#Constructivist Learning Outcomes

[darrenwalleyconsultancy]

What is Constructivism?

Photo by Annie Spratt Constructivism is a theory of learning and knowledge that posits that individuals construct their understanding and knowledge of the world through experiences and reflecting on those experiences. This theory has profound implications in various fields, including education, psychology, and epistemology. Let’s delve into the key aspects of constructivism, its historical…

[dwighthooperus]

Understanding Educational Theory: Foundations for Medical Educators by Dwight Hooper

Launching a career in medical education is a rewarding endeavor that combines the art of teaching with the science of medicine. As medical educators, understanding the foundational theories of education is crucial for developing effective teaching strategies and fostering an environment conducive to learning. This blog delves into key educational theories that every aspiring medical educator should grasp. By integrating these theories into your teaching practice, you can enhance the educational experiences of your students and contribute to the advancement of medical education.

The Importance of Educational Theory in Medical Education

Educational theories provide a framework for understanding how students learn, which is essential for developing effective teaching methods. For medical educators, these theories offer insights into creating engaging and impactful learning experiences. They guide the design of curricula, instructional strategies, and assessment methods, ensuring that educational practices are evidence-based and aligned with the needs of learners.

Moreover, understanding educational theory helps educators address the diverse learning styles and needs of medical students. It enables them to create inclusive learning environments where all students can thrive. By grounding their teaching practices in solid theoretical foundations, medical educators like Dwight Hooper foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and lifelong learning skills in their students, preparing them for the dynamic and challenging field of medicine.

Constructivism: Learning as an Active Process

Constructivism posits that learners construct their own understanding and knowledge through experiences and interactions with the world. This theory emphasizes active learning, where students engage in hands-on activities, collaborate with peers, and reflect on their experiences to build new knowledge. In medical education, constructivist approaches can be applied through problem-based learning (PBL), case-based learning (CBL), and simulation-based education.

For instance, PBL encourages students to work in groups to solve complex, real-world medical problems. This method promotes critical thinking, teamwork, and the application of theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios. Similarly, simulation-based education allows students to practice clinical skills in a controlled environment, providing opportunities for experiential learning and immediate feedback. By incorporating constructivist principles, professionals such as Dwight Hooper create dynamic and interactive learning experiences that enhance student engagement and understanding.

Behaviorism: Shaping Learning Through Reinforcement

Behaviorism focuses on observable behaviors and the ways in which they can be shaped through reinforcement. This theory suggests that positive reinforcement, such as praise or rewards, can encourage desired behaviors, while negative reinforcement or punishment can discourage undesired ones. In medical education, behaviorist strategies can be utilized to reinforce clinical skills, professional behavior, and adherence to protocols.

For example, a medical educator might use regular quizzes and practical assessments to reinforce learning and provide immediate feedback. Positive reinforcement, such as verbal praise or recognition, can motivate students to continue developing their skills and knowledge. Additionally, behaviorist principles can inform the design of competency-based assessments, where students demonstrate their abilities in real-world clinical settings and receive constructive feedback to guide their improvement. By leveraging behaviorist techniques, medicine professors including Dwight Hooper effectively shape student behaviors and enhance learning outcomes.

Cognitivism: Understanding Mental Processes

Cognitivism focuses on the internal processes involved in learning, such as memory, perception, and problem-solving. This theory emphasizes the importance of understanding how information is processed, stored, and retrieved by the brain. In medical education, cognitivist approaches can be applied to enhance the retention and application of complex medical knowledge.

Techniques such as spaced repetition, mnemonic devices, and concept mapping are rooted in cognitivist principles and can be used to improve memory and comprehension. Spaced repetition involves reviewing information at increasing intervals to reinforce learning and prevent forgetting. Mnemonic devices aid in the recall of complex information by associating it with familiar concepts or patterns. Concept mapping helps students organize and visualize relationships between different pieces of information, facilitating deeper understanding and integration of knowledge. By incorporating cognitivist strategies, medical educators like Dwight Hooper support the cognitive processes that underlie effective learning.

Humanism: Fostering Personal Growth and Self-Actualization

Humanism is an educational theory that emphasizes the development of the whole person, including emotional, social, and intellectual growth. This theory advocates for a learner-centered approach, where the individual needs, interests, and experiences of students are prioritized. In medical education, humanistic approaches can create supportive and empathetic learning environments that promote personal and professional development.

For example, reflective practice encourages students to reflect on their experiences, thoughts, and emotions, fostering self-awareness and critical thinking. Mentorship programs provide personalized guidance and support, helping students navigate their educational journeys and develop their professional identities. Additionally, creating a culture of respect and inclusivity in the classroom can enhance student well-being and engagement. By adopting humanistic principles, medical educators can nurture the personal growth and self-actualization of their students, preparing them to be compassionate and competent healthcare professionals.

Social Learning Theory: Learning Through Observation and Interaction

Social learning theory posits that people learn by observing others and imitating their behaviors. This theory highlights the importance of social interactions and modeling in the learning process. In medical education, social learning can be facilitated through mentorship, peer learning, and collaborative activities.

For instance, clinical rotations and internships allow medical students to observe experienced practitioners in action, gaining insights into best practices and professional behaviors. Peer learning activities, such as group discussions and study groups, provide opportunities for students to learn from each other and reinforce their understanding through teaching and collaboration. By incorporating social learning principles, professionals such as Dwight Hooper leverage the power of observation and interaction to enhance student learning and professional development.

Understanding educational theory is fundamental for medical educators who aim to create effective and meaningful learning experiences. By integrating constructivism, behaviorism, cognitivism, humanism, and social learning theory into their teaching practices, educators can address the diverse needs of medical students and foster their intellectual, emotional, and professional growth. Embracing these foundational theories not only enhances the quality of medical education but also prepares future healthcare professionals to navigate the complexities of the medical field with competence and compassion. As you embark on your career in medical education, grounding your practice in educational theory will empower you to make a lasting impact on your students and the broader healthcare community.

[undergraduateprojects]

Understanding The Benefits Of Guided Discovery Teaching Method To Students

Guided discovery learning strategy is on the continuum of students‟ centered learning and teacher centered. Students are being given initial problems, issues or topics to research in. Students understand from hands on learning, reasoning process and reflection. The role of teachers is to provide initial information and materials to work on. Another important element is for teachers to ask question, giving guidance, encouragement and feedback. The involvement of group can also facilitate the learning process.

GUIDED DISCOVERY METHOD

The guided discovery method is a teaching technique that encourages student to take a more active role in their learning process by answering series of question or solving problems designed to introduce a general concept. The guided discovery method is based on the notion that learning takes place through classification and schema formation. Three main principles guided Brunner’s development of this approach. Consideration should be given to experiences and contexts that motivate the students’ interest. There should be a spiral organization of the material forcing students to build previously acquired information. The instruction should facilitate extrapolation- constructivist theory.

See Samples Of Undergraduate Final Year Research Projects For Students

In this teaching approach, the instructor guides the student’s thought process by posing a series of questions whose responses would lead to the understanding of a concept before it is explicitly stated. Children act as detectives as they solve concept attainment activities in stimulating environments, in doing so, they place a newly introduced object in a category that they have previously discovered or identified. This teaching method is believed to increase retention of material because the student organizes the new information that has already been stored.

Guided Discovery Method is one of the modern teaching methods used for teaching in technical and vocational education. It is a student- centered guided discovery approach. Guided discovery method increases the degree of students’ interest, innovativeness, problem-solving ability, creativity and consequently improves their achievement in both theory and practice. It can be said that discovery occurs when an individual is involved mainly in using his mental processes to mediate some concepts or principles through problem-solving activities. Guided discovery method can be seen as a resource based learning which is an innovation that reverses the usual role of the teacher from that which he is the main authority and source of all knowledge to one in which he acts simply as a guide to the students to enable them to make use of other sources of information.

