Our Second Assignment - More on Epistemology

One of the primary concerns of epistemology is "how we know things, or more specifically, how we learn them."  It has been suggested that we should first decide how students learn, then figure out how we should teach. This seems like such a simple proposition, doesn't it. I would like to explore a few concepts in the process of "knowledge acquisition" and some associated ramifications they might have for our instruction.  We can start with three questions: 1) As teachers, how do we get the information from our heads into the heads of our students?, 2) Who is the best teacher?, and 3) What role does language play in learning?
In the education process, we can think of two ways that students can develop knowledge - they can receive it from us (called transmission theory), or they can build it themselves (constructivism). This distinction brings up a great deal of issues for as teachers. For thousands of years, we simply lectured to students thinking if we were clear enough, the information would pass between our heads (I asked you earlier if we could ever really know "other persons mind" - this is a monumental question, because if we cannot, how do we know what we are really putting into the minds of students?). We focus on clarity, giving lots of examples, being patient, asking questions, but the assumption is always that this stuff could just slide over to their brains. There are a few other assumptions here to consider.
How does new information "slide" into our brains? What kind of network or structure does it slide into?  Was it really like that for you, did things just slide in? Questions like this lead us into schema theory - your schema can be thought of as your own personal bank of knowledge and experience.  We will talk a lot about the difference between knowledge and experience, and how we build our schema. It should be immediately obvious that each of our schemata are unique, built through different experiences and processes. Learning might be better understood if we think about how information comes into and merges with this schema.  Piaget, probably the most famous theorist regarding learning, said that this process happens in two ways: assimilation and accommodation.  Assimilation is when we bring information into our system and try to adjust that new knowledge to fit into our schema.  You do this when you associate new things to old things, trying to make a comparison in order to understand.  Accommodation is when something new is so important, so different, that it must change the existing structure. This is far less common, and much more uncomfortable. It isn't very often than an idea or concept comes in and reworks our schema; certain seminal events, religions conversions, new subjects that demand different ways of thinking, and other radical changes are good examples of this.
So, every time we are teaching, our students are individually trying to incorporate all of the information into their own networks, sometimes very rapidly, sometimes dealing with an overwhelming amount of information rapidly. Do we think about this internal process that is raging "over there" in their minds, or do we just focus on our delivery?  Sometimes, we try to direct that symphony in their heads by giving them strategic examples (often from our own tangled schema though) and carefully planned activities, but might just be intruders "mucking about" where we don't belong. Perhaps we need to let them orchestrate their own music - but there are consequences for this freedom.
Constructivism is the theory that knowledge and deeper learning must be built by the individual, not just simple adopted. The problem here is that people construct things in different ways - just think of all the times you have seen the same things as others and came away with different perspectives, all the miscommunications you have dealt with, relationship complexities, etc. As much as we would like to say that we should always let our students construct their own knowledge, common expectations, standardized exams, external accreditations, and community expectations make this problematic.  There is a way, in my opinion, to incorporate more of this natural learning into our classrooms though, and it involves the use of language and more capable peers.
We can let them build away, as long as we can see the work in progress. Learning is one of those vexing psychological constructs (i.e., those things we know exist but cannot measure directly, - intelligence, learning, love, happiness, etc.), and we always look for evidence, often behaviors we associate to the construct to measure and establish it. When we measure intelligence for instance, we look for "smart" behaviors that we think are correlated to intelligence. When we measure learning, we often wait until the end and then try to measure it (summative evaluation). This is far too dangerous if we are letting them create their own learning, to wait until the end to see what has happened.  We need to monitor the process, redirect it gently as it goes if necessary, reinforce it when it is working well, etc. (examples of formative evaluation).  This involves language - the tools we use to share each other's minds! 
Language is such an important tool in learning, not just to prove that it has happened to others.  Vygotsky and Piaget used to argue (yes they were contemporaries aware of each other's existence) about the role of egocentric language - that language of small children that didn't always make sense or was very personal and often was for their own use. Piaget would have us believe that the "inner language" of a child faded and disappeared, Vygotsky would tell us that it became internalized and we began to use it as a tool for thought. Have you ever read something very difficult then found yourself reading out loud unintentionally? Have you ever muttered to yourself as you contemplated a difficult concept?  Remember though, it is ok
The idea here is to integrate language into the lessons - theirs and yours.  Your language can provide temporary platforms to hold ideas together for them until they solidify them with their own.  To check that process, you need to "hear" from them. We will spend a great deal of time in the academy talking about interaction for this very purpose. We will talk about concepts like flow, classroom assessment techniques (and hopefully we will hear from an expert, Tom Angelo on this), wait time I and II, elicitation models (my favorite as one of them is my theory :), formative and summative evaluation, and many more. For now, I just want you to think of classroom dynamics, and language.
Finally, a few words about constructing, language, and assistance - the more capable peer!  Too often we present ourselves as "experts" to our students.  The distance between us is horrible - at the front of the room, more advanced, more proficient, often taller (with apologies to our "vertically challenged" colleagues), impatient, in control, forbidding, foreboding, harbingers of change and terror, well you get the idea. Imagine you wanted to take golf lessons (yes, there will be a plethora of American examples here, remember "often from our own tangled schema though"), would you want to take them from the best golfer in the world who learned the game naturally and was a million times better than you, and probably less than patient as a result? Or would you prefer someone like you who had struggled to learn, was a bit better at it than you, and could understand your needs? Someone who could relate to you?  This is the concept of a more capable peer, and this too we will explore in a few short weeks.
Well I am sure I have given you plenty to think about, so it is time for الواجب المنزلي

When you respond to the assignments, please email them to me, do not post your responses here - but, if you would like to make additional comments here, it would be fantastic.  Some of you are not posting much, please get involved. If you need help learning how to post, let me know and I will help!

Queston 1
Do you ever focus very closely on being extremely clear and giving lots of examples?  If so, does this always work?  What do you do when it doesn't?  Do you ever feel you just cannot understand why they can't understand?

Question 2
Do you ever feel that your classroom could be a more "natural language environment"? What can you do to make it so? Remember the short discussion about observing our students at play in other situations? Is their language different there?

Question 3
Do we let children learn from each other enough?  Are we ever worried that they learn too much or the wrong things? How do we incorporate these more capable peers into our schemes of work? 

Remember, please submit your homework via email to me  and to make other comments here. The more work you put in now propels us further in January! I want you all to get involved.  Don't sit on fences, express yourself, and dig into that rich experience you have! I am waiting for wonderful things. Also, if you see references to things that intrigue you, explore them. I will let you all know a little secret - I am gonna have each and everyone of you focus on a specific thing (better if it is your choice) and lead the rest of us in discussions about it in January.
This homework, oops, homefun is due next Saturday, inshalah!