Roboprince
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Being culturally aware
I read the Mcloughlin/Oliver piece twice as I was not sure I agreed with what they had to say the first time through. After re-thinking, I probably agree more than I disagree and can support their findings. While I agree that current ID models do not fully contextualize the learning experience and are themselves product of particular cultures (read biased); I'm not sure they make the case for inclusionary learning models at the cultural level. The America I live in probably contains more cultures under one roof than any other country in history and would be hard-pressed to write a model or come up with a system that fits all.
I think the way to go is pretty much the way we have been doing it. The success model is built on assimilation and that's the way it goes. My own philosophy fits with situated cognition and I have no quams with:
Learning is situated and contextualised in action and everyday situations;
Knowledge is acquired through active participation;
Learning is a process of social action and engagement involving ways of thinking, doing and communicating;
Learning can be assisted by experts or supportive others and through apprenticeship;
Learning is a form of participation in social environments.
Because my students can easily be characterized as visual, I am adding video, pictures, and quizzes to my web.
Victor
posted by vicvista at 8:43 AM
11 Comments:
Victor,
You highlighted the exact same points that caught my attention in the article (I hate to say most of the article sounded confusing and the content wasn't really clicking with me):
Learning is situated and contextualised in action and everyday situations;
Knowledge is acquired through active participation;
Learning is a process of social action and engagement involving ways of thinking, doing and communicating;
Learning can be assisted by experts or supportive others and through apprenticeship;
Learning is a form of participation in social environments.
Great points to mention! Also, I couldn't agree with you more about this country being extremely culturally diverse in every way possible.
Sincerely,
Duaa
Victor,
I don't think the article was coming up with a one size fits all model but quite the opposite.
What I took from the article is that you need to know your learners (audience)...and that you need to provide alternative ways for learners to express themselves and the way they learn. Thus, recognizing diversity. We're not changing the end destination but simply building more roads to reach it.
Victor,
You have summarized the article quite well. How are these constructivist attributes operationalized? Are there teaching vehicles or mechanisms more appropriate than others?
Hi Duaa,
Thanks for the response...those five points really struck me as reasonable and fit nicely with my way of thinking. I found myself accepting some of the other information in the article only because it was written by folk better suited than myself to the subject matter.
Victor
Hi Tre,
I think you probably understood the article better than I did....I'm going to go back and try it one more time.
Victor
Hello Leah,
Thanks for taking the time to read my post. You pose an excellent question ("Are there teaching vehicles or mechanisms more appropriate than others?"). My answer is yes, I beleive there is an appropriate hierarchy of mechanisms, I beleive the appropriateness definately depends on the particular environment (and circumstances) and I think this knowledge only comes from cross-cultural teaching experience. Does this make sense?
Victor
nice you right alot in ur posts ^-^
this is confusing
ok mr williems
I agree with this post
my new blog is make
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