In using guided discovery method, the teachers were more interested in the creative ability of the learner. Guided discovery method can also be seen as the teaching method that involves an instructional exploration in some problem-solving experience in which the student can draw general conclusions from data which he has gathered through various physical and mental process such as observing, inferring, predicting, communicating, describing and formulating relevant questions. Guided discovery method encourages creativity in learners and discourages rote learning. Guided discovery emphasizes learners take the ideas of the teacher and assimilate them with previous knowledge and experiences to modify it in a more complex way, supporting the construction of new knowledge. The teacher supports learners’ personal instruction of knowledge by offering comments, suggestions, feedback or observations.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Academic performance or school outcome is the product of student’s achievements at specific institution, for specific time duration, under a specific guideline of a leader to a right motive. The academic performance can be best checked or judged by different ways according to the mental level of students like observations, test and examinations. The primary level student’s academic performance is usually checked by observations. While the examinations and tests are best way to check the academic performance or academic understanding in high classes. These written tests or examinations are known as home exams because it is conducted by school administration. In some country’s examination is used to upgrade or degrade the students so if a student is intelligent but did not attend the annual exam will be left in same class till, he/she succeed in the exam. Students learn in schools and institutions; their records are kept and this record is called academic performance and academic outcome. The student works under the supervision of a teacher, in a selected place, for selected time duration and their performance is measured by exams. This process is known as the academic performance. The learners choose the best institution to perform well or get academic excellence. The formal study of learner starts in schools. In school the learner learns various things along with technical, arts, literacy etc. Academic activities are usually measured by test/examination or by assessments. Individuals have different mental level, interest, atmosphere which linked to difference in intelligence and personality. A Recent Meta Analyses suggested “mental curiosity” has an important influence on academic achievements. Early academic achievement enhances later academic achievements. The way of student’s interest, skills, reading habits, behavior etc are the outcome/reflection of parent’s academic socialization. The parents play vital role in child academic socialization. At first stage of her/his life the children learn languages which help him/ her to adjust and fulfill the academic expectations. Physical activity and language play a vital role in best academic environment because sound body have sound mind and language is a tool for learning and expressing feelings/ knowledge. Exercise specifically increase executive brain functions such as attention, working memory, and motivation. Academic goals can be easily achieved only when the students feel safe, engaged and respected. The environment such as social, emotional, ethical and educational (academic achievement) creates a climate for learning and participating in democracy and well-being. High quality character education leads to academic achievements. Education or academic achievements and character education are co related. When the students are highly motivated towards a topic or they realized the good things by their inner satisfaction, they became good at every field of life as they feel good to do well. Their curiosity increases and pursue them to do well. But when they feel/find something difficult, they lose their way of interest, they became anxious and hesitated. The hesitation leads them to leave the academic performance

THE BENEFITS OF GUIDED DISCOVERY TEACHING METHOD TO STUDENTS

The Guided Discovery Approach Approach (GDA, henceforth) is a learner -centred inductive approach in which learners, by themselves, can develop explicit grammar knowledge with the teacher's help. Although there is a great repertoire of approaches in which we can present explicit grammar knowledge to students, according to the abundant literature available on grammar teaching, many authors support this approach as the best way of presenting explicit grammar to learners. Guided discovery involves helping learners to discover certain facts or answer to a given problem. Learners most often depend on their teachers to provide all answers they need. Guided discovery also involves inquiry method that stimulates learner’s interest in seeking information about ideas and concepts by asking questions. Guided discovery drills learners and enables them to search for knowledge in a systematic and logical way. Guided discovery promotes independent reasoning and self-reliance while the teacher guides, directs and re-directs which can lead the learner to the answers. Guided discovery is time consuming and expensive but helps learners to develop skills of observation, exploration and questioning. Guided discovery promotes active participation, team work cooperation and tolerance among learners Therefore, learners are guided to avoid misconceptions that cause poor achievement in examinations. Misconceptions arise when learners are left to discover facts on their own and without help, learners often become lost and frustrated. Throughout the literature, misconceptions have been documented and studies investigating misconceptions and difficulties in learning and understanding mathematical concepts have been reported.

[chroniclecloud]

Teachers App With Classroom Management & Personalized Learning

The father of constructivism Jean Piaget (1972, 1974) believed that people are always trying to reach the state of equilibrium, whereby the learner discards his misconceptions, adopts scientific explanations that best fit the situation, and constantly tests the adequacy of his ideas through assimilation and accommodation. Actual learning happens through incorporation, in which scientific knowledge is not transferred from teacher to student. Instead, students implement their conceptual changes enabled by student-centered teachers and act as facilitators of learning, not as authorities who transmit information to students. The teacher needs to examine each student’s cognitions and develop instructional techniques which create a cognitive conflict to be resolved. Indeed, students must actively participate in learning, which significantly depends on the shared experiences of students, peers, and the teacher; hence, cooperative learning is a significant teaching method used in the constructivist classroom.

According to Carol Ann Tomlinson- “We do much better if we start with what we consider to be high-end curriculum and expectations — and then differentiate to provide scaffolding, to lift the kids. The usual tendency is to start with what we perceive to be grade-level material and then dumb it down for some and raise it for others. But we don’t usually raise it very much from that starting point, and dumbing down sets lower expectations for some kids.”

Personalized learning as an interactive learner and teacher journey involves four core dimensions: Person, Environment, Process, and Practice

Person– diversity inclusion, students’ knowledge as learners, learner autonomy and learner-driven, the joint responsibility of teachers and students in learning outcomes.

Environment– learning spaces, individual workplaces, or workstations, group work, display, presentation, celebrating learning.

Process– skillful interaction, co-creation, authentic contexts, systematic inquiry, flexibility, and support, connecting learning, assessment, and reflection.

Practice– building relationships, learning communities, communities of practice, reflective practitioners.

EdTech is fast moving towards personalized learning, and differentiated instruction to address every individual’s learning needs according to their individual competency. Analytics and data visualization are now mainstream. The maturation of cloud services and the adoption of new web technologies have accelerated both fields. Among the most important innovations has been the development of new streaming data systems. These technologies can handle the exponentially increasing scales of data produced—not only by traditional web and social media technologies but also by machines and sensors deployed in cyber-physical systems such as consumer wearables, smart city implementations, and connected industrial devices.

Chronicle Cloud is a must-have app for teachers designed to address every student's learning needs. Every feature enables teachers to monitor individual students' progress and plan instruction and early interventions. The app also allows teachers to form groups according to their competency, share data with students and teachers.

[junyi-edst3510]

Week 5: Issues of privacy, proctoring and access to data

Week 6: Planning an Online Course: Seeing the Big Picture

In 2020, a sudden pandemic hit the world unprepared, creating a new learning style for millions of college students. Traditional in-person lectures have been replaced by online virtual learning. The method reduces the risk of infection among people, yet it has insufficient in the long-term process. For that, people may have concerns about this new form of teaching. What to expect from virtual learning? How does virtual learning impact student outcomes? 

According to the article, online teaching and learning are based on several insights from the understanding of behaviourists, cognitivist, humanists and social constructivists (Baxter et al, 2018). Thus, online courses are prompting educators to think more deeply than ever about how to establish interactive activities for their learners. Most importantly, learning is a social activity, which means it is dynamic. Learners learn through active interaction with educators, peers and materials rather than passively accepting the knowledge. Compared with traditional approaches, online courses endow a variety of new teaching and learning forms.

On the other hand, online learning has the potential to undermine academic integrity and lower student performance. Due to online learning's lack of regulation, supervision, and protocol, malfeasance in academic work would increase, whether it is plagiarism or cheating on exams, ultimately leading to low course completion rate (Nigam et al., 2021). To this end, the cybersecurity of online proctoring systems has come into play. However, many claims that the proctoring system has discriminatory consequences for multiple identities and invades their rights (Swauger, 2020). Students with black or brown-skinned often have difficulty verifying their identities for a test because both embedded computer video cameras and facial recognition are being designed by and for white people. Besides, algorithmic test proctoring gives course owners access to recorded videos and audio of their students and allows them to download it as many times as they want, when and wherever they want. 

