Lead Vs Boss management

http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2001/2001haucker.pdf

Digital natives Vs Digital Immigrants (ignorants?)

Higher order, or deep level thinking

Students today want to be stimulated, they want to be creative and entertained, because this is what they are used to when they watch tv, surf the net, play computer games etc… even using online msging systems have countless options for individual fonts, colours, backgrounds.

This all transfers into how they want to learn. And it is completely possible for higher order thinking and learning to occur while playing games and being creative. For example when a teenager plays a computer game, they are multi tasking, analysing the situation, the other players, their own statistics. They are being creative in almost living in whatever fantasy world the game takes them to, where they may be allowed to fly, have magical powers or other special abilities.

Young people are used to having loads of info sent their way simultaneously, and are skilled at sorting and analysing what is relevant and useful, and adapting this information, this learning, to whatever it is they are doing.

Step-by-step learning, and information that is presented gradually, and in a bland way, such as being written on a board or simply discussed, is not interesting to students today. It is not challenging or stimulating compared to the fast paced, dynamic, creative and attention grabbing digital world they live in.

Some key words: access, and diversity

Piaget

note: when you click on the image it becomes clearer!

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget

Piaget was a bit of a revolutionary, in that he was the first psychologist to say that children do not think like adults. Children are not empty vessels to be filled with adult knowledge, rather they construct their own meanings when they are presented with new information by relating this new information back to what they already know. Children have systems of organising what they know called schema.

Piaget identified 4 stages of development from birth through to adolescence. Not all adults fully achieve the 4th stage. The above diagram names the 4 stages, and appropriate learning styles for children in each of these stages. For some reason this diagram calls the 2nd stage the 'presentational stage:, where I am familiar with it is the "pre-ioperational stage". It is interesting to note on this diagram the horizontal line that describes the change from egocentric behaviour in the early stage, characterised by self talk that is spoken aloud, to internalised reflection.

My reflection:

Piaget's theory is based on his observations, and I can say that I have observed similar things. For instance, my 18 year old nephew has achieved understanding object permanency, which is an indicator that he is nearing the end of the sensorimotor stage. My nephew is experimenting with language, and it seems like every day he learns a new one. The development of language is a major part of the pre-operational stage. Magnus is at the right age to be transitioning from the 1st to the 2nd stage, so I am watching him as he progresses through Piaget's stages.

It seems quite normal to me that children do not think like adults and that as they grow up they learn new skills and are able to develop more sophisticated ways of thinking. However I have grown up in a world that has been influenced by Piaget's thinking ever since I started school.

I think the main point to take away from Piaget is that while it may seem obvious, teachers need to be aware of the stages that children go through in their development. In this way, if a teacher sees a child who may not have progressed through a particular stage, the teacher can recognise this and work out a way to help the child.

Also understanding how children develop. We all know that an 8 year old cannot write an essay about world war 2 in the way that an HSC student can, but knowing why, and what level of sophistication you can expect at different ages, and how to meet your students needs as they develop is vital.

Vygotsky is so right

note: if you click on image it becomes clearer!

Lev Vygotsky

What is the essense of Vygotsky's thinking?

Vygotsky developed the notion of there being something called a zone of proximal development. This zone is the space between what a child can learn by themselves, and what they can learn when they collaborate with others.

According to Vygotsky, the best learning occurs through social interaction. Vygotsky's theory is like a continuation from Piaget, in that Piaget says children construct their own learning, while Vygotsky says that children construct their own learning through social interaction.

My reflection:

Vygotsky is so right. I had this experience just the other day - I was trying to create an appealing poster about me, as part of my campaign for student elections. It was no good! I am not always very good at creating things- and especially when creating documents using computer software, you need to have patience, as you try different things, and use your creativity to improve on your original ideas. I do not have patience, and when it comes to technology I am not very creative! So when my sister, who is very good at skilled at using the relevent computer software, offered to help, I jumped at the chance. The document we came up with is still my work, my ideas and words, but my sister suggested templates, fonts and colours that I wouldn't have considered, but which turned out to be perfect. My sister also acted as a sounding board, and was able to help me refine what I wanted to say. She was constructively critical, and the end result is that we developed a fantastic poster.

When we work by ourselves we are limited by our faults - in my case, impatience and a lack of attention to detail. However, when we work with others, we can be motivated to overcome our faults for the sake of the team. Also, each member of a group brings with them a different perspective, a unique creativity and problem solving skills. So when you compare the capacity of one individual to solve a problem with a group of two or more people, you can see that a group can achieve so much more.

However, once again the skill of the teacher is vital to the success of Vygotsky's theory. Not all students will be able to work together productivley. The teacher needs to ensure that the students working together have complimentary skills.

