"You're quite right, Rogers. Look for yourself. There are only seven..."
MODULE 4
Constructivism, "Teach - okay!" and Field Work
A serious study of contemporary thought on learning processes should be as important to any teacher as a corresponding study of physiology is to any physician.
Be clear…our current attention is to be on the psychological phenomenon of learning and not on the practice of teaching.
It stands to reason: solid knowledge and insight on what learning is should drive educational reform and provide direction to teachers on how to plan and teach.
The thesis will be forwarded that “old core” views on how students learn appear to be yielding reluctantly to on-rushing constructivist ideology.
Module 4 moves “new core” constructivist views to the center and puts it squarely to the teacher: Is it time to rethink how you deliver day to day instruction in your classroom?
This module, like Module 3, introduces the student to a demanding field work project.
Let’s see what develops.
“…the assumptions of the 1920s are firmly ensconced in the standard operating procedures of today’s schools.”-- Resnick and Hall, “Learning Organizations for Sustainable Educational Reform”, Daedalus, Fall 1998
The Basics
1.Locate…
B. Professor Johnson on Constructivism
C. (Academic OneFile) “Constructivism: It’s Theoretical Underpinnings, Variations, and Implications for Classroom Instruction”, Yilmaz, Educational Horizon, Spring 2008. (Please print out and store in notebook.)
“A learning theory provides clarity, direction and focus throughout the instructional…process”
Yilmaz does a masterful job in explaining constructivist theory in general and identifying its many variations.
WBT
1. With the fundamentals behind us, let us embark on an interesting "side trip" to a growing, some say "surging movement" in teaching/learning, called "Whole Brain Teaching" (WBT).
WBT originated as an instructional movement on the West Coast and seems to be spreading eastward.
2. We begin our excursion by viewing a math teacher trained in WBT and using it full force in her classroom.
3. Now we are in a position to break WBT into component parts.WBT's home page can be reached:
http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/
4. Follow up by clicking "1st STEPS" on the top of the site's front page.
It will become your team's task to determine and isolate first the basic dimensions and parts to WBT and then second, the more advanced features of the strategy (Click on "LEVELS" at the top).
There's more here than first meets the eye, isn't there? You've got some work ahead of you, getting everything in WBT straight and envisioning how all the parts fit together to form an organized whole.
Becoming a skilled Whole Brain instructor is not unlike developing any skill.
Practice, practice, practice!
5. Chris Biffle is the founder of WBT (he originally called it "Power Teaching") and Jeff Battles, a major proponent.
Biffle unabashingly links WBT to the explicit activation of specialized parts of the brain.
Wow!
But is Biffle (Battles too) justified in making such claims, that WBT has the "power" to stimulate the brain in the manner so described?
Or, are the Biffle and Battles contentions "overreach"?
6. But don't dismiss B and B's claims too readily. Controlled research points toward the ability of gestures to enhance the quality of learning.
Sample a few of the following short research reports, all online for your convenience:
Student gestures boost learning
The serious research cited above, makes the instructor feel that whole brain teaching could just have easily been dubbed Whole Brain Learning. But ... he won't quibble.
7. Team Project
A. Construct a comprehensive, professionally-rendered Concept Map of WBT, its parts, ramifications and connections.
B. What's a Concept Map? Check here:
C. Your team's Concept Map should rank with the "best".
D. Post your team's first draft of its WBT concept map on an appropriate Blackboard forum. Make sure your attachment can be readily opened by others.
E. Plan on being critiqued by two other teams in the customary fashion.
WBT Field Work
1. Each student in Ed235 is to make arrangements with a teacher in any subject-matter discipline (as long as she/he sometimes teaches in conventional fashion - what used to be deemed "chalk and talk" before the advent of whiteboards and technology).
2. Plan on meeting in person with this teacher.
3. The field work assignment to follow - the second and last in the series for the course- will correspond to the second full day in the schools.
However, the busy ED235 student could arrange to meet with a teacher after school or even on a weekend outside of school entirely. Your decision.
4. The Task
A. Show the teacher both the DeWit video on math teaching using WBT and the team-generated concept map on WBT.
B. Emphasize the different parts to WBT one at a time. Start with the basics, "Teach -- OK", "Mirror", etc. You decide what the basics are.
C. (Important) Be sure to point out directly how the different WBT strategires are believed to reach or stimulate different brain functions.
D. Be prepared for your teacher to make fun of or otherwise doubt gesture-rich WBT. Human nature.
E. "Resist this" or defend WBT. Present evidence on the approach as needed, especially gesture research evidence. Be prepared!
F. Play the short DeWit video a 2nd time if appropriate. Make use of your concept map. Strive to convince the teacher, if he/she needs convincing, that WBT possesses redeeming features and should not be dimissed so readily.
G. Student Accountability:
1. Bring your iphone (or video equivalent) and take a few photos of you and the cooperating teacher studying WBT as above.
*These photos are to be placed in your Module 10 CHECKOUT folder.
2. Compose a 500 word accounting and summary of what you did for this part of field work, how you approached the task, who the teacher was (ok to use specific name and position in this instance), what position she/he took on WBT, and whether you made any inroads in convincing the teacher to take a second look at WBT.
3. The above written statement, like your photos of the teacher and you in session, is to be placed in your CHECKOUT folder as per Module 10.
4. One more thing: Plan on participating in a discussion of this WBT assignment on BB once we reach Module 10. You'll share what you did and others will describe what they did and learned via the assignment.
ADDENDUM
"Given enough time, conflict will infiltrate even the most harmonious group."
-Martin Delahoussaye, "Don't Get Mad, Get Promoted",Training, June 2002
Close Encounters
Stress!
Your team muddled through the opening modules with reasonable dispatch. Good!
But other convoluted and (likely) stress-producing modules await you...stacked up and ready to be unleashed. You have a long way to go in this course!
Stress! This is the operative word. How do you, how do others, cope with it when it arises? Look around ... at your teammates, at me. Who among us will do or say something that will disturb, anger or "stress you out"? And what will you(we) do when it happens?
Stress! How will we perform when we reach certain emotional rough spots in the course? Will we show sophisticated conflict-management skills when dealing with "difficult" students, teachers and situations? Will we remain "professional" in our demeanor? Do we have what it takes to be a productive teacher now or in the future?
We shall see!
Captain: Starting now...once a week, you are advised to put the questions that follow to teammates. Encourage extended discussion:
Asking these questions weekly may help! There may be some release of pent-up emotion and frustration...and healthy communication between teammates and between teams and the instructor may be furthered.
Five or six minutes honest interchange at the start of any given class should suffice in most cases. I won't prompt you; you have to do this on your own. It's worth it!
Thank you!
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