In conclusion, online teaching and learning have their upsides and downsides, as well as the traditional in-person lecture. I believe the priority of designing courses is to balance the two forms of teaching and learning approaches. 

References:

Baxter, J., Callaghan, G., & McAvoy, J. (2018). Chapter 2‘The Context of Online Teaching and Learning: Neoliberalism, Marketization and Online Teaching’ from: Creativity and critique in online learning: Exploring and examining innovations in online pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan, an imprint of Springer International Publishing. https://ocul-yor.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_YOR/j50f41/cdi_askewsholts_vlebooks_9783319782980

Nigam, A., Pasricha, R., Singh, T. and Churi, P. (2021) “A Systematic Review on AI-Based Proctoring Systems: Past, Present and Future.” Education and information technologies 26.5 (2021): 6421–6445. https://ocul-yor.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_YOR/j50f41/cdi_pubmedcentral_primary_oai_pubmedcentral_nih_gov_8220875

Swauger, S. (2020). Our bodies encoded: Algorithmic test proctoring in higher education. Critical Digital Pedagogy. https://hybridpedagogy.org/our-bodies-encoded-algorithmic-test-proctoring-in-higher-education/

[talyanatlo]

Statement of Educational Philosophy

Statement of Educational Philosophy

Teaching and learning are crucial for academic achievement and career development. Education is the key that opens individual and societal successes through impactful knowledge, attitude, and skills. Educators matter in learning and can achieve better educational outcomes when they apply efficient strategies and approaches. When teaching science, constructivist pedagogy is essential as it…

[for-your-therapeutic-smile]

They Never Teach You How to Stop

Rarely do I lack the words to express myself. Perhaps this reflects my failure to maintain my journal consistently throughout 2020. Here goes an honest attempt to capture and document my mental state and the fatigue of Covid, the inertia of this shelter-in-place, the anxiety of this political crisis we face as a nation, the pressure of being a 1L in law school against the backdrop of civil unrest and Justice Ginsburg’s death, coming out - my dad told me he was disappointed -, the possible erosion of my relationship with someone I love, and this feeling of absolute dread and resentment for a system that continuously fails my and future generations (robbing us of a social contract that promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), among many other things I’m too tired to consider. When did we accept a $0 baseline as the American Dream? Oh, to be debt free - free from this punishment for having pursued an education. Stifling the educated to prevent them (myself included) from organizing and mobilizing the masses so we can supplant this system with a better one is the overall objective of the oppressive class (read: Pedagogy of the Oppressed); it’s the conflict between the bourgeois and the proletariat. The proletariat has swallowed the middle class, leaving only the ruling class. I am essentially on autopilot, forcing myself to go through the motions so I can survive another day. I know others join me in this mental gymnastics of unparalleled proportions, one social scientists and medical researchers will soon study and subsequently publish their findings in an attempt to explain the unexplainable. Despite a lack of air circulation, we are breathing history; the constitution, like our societal norms, must adapt accordingly. Judge Barrett: there is no place for originalism. While I seldom admit weakness or an inability to manage life’s curveballs, this series of unfortunate events seems almost too much to bear. 

And yet somehow I continue to find the energy to submit assignments due at 11:59 p.m., write this post at 1:38 a.m., “sleep”, wake at 7 a.m. so I can read and prepare (last minute!) the assigned material leading into my torts or contracts class. I find the energy to text my boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend) so I can attempt to salvage the real and genuine connection we have, cook elaborate meals to find some solace, wrestle with whether or not to hit my yoga mat (I don’t), apply to a fellowship for the school year and summer internships, prepare my dual citizenship paperwork, manage a campaign for two progressive politicians, and listen to music in an attempt to stay sane . . . ~*Queues John Mayer’s “War of My Life” and “Stop This Train”*~ . . . I realize I have to be kinder to myself, give credit where credit is due. I hate feeling self-congratulatory though.

Mostly, I am too afraid of the repercussions if I stop moving at a mile/minute, that I can just work away the pain and be the superhuman who numbs himself from the low-grade depression and nervous breakdown. My body tells me to slow down, as evidenced by the grinding of my teeth, but I take on more responsibility because people rely on me. I must show up. I am a masochist in that way. This is what I signed up for and I’ll be damned if I don’t carry through on my promise to do the work. Pieces of my soul scattered about like Horcruxes, though they’re pure, not evil, so I hope nobody resolves to destroy them. 

My mind rarely rests. It’s 3:08 a.m., one of the lonelier hours where night meets morning; it’s the hour for and of intense introspection. It makes you consider pulling an all-nighter, one you reserve for an “important” school or work deadline. We always put our personal lives on the back-burner. 3 a.m. sets the tone for a potentially awful day. But that doesn’t matter right now. I’m letting some of my favorite albums play in the background: Joni Mitchell’s Blue, Mac Miller’s Circles, Rhye’s Blood, Alicia Keys’ ALICIA, Coldplay’s Ghost Stories, Frank Ocean’s Blonde, Miley Cyrus’ Dead Petz in addition to other playlists, Tiny Desk performances, and tracks (I unearthed last week, like When It’s Over by Sugar Ray). I need to feel something. I need to feel anything. I need to feel everything. We experience such a broad spectrum of emotions throughout the day that we lose track of if we don’t pause to absorb them. Music reinforces empathy; it releases dopamine.

I spent the past two hours reading through old journals and posts, as scattered as they were, on a wide range of topics: poems I had written about falling in and out love, anecdotes about my world travels, and entries on personal, political, and professional epiphanies. The other night I found one of my favorites, a previous post from my time living in Indonesia, centering on the dualities of technology. It resonated with me more than the others. To summarize, I wrote about my tendency to equate the Internet with a sense of interconnectedness (shoutout to Tumblr for being my digital journal; to Twitter for being a place of comedy and revolution; to Instagram for curating my *aesthetic*; to Facebook where I track my family’s accomplishments and connect with travel buddies displaced around the globe all searching for a home). And yet I feel incredibly lonely and disconnected whenever I spend too much time using technology, so much so that I set screen time limitations on my phone recently to curtail this obsession with constant communication and information gathering. Trump and Biden admitted that it’s unlikely we’ll know the results of the election on November 3rd during their first presidential debate. Push notifications don’t allow us to learn of trauma within the comforts of our own homes. I’m already fearing where I will be when that news breaks. 

This global pandemic and indefinite shutdown of the world (economy) undeniably exacerbates these feelings. This is some personal and collective turmoil. But I was complicit in the endless scrolling and swiping of faces and places long before Covid-19. Instead of choosing to interact with my direct environment (today’s research links this behavior to the same levels of depression one feels when they play slot machines), I am still an active on all these platforms, participating the least in the most tangible one: my physical life. I am tired of pretending. I am tired of being tired. I am tired of embodying fake energy to exist in systems that fail me. I am tired of the quagmire. Like Anaïs Nin, I must be a mermaid [because] I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living. This particular excerpt from that 2016 entry was difficult for me to read: “The fantasy of what could have been if a certain plan had unfolded will haunt you forever if you do not come to peace with the reality of the situation. I hope you come to terms with reality.” I am not at peace with my current reality. But is anyone?

It’s a bit surreal for my peers to have suddenly started caring about international relations theory. It’s transported me back to my 2012 IR lecture at Northeastern: are you a constructivist or a feminist? Realist or liberalist? Neo? Marxist? The one no one wants you to talk about. Absent upward mobility, this is class warfare. But I cannot be “a singular expression of myself . . . there are too many parts, too many spaces, too many manifestations, too many lines, too many curves, too many troubles, too many journeys, too many mountains, too many rivers” . . . It feels like America’s wake-up call. But I know people will retreat into the comforts of capitalism if Biden wins and, well, we all enter uncharted waters together if the Electoral College re-elects #45. For those who weren’t paying attention: the world is multipolar and we are not the hegemon. Norms matter. People tend to be self-interested and shortsighted. Look to the past in order to understand the future. History, as the old adage goes, repeats itself. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Taxation without representation. Indoctrination. Welcome to the language of political discourse. Students of IR and polisci have long awaited your participation. Too little too late? Plot twist: it’s a lifelong commitment. You must continue to engage irrespective of the election outcome or else we will regress just as quickly as we progress. Now dive into international human rights treaties (International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights), political refugees, FGM. No one said it wasn’t dismal. But it’s important. We need buy-in.  

