‘i Project promotes educators’ use of
research-based strategies of effective practice for culturally and linguistically
diverse children and students. The CREDE project offers professional
development to educators who want to improve the learning and engagement of
children and students from diverse backgrounds.
A
Vision of the CREDE Classroom
Teachers and students are working
together, on real products, real problems. Activities are rich in language,
with teachers developing students’ capacity to speak, read, and write English
and the special languages of mathematics, science, humanities, and art. They
teach the curriculum through meaningful activities that relate to the students’
lives and experiences in their families and communities. Teachers challenge
students to think in complex ways and to apply their learning to solving
meaningful problems. Teachers and students converse; the basic teaching
interaction is conversation, not lecture. A variety of activities are in
progress simultaneously (individual work; teamwork; practice and rehearsal;
mentoring in side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, teacher-student work).
Students have systematic opportunities to work with all other classmates. They
all learn and demonstrate self-control and common values: hard work, rich
learning, helpfulness to others, mutual respect (Tharp, Estrada, Dalton, &
Yamauchi, 2000, p. 8).
These strategies are derived from
Vygotsky’s theory and over 30-years of research from the national CREDE
project, now at University of California, Berkeley. These standards were
recognized by the national What Works Clearinghouse. For more information, go
tohttp://crede.berkeley.edu.
For the past seven years, our program
has offered professional development to teachers of native Hawaiian and other
culturally and linguistically diverse students. We are currently working on
developing an early childhood place-based science curriculum in collaboration.
Glossary of Terms
Goal: In an Instructional Conversation, the goal is the development of thematic or conceptual understanding.
Assistance: Assistance is a two part process in which the teacher first assesses children’s knowledge and skills, then responsively assists development. Types of assistance may include: (a) Modeling — Providing a demonstration; (b) Feeding Back — Providing information about children’s performances as compared with a standard; (c) Contingency Management: — Providing rewards or punishments contingent on children’s performance; (d) Questioning — Providing questions that guide children to advance their understanding; (e) Instructions — Providing clear verbal directions for performance; (f) Cognitive Structuring — Providing explanations or rules for proceeding; or (g) Task Structuring — Providing assistance by segmenting or sequencing portions of the task.
Collaboration: Joint activity that results in shared ownership, authorship, use, or responsibility for a product. It can also include division of labor for coordinated sub-sections. However, mere turn taking does not constitute division of labor and, to be considered collaboration, an activity must include interaction between participants. Coordinated activities such as morning calendar, round robin reading, choral responses or calisthenics are rated at the Emerging level for JPA.
Communication:
Communication includes verbal and nonverbal forms such as gaining proximity, facial expression, laughing, touching, giving, pulling or pushing away, showing, reaching, waving, pointing, head shaking or nodding, vocalizing, gazing, speaking or repeating words, using pictures, and listening.
Conversation: At least two turn-taking cycles (teacher-children-teacher-children on the same topic/point).
Instructional Conversation (IC): ICs are inclusive of all participants whose contributions are connected to, or extend, the comments and ideas of other participants. In contrast, directed-discussions focus less on developing conceptual understanding and more on known-answer questions and skill development. Instructional conversation focuses on broad topics, main ideas, themes or concepts, is responsive to child contributions, includes participation structures that are familiar to children, and includes open-ended questions and sustained dialogue on a single topic.
Incidental connections: The teacher (a) makes connections between children’s experience or knowledge from home, school, or community and the new activity/information on an ad hoc basis to assist understanding, or (b) prompts children to make connections.
Use or elaboration of information provided: Complex thinking can involve children’s use or elaboration of information provided that includes processes such as applying, interpreting, categorizing, ordering, evaluating, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, exploring, experimenting, determining cause and effect, formulating and solving problems, exploring patterns, making conjectures, generalizing, justifying, and making judgments.
Integrates the new activity/information with what children already know from home, school, or community: (a) children’s knowledge or experience is integrated with new information, (b) the basis of the activity is personally relevant to children’s lives; or (c) children apply school knowledge in an authentic activity.
Pre-literacy methods: Pre-literacy
methods are strategies used to teach children skills and behaviors that lead to
successful reading.They include methods such as:
vocabulary development, print awareness, letter knowledge, phonological
awareness, phonemic awareness, etc.
Product: Products may be tangible or intangible. Examples of tangible products: food made together, a letter, a collage, or the reenactment of a story. Intangible products include the theme of a story, a concept, idea, procedure, or a plan of action. Intangible products are an achieved physical, psychological, or social state that integrates a series of actions.
Questions children on their views: In an Instructional Conversation, teachers’ questioning of children’s views is related to children’s prior knowledge or experiences relevant to the goal of the conversation.
Goal: In an Instructional Conversation, the goal is the development of thematic or conceptual understanding.
Assistance: Assistance is a two part process in which the teacher first assesses children’s knowledge and skills, then responsively assists development. Types of assistance may include: (a) Modeling — Providing a demonstration; (b) Feeding Back — Providing information about children’s performances as compared with a standard; (c) Contingency Management: — Providing rewards or punishments contingent on children’s performance; (d) Questioning — Providing questions that guide children to advance their understanding; (e) Instructions — Providing clear verbal directions for performance; (f) Cognitive Structuring — Providing explanations or rules for proceeding; or (g) Task Structuring — Providing assistance by segmenting or sequencing portions of the task.
Collaboration: Joint activity that results in shared ownership, authorship, use, or responsibility for a product. It can also include division of labor for coordinated sub-sections. However, mere turn taking does not constitute division of labor and, to be considered collaboration, an activity must include interaction between participants. Coordinated activities such as morning calendar, round robin reading, choral responses or calisthenics are rated at the Emerging level for JPA.