William Glasser

Choice Theory, Reality Therapy, Lead Management

Choice Theory posits that behavior is central to our existence and is driven by four fundamental psychological needs:
Love
Power
Freedom
Fun

Choice Theory posits the existence of a "Quality World" in which, starting at birth and continuing throughout our lives, we place those things that we highly value: primarily the people who are important to us, things we prize, and systems of belief, i.e. religion, cultural values and icons, etc. Glasser also posits a "Comparing Place" in which we compare the world we experience with our Quality World. We behave to achieve as best we can a real world experience consonant with our Quality World.

Choice Theory posits that we are able to learn how to choose alternate behaviors that will result in greater satisfaction. Reality Therapy is the counselling process focussed on helping clients to learn to make those choices.

The Ten Axioms of Choice Theory

-The only person whose behavior we can control is our own.
-All we can give another person is information.
-All long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems.
-The problem relationship is always part of our present life.
-What -happened in the past has everything to do with what we are today, but we can only satisfy our basic needs right now and plan to continue satisfying them in the future.
-We can only satisfy our needs by satisfying the pictures in our Quality World.
-All we do is behave.
-All behavior is Total Behavior and is made up of four components: acting, thinking, feeling and physiology.
-All Total Behavior is chosen, but we only have direct control over the acting and thinking components. We can only control our feeling and physiology indirectly through how we choose to act and think.
-All Total Behavior is designated by verbs and named by the part that is the most recognizable.

from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Glasser

MY REFLECTION:

I really like how Glasser says that the only behaviour we can control is our own, and that we make choices that determine our behaviour. This is probably because I have found this to be true in my life. I learnt many things about myself as an adolescent, and will continue to as I grow. One of the things that I learnt was that I have a natural inclination to dominate other people. For example, when I was in high school and found myself in a debate with my friends and classmates I was so sure that I was right, and that if I argues my case strongly enough then everyone else would come round to my way of thinking.... of course, I soon learnt that in trying to change my friends thinking and behaviours like this, I made my friends come to avoid getting into any sort of discussion with me, because they wanted to be able to express their opinion and be recognised for its worth. I also like the idea that we make choices that determine our behaviour, because it means that once we identify a behaviour that is not beneficial to us, we can find ways to change that behaviour, if we decide to do so. No situation is hopeless, and no student deserves to be abandoned. However, in reality therapy, the teacher is required to be extremely skillful. Reality therapy is almost like holding a mirror up to the student, and helping them to recognise their own behaviours, and develop strategies to change them. The teacher does not make judgement, and cannot overtly influence the students thinking, although the teacher should subtly encourage the student in the right direction, through asking questions and body language even. A teacher who successfully uses reality therapy will develop a fantastic relationship with the student. A student cannot focus their anger or blame on a teacher who skillfully uses reality therapy, rather they develop a relatuionship of trust.

John Hattie

JOHN HATTI, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

1. Content knowledge. The expert has a deep understanding of the subject matter to be taught to students.

2. Pedagogical knowledge. The expert transforms essential aspects of subject matter to connect
with students’ ways of understanding. These transformations include:

- identifying essential representations about teaching and learning
- have deeper representations
- are problem solvers
- setting appropriate and challenging goals for all learners
- can anticipate, plan, and improvise
- are better decision makers, and can identify important decisions
guiding learning through classroom interactions
- have excellent proficiency for creating an optimal classroom climate for learning
- have a multidimensional perception of class situations
- are context dependent and have high situation cognition
- are diverse and flexible in their problem solving
monitoring learning and providing feedback
- are most adept at monitoring and provide much feedback
- are able to check and test-out their hypotheses or strategies
- are automatic in many routines and reactions
making these transformations
- for all students
- with much passion about teaching and learning

3. Learning Outcomes. The expert promotes:
- motivation
- self-efficacy
- challenge of objectives
- outcomes of lessons: Achievement
- outcomes of lessons: Surface and Deep

FROM: http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/staff/index.cfm?P=5049

My reflection:

Hattie is an intellectual, an academic who thrives on research. It's a little bit harder to get a grip on exactly what Hattie is about, as there is nothing called "Hattie's theory of (X)". However, the text above is an indication of what Hattie is about. There is loads more research papers and transcripts of speeches on the net presented by Hattie where he discusses things such as "measurement models and their application to educational problems".

Hattie is more concerned with the role of the teacher, or 'expert' as a facilitator to learning than he is with the learner and how they learn, unlike, say, Bloom.

This focus on the teacher is almost revolutionary. Previously, educational theory revolved around the role and practice of the teacher. Modern theory has shifted its focus to the learner, their needs, and role as the director of their learning. Now Hattie is focusing, once again, on the teacher. This is not to say that Hattie has reverted to any old theories or practices, rather that in considering modern theories, he is once again considering the role of the teacher in them.