While I am grateful for the continuation of my education, for this extended time with family, for this opportunity to be a campaign manager for two local progressive candidates (driving to Boston to pick up revised yard signs as proof that the work never stops), it would be remiss of me, however, not to admit that I am lonely: I am buried in my books, in the depressing news both nationally and globally, and in precedent-setting Supreme Court cases (sometimes for the worst, e.g. against the preservation of our environment). In my nonexistent free time I work on political asylum cases, essentially creating an enforceability framework of international law, for people fleeing country conditions so unthinkable (the irony of that work when my country falls greater into authoritarianism and oligarchy is not lost on me). I am fulfilling my dream of becoming a human rights lawyer which stems back to middle school. I saw Things I Imagined (thank you Solange). I have held an original copy of the Declaration of Independence that we sent to the House of Lords in 1778 and the Human Rights Act of 1998 while visiting the U.K. Parliamentary Archives as an intern for a Member of Parliament. This success terrifies and exhausts me; it also oxygenizes and saves me. Every decision, every sacrifice, has led me to this point. 

“It’s the choosing that’s important, isn’t it?,” Lois Lowry of The Giver rhetorically asks. This post is not intended to be woe is me! I am fortunate to be in this position, to have this vantage point at such an early age, and I understand the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. My life has purpose. I am committed to the work that transcends boundaries; it is larger than life itself. It provides a unique perspective. But it makes it difficult to coexist with people so preoccupied in the drama they create in their lives and the general shallowness of the world we live. It feels like there is no option to pump the brakes on any of this work, especially in light of our current climate, and that pressure oftentimes feels insurmountable. Time is of the essence. It feels, whether true or not, that hardly anyone relates to my experience, so if I don’t carve out this time to write about it, then I am neither recording nor processing it. 

Tonight, in between preparing tomorrow’s coursework, I realize that I have an unprecedented number of questions about life, which startles me because typically I have the answers or at least have a goal in mind that launches me into the next phase of life or contextualizes the current one. These goals, often rooted in this capitalistic framework, in this falsity of “needing” to advance my career as a means of helping people, distract me from asking myself the existential questions, the reasons for why we live and what we fundamentally want our systems to look like; they have distracted me from real grassroots community organizing until now. They distract me from the fact that, like John Mayer, I don’t know which walls to smash; similarly, I don’t know which train to board. Right now feels like we are living through impossible and hopeless times and I don’t want to placate myself into thinking otherwise despite my relatively optimistic outlook on life. As we face catastrophic circumstances – the consequences of this election and climate change (famine, refugees, lack of resources) – I do not want to live in perpetual sadness. I am searching for clarity and direction so I can step into a better, fuller version of myself. 

It’s now 3:33 a.m. Here is the list of questions that I have often asked myself in different stages of life, but recently, until now, I have not been willing to confront for fear that I might not be able to answers them. But I owe it to myself to pose them here so I can have the overdue conversation, the one I know leads me to better understanding myself:

Are you happy? Why or why not?

What do you want the future to hold? What groundwork are you going to do to ensure it happens?

What does your ideal day/week/month/year/decade look like? Why?

With whom do you want to spend your days? Why?

Who do you love and care about? Have you told people you care about that you love them? Does love and vulnerability scare you?

What do you expect of people – of yourself, of your partner, of your family, and of your friends? Should you have those expectations? Why or why not?

What do you feel and why?

What relaxes you? What scares you? What brings you joy?

What do you want to improve? Why?

What do you want to forgive yourself for and why?

Does the desire to reinvent yourself diminish your ability to be present?

Do you have a greater fear of failure or success? Why?

How do you escape the confines of this broken system? How do you break from the guilt of participation in it and having benefited from it?

How do we reconcile our daily lives with the fact that we’re living through an extinction event? This one comes from my friend (hi Jeanne) and a podcast she listened to recently.

How do you help people? How do you help yourself? Are you pouring from an empty cup?

How will you find joy in your everyday responsibilities, in the mission you have chosen for yourself? What, if any, will be the warning signs to walk away from this work, in part or in its entirety? Without being a martyr, do you believe in dying for the cause?

So here are some of the lessons I have learned during this quarantine/past year:

“I’ve Got Dreams to Remember,” so do not take your eyes off them. Chasing paper does not bring you happiness.

Be autonomous, particularly in your professional life.

Focus on values instead of accolades.

Do everything with intention and honest energy.

Listen to Tracy Chapman’s “Crossroads” & Talkin’ Bout a Revolution for an energy boost and reminder that other revolutionaries have shared and continue to share your fervent passion . . . “I’m trying to protect what I keep inside, all the reasons why I live my life” . . . When self-doubt nearly cripples you and you yearn a few minutes to run away when in reality you can’t escape your responsibilities, go for a drive and queue up “Fast Car” . . . “I got no plans, I ain’t going nowhere, so take your fast car and keep on driving.”

With that said, take every opportunity to travel (you can take the work with you if absolutely necessary). Go to Italy. Buy the concert ticket and lose yourself in the moment. Remember that solo excursions are equally as important as collective ones. But, from personal experience, you prefer the company. Find the balance.

Detach from the numbers people keep trying to assign to measure your personhood.

Closely examine the people in your inner circle and ask them for help when you need it.

“And life is just too short to keep playing the game . . . because if you really want somebody [or something], you’ll figure it out later, or else you will just spend the rest of the night with a BlackBerry on your chest hoping it goes *vibration, vibration*” (John Mayer’s Edge of Desire) . . . so love fiercely and unapologetically.

Be specific.

Go to therapy even when life is good.

[ambardelmoral]

Out of School Learning Response

This article talked about the origins of makerspaces and the positive outcomes of learning through making. Kylie Peppers gives us a brief overview of the beginnings of makerspaces, while she clarifies that making is not new, she says the makerspaces culture started in the early 2000s. In my opinion, her explanation was too brief. I was hoping she would make some connections to what might have led to it, perhaps the 90s DIY scene. Pepper continues to explain that makerspaces are naturally constructivist, which help makers learn better as they are forming meaningful connections to what they are making and are constantly problem solving. Throughout the article, it was very easy for me to see the connection between art classrooms and makerspaces, especially when Pepper explains the open-ended nature of makerspaces, much like art spaces. This made it clear to me that makerspaces and art go hand in it hand.

[thegreenschoolbangalore]

Best School in Bangalore

Have you ever imagined a school for your child which integrates the global goal of educational sustainability in its model of learning? Yes, it is true that with the feather on its cap as one of the best schools in Bangalore, The Green School Bangalore (TGSB), known for creating the Green Leaders, works towards its vision, mission, and values of creating responsible global citizens.

More than just focusing on the curriculum or academic fulfillment, TGSB focuses on the holistic development of every child. Every child is unique. TGSB believes that childhood is not a sprint to see how quickly a child can reach the goal. It is an evergreen phase of life to enjoy, learn and develop skills at an individualistic pace that is specific, right, and subjective for each individual child. No child is weaker than the other. It is the expertise of the mentor to tailor the tools subjective to each child’s needs. The kids should be stress-free so that they can stimulate their senses and analyze who they are. Each child is different, vibrant, and magical in his or her own way. The magic wand is in the hands of the facilitator.

The teacher in TGSB is a facilitator, who adopts a student-led inquiry in the approaches to guided learning. In the process of student-centered learning, learners nurture their freedom of thoughts and expression, connecting every theme-based learning with real life.