Communication:
Communication includes verbal and nonverbal forms such as gaining proximity, facial expression, laughing, touching, giving, pulling or pushing away, showing, reaching, waving, pointing, head shaking or nodding, vocalizing, gazing, speaking or repeating words, using pictures, and listening.
Conversation: At least two turn-taking cycles (teacher-children-teacher-children on the same topic/point).
Instructional Conversation (IC): ICs are inclusive of all participants whose contributions are connected to, or extend, the comments and ideas of other participants. In contrast, directed-discussions focus less on developing conceptual understanding and more on known-answer questions and skill development. Instructional conversation focuses on broad topics, main ideas, themes or concepts, is responsive to child contributions, includes participation structures that are familiar to children, and includes open-ended questions and sustained dialogue on a single topic.
Incidental connections: The teacher (a) makes connections between children’s experience or knowledge from home, school, or community and the new activity/information on an ad hoc basis to assist understanding, or (b) prompts children to make connections.
Use or elaboration of information provided: Complex thinking can involve children’s use or elaboration of information provided that includes processes such as applying, interpreting, categorizing, ordering, evaluating, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, exploring, experimenting, determining cause and effect, formulating and solving problems, exploring patterns, making conjectures, generalizing, justifying, and making judgments.
Integrates the new activity/information with what children already know from home, school, or community: (a) children’s knowledge or experience is integrated with new information, (b) the basis of the activity is personally relevant to children’s lives; or (c) children apply school knowledge in an authentic activity.
Pre-literacy methods:
Product: Products may be tangible or intangible. Examples of tangible products: food made together, a letter, a collage, or the reenactment of a story. Intangible products include the theme of a story, a concept, idea, procedure, or a plan of action. Intangible products are an achieved physical, psychological, or social state that integrates a series of actions.
Questions children on their views: In an Instructional Conversation, teachers’ questioning of children’s views is related to children’s prior knowledge or experiences relevant to the goal of the conversation.
Development of CREDE Standards: background
The original research on CREDE began in the State of Hawai‘i
in the 1970s as the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP). This research
was adapted to other indigenous educational settings including Native American
schools and later adapted to over 31 sites throughout the world. From this
research, several principles emerged as consistent throughout the various
cultures and were equally emphasized in educational literature as best
practices for culturally and linguistically diverse children. These principles
developed into the CREDE Standards for Effective Pedagogy. CREDE Hawai‘i is
part of the national CREDE project, now at University of
California, Berkeley.
The CREDE
Hawai‘i project is part of the Department of Educational Psychology in the
College of Education at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. For the past seven years, our program has
offered professional development to teachers of native Hawaiian and other
culturally and linguistically diverse students. We are currently working on
developing an early childhood place-based science curriculum in collaboration
with several schools across the state of Hawai‘i.
The CREDE
Hawai‘i team is dedicated to improving education for Hawai‘i’s youth and
providing educators with a range of tools to help them implement best practices
for native Hawaiian and other culturally and linguistically diverse students.
Our team includes faculty, staff, educators, and graduate students from the
University of Hawai‘i. Our diverse team members are comprised of experts from a
range of specialties such as educational psychology, curriculum development,
special education, early childhood education, and native Hawaiian cultural
specialists.
CREDE Standards in Early Childhood
Joint Productive Activity
(JPA)
The teacher
and children collaborating together on a joint product.
·
Collaboration between the teacher and a
small group of children
·
Creation of a tangible or intangible
product
·
Providing responsive assistance towards
the creation of a product
·
Assisting children to collaborate with
peers
Language and Literacy Development (LLD)
Developing
childrens’ competence in the language and literacy of instruction in all
content areas of the curriculum.
·
Providing opportunities for childrens’
language use and literacy development
·
Modeling the appropriate language for the
academic content
·
Designing activities with a focus on
language and literacy development
·
Assisting with language
expression/literacy development and encouraging children discussion on the
academic topic
Contextualization (CTX)
Connecting
the school curriculum to childrens’ prior knowledge and experiences from their
home and community.
·
Integrating new academic knowledge with
childrens’ home, school, and community knowledge
·
Assisting children in making
connections between school and their personal experiences
·
Helping children to reach a deeper
understanding of the academic material through the deeper personal connection
Complex Thinking (CT)
Challenging
childrens’ thinking toward cognitive complexity.
·
Designing activities that require
complex thinking
·
Providing responsive assistance as
children engage in complex thinking
·
Increasing childrens’ knowledge and use
of complex thinking strategies
·
Focusing on concept development in
order to uncover the why of the activity
Instructional Conversation
(IC)
Teaching
children through dialog. The two main features of an IC are identified in the
name: Instructional & Conversational.
·
Working with a small group of children
·
Having a clear academic goal
·
Eliciting children talk with
questioning, listening, rephrasing, or modeling
·
Assessing and assisting children in
reaching the academic goal
·
Questioning children on their views,
judgments, and rationales in reaching the academic goal
Modeling (MD)
Promoting
children’s learning through observation.
·
Modeling behaviors, thinking processes,
or procedures
·
Providing examples of a finished
product for inspiration
·
Assisting children as they practice
Child Directed Activity (CDA)
Encouraging
children’s decision-making and self-regulated learning.
·
Providing choice in classroom
activities
·
Being responsive to activities
generated by the children
·
Assisting children in generating,
developing, or expanding on their ideas or creations within an activity
***
REFERENCES:
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