The curriculum is a blend of the best pedagogical elements from every curriculum like the national and the international ones like the Cambridge International Programme and the IB Primary Year Programme. The most exciting aspect of the hybrid model lies in its blended approach to learning with tailored lesson plans.  The unique learning environment follows a constructivist approach, where every child learns to question and construct knowledge through an inquiry model. The construction of knowledge through senses, based on creativity and imagination, creates excitement in every child to learn through contestability, rather than accept what is just being taught.

In the digital era of learning many parents are curious to know the intensity of digital integration in the academic framework. TGSB has balanced it well. The blended approach is a perfect mix of age-appropriate screen time required to inculcate research skills with hands-on experiential learning.

  Being reviewed by the parent community as the best school in Bangalore for its pedagogy, mission, and vision; TGSB has created a perfect holistic environment for the kids in integrating the co-curricular with the academics, thereby tailoring the most meaningful holistic framework. Like academics, every child is assessed on their gross and fine motor skills, and emotional, social, and adversity quotients.

It is quite common that modern-age schools to speak a lot about the wholesome curriculum, but at times it just remains in the school brochure as jargon. However, the TGSB fabric encompasses its entire ecosystem of education around uniform nurture of all quotients-IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ(emotional quotient), SQ (social quotient), AQ(adversity quotient), and HQ(happiness quotient).

The school has an open-door policy. Parents are considered very strong stakeholders whose contribution creates a synergetic learning environment. As members of the School’s decision-making team, parents of TGSB are more aware of and become more active regarding policies that affect their children's education. Consistent parent involvement leads to improved relationships with the School team.

It is a gratifying experience for each and every parent to see their child growing up in a school which beliefs in nurturing children through self-advocacy. Self-advocacy is a key attribute and attitude infused in a child which makes him or her aware of the rights, stay informed, be open-minded, be a problem solver, and develop the grit which leads to successful learning outcomes. This is where TGSB is the most reviewed School in Bangalore as a learning milieu for every kid, who is unique in his or her own way.

For More Info:-  icse schools in whitefield

top 5 schools in bangalore

[charlenea-grad503-12]

Final Timeline Poster Design and Final Thoughts

I found this design journey to be quite enjoyable. Researching my designer was really interesting seeing how his use of largely primary coloured geometric shapes could form such pleasing imagery and how his Jewish heritage and the on-going wars affected his life, though in spite of this, he grew to be an extremely successful artist. 

On the application side of things however, I had a lot to learn as I was a beginner at using illustrator. Though it was difficult at first, I managed to feel more at ease using the application through the help of my teachers and friends. The tutorials we had in class were also very helpful.

It took me a bit of time to get my head around how I wanted to execute the poster as I wanted it to both feature elements of Lissitzky’s design style as well as my own while making sure to keep everything legible. But luckily through some rough paper sketches I was able to create some poster designs that I was happy with which I then later refined in Illustrator.

To better capture Lissitzky’s design style I decided to work from his own work starting with one of his most famous pieces “Beat the Whites with Red Wedge” but I quickly decided that it lacked more visually interesting imagery such as photos or a more animated way of laying text, so I worked on creating a poster based on another piece of his work called “Constructivist Oil on Canvas”. I chose this painting as it featured more colours and the shapes were configured into a more interesting layout. But in slanting the text, I soon realised I was losing some legibility so I promptly picked yet another piece of his work, this time called “Untitled” which featured even more colours but had a more straight up and down layout. I ended up liking this layout the most so I attempted to create a final design largely based off of it, deciding to change up the colours to his more iconic colour palette which was used in “Constructivist Oil on Canvas” and refined it.

In the end, I’m quite happy with the outcome but am sure there are still elements to improve upon as there always are.

[ethanswork]

Evaluation

The title of my project was ‘Roots of conflict: the cold war’. 

I started out with the idea of using russian constructivism as it played a part in the formation of the soviet union. That idea slowly morphed into using a mix of propaganda and constructivist art. This eventually lead me into creating and using templates with spray paint to get a strong high contrast style as seen in propaganda and constructivist art from the time. 

The main restriction working on my project was time. Initially i wanted to do 5 posters showcasing the different stages of the Soviet Union from start to finish, but unfortunately I’ve only been able to make 2 and a half of the posters. It was also my first time working with spray paint, so my knowledge was limited but i adapted and believe i worked well with it.  

Working within my limited knowledge of the medium, I relied on my knowledge of the subject of the piece to help me creatively where I lacked the experience. You can see this where I’ve displayed dates and historical events relating to the poster via newspaper clippings. I’m very proud of this idea as it not only shows of my knowledge of the subject but my experience in collage and printing I gained earlier on in the course. 

I did research on the artists Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko. Both of these men were Russian constructivist artists who helped form the identity of the the then fledgling state of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, also known as The Soviet Union. A state formed by the working class for the working clas, utopia.

 I feel the research on Alexander Rodchenko was especially inspiring and I tried the incorporate his use of colour and contrast into my own work, all be it with a grittier over all tone. In terms of his sculptures I took a more abstract approach and incorporated them as the silhouettes of buildings, as they may not look the same I believe they follow the same architectural aesthetic. 

I believe my research into The Soviet Union and interest in the Cold War as a whole are entirely responsible for this project. Without these two core elements the project wouldn’t have been possible, and I believe it would have entirely lacked a soul. 

For my primary research I went to see a World War 2 pillbox with a couple friends. From the flat greys, to the harsh lines and the unwelcoming appearance it closely resembles brutalist architecture. Brutalist architecture played a large role in Russia and it’s Soviet neighbours during and even after the cold war. Due to a lack of funding a lot of cities in the Soviet Union swapped from the more decorative almost Roman like architecture of Stalin and Lenin, to a more depressing flat concrete look just like the pillbox I went to see. These buildings all over the Soviet Union laid the seed for a whole new wave of russian constructivism featuring more depressing higher contrast images of blank, tall, intimidating buildings  which left you with a sense of unease. 

To create my final piece I used stanley knives, a cutting mat, card, biros, masking tape, multiple colours of spray paint and a printer. The first thing I did was create a little sketch in my book, with the original idea being following the roots of the Cold War all the until the end in 1989 with the collapse of the Berlin wall and lastly the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Already this was very ambitious for the amount of time I had to do it as I had never worked with this style on this scale before. By taking photos of everything as I went you can see the various stages of this process on my blog. As if this wasn’t already a challenge enough I decided I wanted to work with spray paint to create a stronger, higher contrast image, only problem being I had never worked with spray paint before. 

The process of creating my posters went as follows: look at the rough idea for each poster I had previously drawn up for myself in my sketch book. After that I’d decide what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to change. You can see this even in the first poster as instead of having Lenin reaching out toward you, I opted to have him standing proud with his chin held high as not only do I believe that is more representative of how the soviets viewed him but, stylistically I think it looks better as it makes for a bolder image. Once I’d decided what I want to to with my draft I drew up the stencils with a biro, sometimes tracing a reference off a white board by taping paper to the board, other times simply going off of my pre held knowledge. After I created a stencil I was happy with, I cut them out with a stanley knife on the safety mat. Then after creating my stencils and sticking them to my poster using masking tape comes the fun bit. I spray painted them outside trying to angle the paint away from the edges to create sharp lines and deep colours. When they were done drying I took the stencils off and repeated the process until I was happy with the result created. After the posters were done being painted I got some newspaper clippings from the time and place on google or I simply created them myself using simple fonts and beige backgrounds on photoshop. Once they were printed out I used glue to layer them on top of the posters and add just a little more character to them. The plan was to connect them with text and coloured backgrounds like I used in one of my photoshops, but unfortunately I never got to fully complete the project only individual posters so this never happened. Another issue I ran into on this was that the yellow paint I tried to use on the third poster acted more like glue than paint, bonded the stencil to the poster, this wasted critical time and unfortunately because of this I couldn't complete the third poster on time. You can see all the final results on my blog. 

The research I had done on russian constructivism showed me how the artists were not afraid to experiment with new media’s while still being able to stay true to their signature style. This is partially what pushed me to try spray paint, and I’m happy I did. 

My work is a celebration of both eastern european culture, history. It’s meant to display the authoritarian roots of the communist Soviet Union and why the cold war happened. I believe it also displays the sense of power, grandeur and boldness the Soviets wanted the world to see while at the same time showing the bleaker side of life the artists of the time wanted to show. 

If I had more time I think I would’ve streamlined the project so that I wouldn;t be sacrificing quality for quantity, which is what I felt like was happening at the end of this project. I would do this by packing more content into my work like detail and historical background and detail to the stencils. 

I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’ve learned a new media, shared my passion for history, learnt some new things about russian constructivism and created some cool art in the process. I just wish I had the time to finish it. 

I believe my outcomes do meet my proposal aims as previously stated I think I’ve done what I set out to do in a round about way. 

I used the blog to evaluate myself and my work as I was going. I think it helped me stay on track and do what I needed to do. 

Because of the ongoing self evaluation throughout the project I believe it kept me trying to do better and better until I think the ambition got the better of me and I couldn’t complete the project. 

Lockdown definitely made this project harder as I don’t have all the resources I need for college at home meaning I often fell behind . 

Over all I think this project was a success. I like what I’ve created and what I’ve achieved, although I wish I had more time just to polish my work and make it the best it can possibly be.

[chatswoodearlylearning]

Chatswood Early Centre - Magnolia Cottage is a vibrant and happy learning community where children, families and educators work together to provide the best foundation for each child’s wellbeing and learning. We are a staff committed to the value of collaboration, learning and relationships with children, families and the community. We acknowledge the value of play and its relationship to learning and are inspired by Vygotsky’s constructivist theories about how children learn through social interaction[ ZPD]  and hands-on experiences. Our educational programs value the creative arts and connect with elements of significant philosophies and theories in early education, including the REA (Reggio Emilia Approach) and Howard Gardener’s multiple intelligences. Our image of children is being full of potential, competent, creative, capable and knowledgeable. They are connected to and in relationship with others, co-constructing meaning together, sharing their knowledge, interests and ideas, and bringing their own unique diversity and richness into our centre community We are guided by children’s ideas and interests in learning, allowing an emerging program to develop Our program is supported with intentionally created educational learning experiences for children that are in harmony with achieving the outcomes in  Early Years Learning Framework We scaffold children’s learning and development through play. Our educators and teachers are ongoing participants in reflective practice in early childhood education where we understand contemporary perspectives on enhancing early childhood development. We are believers that our children develop a connection to the world through “Belonging, Being and Becoming” and try to live by the ethos

[pomrania]

Help me study for my exam

I have two exams coming up. The one on Wednesday, I already have stuffed planned on how to study for it. The one on Tuesday, childhood language acquisition, that’s the course I didn’t like very much; even though I love linguistics, I am 100% not interested in how children learn how to language.

Below the cut, I’m copying the study guide for this course. Send me an ask about something on it. If you have no idea what any of the terms means, that’s fine too; ask me to explain it. It’ll be good for me, both as a linguistic-in-training, and also as a student who needs to understand this stuff for their exam.

know Stark’s 5 stages of pre-speech vocal development: major characteristics of each stage, order of the stages, age at which infants are expected to reach each stage, factors that cause children to advance through the stages

know what is meant by “babbling drift” and what studies examining the influence of ambient language on babbling have concluded

be familiar with the characteristics of the transitional phase some babies pass through between babbling and the first word

know when children are expected to have normal speech sound production abilities

know which sounds are among the earliest to emerge, which emerge in the middle, and which are among the last sounds to emerge

be familiar with factors that influence the order of acquisition of speech sounds

be familiar with the different strategies children adopt when they want to produce words containing sounds they haven’t mastered yet

be able to recognize examples of each of the phonological processes discussed in class/text; be familiar with what happens to speech sounds when each of the phonological processes is applied; know how long whole word and segmental processes are expected to occur

be familiar with the ‘fis’ phenomenon

know how phonological development is explained by each of the 4 major models discussed in class; be able to recognize supporting evidence and problems with each model

know when each of the word learning milestones is typically achieved (e.g., when is the first word expected, 50 word milestone, word spurt)

know the difference between context-bound and referential words; be able to recognize each in an example; know factors that lead some children to use more context-bound/referential words

be familiar with the composition of children’s 50-word vocabularies

be familiar with explanations for the noun bias in children’s 50-word vocabularies

understand the difference between an overextension and an underextension; be able to recognize examples of each; understand why children produce overextensions

know the difference between referential and expressive children; be familiar with factors that lead some children to be referential and others to be expressive; understand research on potential benefits of one style over the other

be familiar with environmental and child factors that lead to variability in the rate of vocabulary acquisition

know what the ‘word spurt’ is; be familiar with debate around its existence; know 4 factors that may account for the word spurt

know differences between comprehension and production vocabulary in children (e.g., in size and composition)

be familiar with the 4 processes children engage in to learn a word:

understand the cues children can use to help them segment the speech stream

know what is meant by the ‘mapping problem’ and ‘fast mapping’; be familiar with each of the solutions to the mapping problem discussed in class (e.g., whole-object assumption, principle of conventionality etc.). Be familiar with the results of the Brown and Naigles studies on the influence of syntax on the mapping problem

know what is meant by the taxonomic assumption and when children use it

be familiar with the results of the Werker et al. 2002 study and the Swingley & Aslin 2000 study that addressed how babies perceive sounds in words; be familiar with current understanding about how babies represent sounds in words and how that changes with development

be familiar with the 3 types of behaviours children produce in the transitional stage from one-word speech to 2 word combinations

know the characteristics of early two-word combinations

know what is meant by “semantic relation”; be familiar with Brown’s 8 semantic relations; be able to identify examples of each relation

know the characteristics of early 3-word combinations; know what is meant by the term “telegraphic speech”; know why children produce telegraphic speech

know when grammatical morphemes appear in children’s speech; be familiar with the 14 grammatical morphemes; be able to recognize examples of each; know the order of acquisition of the 14 grammatical morphemes – earliest, middle, and late; be familiar with explanations for this order of acquisition

be familiar with the stages of negation, question, passive, coordination, and complex sentence development; be able to recognize examples of utterances from each stage

know what MLUm is an indicator of, how it is calculated, when it is valid; be able to count morphemes in simple utterances; know broadly what MLUm would be expected at different age (you don’t need to know precise age ranges and stages but would be expected to know roughly what MLUm would be expected of children of various ages)

understand why comprehension is difficult to research; know what is meant by “response strategy” and be familiar with different types of response strategies children use

be familiar with different methods of testing early grammatical comprehension

know milestones of grammatical comprehension – at what ages do children achieve various milestones of grammatical comprehension (e.g., understanding semantic relations)?

Know the major tenets of the nativist/generativist and non-nativist/constructivist views of how children acquire grammar; understand the differences between the 2 positions; be familiar with evidence supporting each view; be familiar with the dual process model and the differences between how it and connectionism explain past tense acquisition

Understand what is meant by semantic bootstrapping, and principles and parameters theories and be familiar with criticisms raised about these theories

Be familiar with evidence supporting the constructivist/ interactionist view of grammar acquisition as well as criticisms/problems with this view

Know the difference between linguistic competence and communicative competence

Be familiar with the 3 stages in the development of pragmatic competence and know when children reach each stage; be able to recognize examples of behaviours that fit each stage; know the difference between protoimperatives and protodeclaratives

Be familiar with Dore’s primitive speech acts; be able to recognize examples of each; be familiar with the developmental changes in communicative intents

Know what is meant by “private speech”; know the different types and be familiar with explanations for why children engage in it.

Be familiar with major milestones in conversational development(e.g., changes in turn-taking ability, initiation, repair, and contingency); know the difference between contextual and linguistic contingency

Be familiar with Eisenberg’s 3 phases of narrative development; know the difference between elaborative and repetitive scaffolding styles and their impact on children’s narrative development

Be familiar with the major developmental changes in children’s stories; know the different narrative structures in High-Point analysis and when each structure is expected in development

Know what is meant by “register” and be familiar with research discussed in lecture on children’s ability to modify their language according to the age of a communication partner

Be familiar with internal and external factors that influence communication development discussed in lecture and text

Know the difference between simultaneous and sequential bilingualism

Be familiar with the 3 hypotheses on language differentiation and the results and implications of research studies related to the question of differentiation in phonology, lexicon, and morphology/syntax. Know terms like code switching, mixing and overlap and their significance.

Be familiar with the effects of simultaneous bilingualism on language development in the areas of babbling, vocabulary, and grammar and with the possible outcomes of bilingualism overall; be familiar with factors that impact how bilingual children learn their languages, including the role of input.

Know Tabor’s 4 stages of second language acquisition and the difference between developmental errors and language transfer errors; be familiar with the research on the “dominant language switch”; be familiar with theories concerning individual variability in second language acquisition and with the factors (child and sociocultural) that influence second language acquisition

Be aware of the ways in which Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, ASD, and SLI affect children’s language abilities; know which is the major area of deficit in each population; be sure you understand the relationship between language and cognition that is suggested (i.e., the implications for language theory); be familiar with the various potential causes of SLI

[educationalsettings]

Formal Setting - The Reggio-Emilia Approach

What is the Reggio-Emilia Approach

Reggio-Emilia (RE) is a formal learning approach to ECE whose name comes from the town where the first school of its kind originated. While viewed as a community-based start-up, it was founded by Loris Malaguzzi, who was committed to working with families within this region to create a learning environment for children that would prepare them to stand against oppression, injustice and inequality following World War II. It was thought that children needed a holistic approach to education. Central to the approach is that children develop their unique personalities in the early years and possess 'a hundred languages'; a plethora of ways to express themselves, creatively and emotionally. The RE education system is guided by 12 principles; collaboration, the image of the child, environment as a third teacher, relationships, transparency, documentation, pedagogical documentation, provocation, progettazione (curriculum of projects), one hundred languages of children, respect and reciprocity (Fraser, 2012). These guiding principles work collectively to enhance the child's holistic development.

The Setting of the Reggio-Emilia Approach

In a Reggio-inspired classroom, the environment is often referred to as the 'third teacher' (Gandini, 2011). The environment must be functional, flexible and reactive to the needs of the child and educator. The RE approach is built on a socio-constructivist model, viewing knowledge as being built on a foundation of interactions with people and the environment (Dodd-Nufrio, 2011).

Physically speaking, RE classrooms incorporate natural light and resources, allowing children to work both indoors and outdoors to promote their interests organically. The space should utilise other natural elements, such as live plants, comfortable furnishings and overall functionality (McNally & Slutsky, 2017).

An important aspect of RE is the documentation of the child's work and progress. A collaboration of work between parties can be found throughout the school. This allows the space to both demonstrate a passion for the students learning and work but allows others to engage with and understand what is happening in the school, encouraging communication and relationships regarding this (Hendrick, 1997). Here, growth in classroom environments can be achieved and developed through collaboration (Hewett, 2001). This understanding of the importance of the environment as more than just utilisation of space can be seen in the work of Bronfenbrenner (1979) who stresses a symbiotic relationship, where the child should have an impact on the environment, and then are impacted by this.

The Philsophy of the Reggio-Emilia Approach

RE puts a child's natural development and close relationship with the environment as central to the philosophy (Slipp, 2017). What was important to the development of the approach was that the environment of the learner plays a critical role in making learning meaningful, particularly to the student. The primary belief is that all children are "competent, curious, creative and capable" (The Compass School, 2017). Educators need to be aware of each child's potential and foster this development by targeting the child's interests. The approach is student-centered, with a 'self-guided' curriculum. What separates the foundation of the RE approach from others, is its unique view of the child. With the view that children have rights and are already bearers of knowledge, they are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas (Hewett, 2001). Much of the educational philosophy has been linked with theoretical underpinnings of works from Piaget, Dewey and Vygotsky.

The Pedagogy of the Reggio-Emilia Approach

           One of the central aspects of the pedagogy is the concept of three teachers. With the desire to nurture their innate curiosity, the first teacher is the parent. The second teacher is other learners, including educators working alongside the child. The third teacher, a flexible environment, is responsive to the need for teachers and children to create learning together (Strong-Wilson & Ellis, 2007). Moreover, the third teacher can help shape a child’s identity as a player in his or her own life and the lives of others. To foster such an environment, teachers must go develop a deep understanding of the children’s thinking, questions, and curiosities. Imperative to this is ensuring that great care is taken in the environment design to allow for ease of exploration and development of interests (Thornton & Brunton, 2015).

           Alongside this, Reggio educators often state the method of teaching is "a long-term educational research project where children and adults are learning alongside each other," thus recognising the importance of understanding more about how children learn as opposed to the traditional idea of making them learn (Thornton & Brunton, 2015, p. 16). This environment then creates the right setting for a pedagogy which is based on active listening. Teachers become perceptive to exchanges between themselves, learners and the environment. The entire process of curriculum development can be adjusted through the experiences of the child and teacher (Gandini & Goldhaber, 2001), so the pedagogical approach is authentic and emergent to the needs of the learner.

The Role of the Whanau and Community

           When the first Reggio schools were developed, the parents were vital components to the development of the school’s philosophy. As previously mentioned, parents are the first teacher. Through a Reggio-inspired approach, learning doesn’t start and finish in the classroom each day; it can also take place in the home and community. Parents are encouraged to participate in their child's education and to extend learning opportunities. Parents are also given opportunities throughout the year to engage in activities with the school; exchange ideas, skills and questions (McNally & Slutsky, 2017). Of course, all parties are mutually interested in the healthy development and well-being of the child. This means each opportunity for parents and teachers to connect over the child holds its value and contributes to the mutual goal (McNally & Slutsky, 2017). 

The Role of the Teacher

           Teachers are viewed more than just leaders of education. They must actively participate in educational experiences, guiding students learning. As teachers are not expected to follow a comprehensive, structured curriculum, they are seen playing many roles.  First, teachers are researchers, they must investigate the child's learning process to change and inform their enriched learning experiences (McNally & Slutsky, 2017). Further, teachers are to be advocates for their students. They are to tell stories of the children so people can relate to this work and see children having value (McNally &Slutsky, 2017). The documentation created by teachers is a way for public engagement with what happens and what should happen in schools (Forman & Fyfe, 1998). Educators are also collaborators. For RE educators, collaboration is the backbone of the role (McNally & Slutsky, 2017).  Because teachers work in collaboration with their students, they are to help them find meaning in their work and experience (Rinaldi, 2012). This adds an important element of reciprocity to student learning. 

The Role oft the Student

           The child is seen as a ‘rich in potential, strong, powerful, competent, and most of all connected to adults and other children’ (Malaguzzi, 1993, p. 10). More specifically, the child is active in their learning, having the potential to construct this alongside educators (Edwards, 2011). With this active learning, it is a critical belief of the approach that children possess their rights, therefore the act of truly listening to the child is emphasized; their works and thoughts are taken seriously (Hewett, 2001). They are then seen not to be feed information and instruction, but instead as having an innate urge to discover (Katz, 1993).            Furthermore, if the teacher is seen as a researcher, and they work side-by-side, then of course this role is also true for the child. Children naturally are researchers, keen to derive outcomes and solutions amongst their discoveries (Staley, 1998).  The children are encouraged to discuss, question and observe, as a researcher should. At this point, it should be obvious that the RE approach places emphasis on the child as a social being. Malaguzzi (1993) has said that the system places a strong emphasis on the construction of knowledge via relationships. Malaguzzi believed that social learning was the proprietor for cognitive development (Gandini, 2012).  

[irena-tischenko]

Deconstruction game

/Exhibition conception clarifying/

In Goethe's Faust, Faust says to Wagner:

What you the Spirit of the Ages call

Is nothing but the spirit of you all,

Wherein the Ages are reflected.

0.

Today we will turn to the “spirit of the Ages” of the beginning of the XXI century –– deconstruction of binary oppositions. That basic postmodernism concept has almost become a name in art circles, and we believe it potentially contains an answer to a global question that worries any thinking being - "what to do?" 

According to the theoretical provisions of postmodernism, modern civilization is moving precisely in the direction of the destruction of the binary worldview. Since contemporary art is much closer to philosophy than to classical art, we suggest to look at the proposed objects from this angle.

We must pay tribute to the constructivist philosophy, which gives us navigational coordinates and helps to conceptualize utterances; at the same time, it is not worthwhile to make philosophy even closer to art than it is now. 

We do not narrow our activities to the leveling of certain modalities –– we are quite comfortable within the framework of aesthetic theory. We only record the current state of affairs –– the presence of oppositions in the current Ukrainian cultural code. Our greatest ambition in today's exhibition is to show that the highlighted oppositions have a common nature and are part a whole. Attempts to make a "choice without a choice" and taking one of two places in the system seems to us as an absurd, sole sourced and neurotic. 

1.

Categorization by type of opposition is one of the first mental exercises a child learns while he begins to know the world. Warm –– cold, dry –– wet, whole –– broken. The reflexive balance between the left and right parts of the body is a principle, experienced by everyone who has learned to walk.

In the process of growing up, the concepts of opposition become more complicated. Appears both natural oppositions as "north –– south", “up –– down” and abstract: "theory –– practice", "tradition –– modern", "truth –– false". But the more complex oppositions maturing children learn, the more takes root a main principle. It stays unchanged during the rest of life, which most of us spend inside such a cultural phenomenon as logocentrism –– the unconscious preference for binary constructions. While a person continues to develop, the illusory nature of a rigid binary categorization by "good and evil" type becomes more obvious, as so as other relations of parts and the whole. In the adult world, rigorous "black and white" vision is labeled as an adolescent and not taken seriously.

However, imaginal segmentation of complex concepts onto strictly divided opposition is an organic part of human nature. Humans are asymmetric but paired systems. We have two eyes, two brain hemispheres, two hands. Our asymmetrical body is a biological fact and it stays a major tool of world discovery and experience. Symmetrical systems are perceived by humans as Ideal, because it is unattainable, and don't grant for humans. The body dictates us the non-stoppable searching for regularities, based on that principle. Finding the symmetrical form in the external world perceived by the human eye as harmonious, as an attribute of beauty. 

We can’t refuse the habitual separation of the world into "this" and "that" due to our underlying complex decision-making system. Nevertheless, we can take a closer look at the basic concepts we use in everyday life and deeply understand how they affect our lives.

2.

The coherence of the oppositions assures us that they formed a harmonious closed conceptual two-module system, where there is no freedom of choice: the alternatives are limited by the coordinate system itself, dead thresholds cannot be exceeded.

The way out of this situation is offered by postmodernism, and it is –– Deconstruction. First of all, it represents not an abstract concept, nor the artistic practice, but an intellectual strategy aimed at positive changes that must occur through the revision of meanings, transformation of phono-, logo-, phallo-centristic modernist discourse and binary modality into another categorical framework. In our view, these transformations are not a rejection of tradition, but a way to resolve the contradictions accumulated by modern civilization.

Thanks to the last century scientific and technological progress, has changed the world and, in fact, the worldview and the structure of human consciousness itself. World processes based on traditional cultural models are irreversibly changing their architectural form.

We leave behind the dominance of traditional social structures, focused on the existing reproduction models replication, where change is slow and generally not welcomed, because they are considered primarily as a threat to the destruction of a sustainable system.

Classical schemes of human formation and development, based on old cultural codes are transformed right in front of us. Mankind has come a long way from deterministic to stochastic processes, from instinctive existence to self-conscious, creative and nonlinear. Designful growth and innovative approach have led us to the man-made civilization of the kind we are facing.

The mechanical scientific approach has exhausted itself due to the lack of new scientific research strategies that would solve the problems facing humanity in the complex turbulent uncertainty we dive into.

This is best seen by existing methodologies in Science. Continuous and deterministic Newtonian approach replaced by Quantum strategies –– where outcomes are rather probabilistic than definite.  

But again, the formation of a nonlinear style of thinking doesn`t necessarily mean the end of the classical scientific paradigm either it not ruined “classical” empirical research. The nonlinear approach does not deny the role of order, it only appreciates the constructive role of chaos.

That’s exactly the kind of structural transformations that Deconstruction aims at or for. We are witnessing new social reality creation –– the transcoding of culture, a new artistic language emergence and, in general, intellectual evolution. In such conditions, the main task of traditional society –– transfer and maintenance of the "sacred fire" of knowledge and practices –– becomes an extremely difficult task.

3.

The transformation has taken place throughout human history. But the latest changes have been so global, powerful and rapid that we don’t have time to realize where everything is moving and where our place is in this flow. That’s how everyone's become so insecure, but isn’t that position the best to advance our evolution.

Renowned scientist Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, said that science does not give a true picture of the world, because it consists of different, unrelated disciplines. In the meantime, in recent years` Nobel Prizes have been awarded mainly to researchers in interdisciplinary sciences. We do not want to say that this is an accomplished example of Deconstruction, for sure, scientific processes are more sophisticated and have a much deeper causality than we can try to spell out here. We just show you that beautiful view for one of the systemic manifestations of the new world –– how rigid categories` boundaries are blurred and reconnected.

This is just one example, moreover, given from the scientific field, which is also pretty far from art. Further –– as it seemed for everyone only ten years ago.

People are constantly creating social phenomena. The strongest of them are institutionalized and turned into traditions. Probably, soon we will be able to see a dawn of a blending of art & science university departments.  

4.

Today's exhibition "Meeting of frogs and vipers" is an illustration of the small part of binary oppositions, constants in the everyday Ukrainian language, as two opposing forces are both wrong and neither of them causes sympathy and desire to side with it. We could have chosen other modalities to illustrate the message, but ordinary amphibians fit the best.

Modern Ukrainian life is turbulent and full of conflicts. Our goal is to enable the viewer to realize how often our confrontations and oppositions are the same "frog" and "viper", and by joining the conflict, we inevitably take one side. Our choice is small –– between "F" and "V", and it is not voluntary, but formed by the system itself.

The exhibition aims to make the viewer briefly feel like a child inside a /with a soap bubble, where he is an artificial player of an artificial game in an artificial dimension, and can play both "Frog" and "Viper", which have a common nature, created of one matter and are inalienable elements of one system.

Our spectator is the one who will see the various positions of the “Frogs” and “Vipers” interactions and go beyond the gallery, realizing the conventionality of the game.

[garp20-oliviaspencer]

This website introduced me to different pedagogical approaches. This might be an interesting way of structuring my findings. 

What are the pedagogical approaches?

The different pedagogical approaches could be broken down into four categories: behaviourism, constructivism, social constructivism, and liberationist.

1. Behaviourism

A behaviourist pedagogy uses the theory of behaviourism to inform its approach. A behaviourist pedagogical approach would say learning is teacher centred. It would advocate the use of direct instruction, and lecture based lessons.

What does a behaviourism pedagogical approach look like in a classroom?

The theory of Behaviourism in a classroom setting came from pedagogical research by Thorndike (1911), Pavlov (1927) and Skinner (1957). Behaviourist pedagogy is the theory that the teacher should be the sole authority figure, and leads the lesson. Knowledge should be delivered in a curriculum where each subject is taught discretely (as opposed to topic based learning, for example).

In a lesson using a behaviourist pedagogical approach, you could expect to see a mixture of lecturing, modelling and demonstration, rote learning, and choral repetition. All of these activities are ‘visible’ and structured, as well as being led by the teacher.  However, during the course of the lesson, the shift may come where the student is the centre of the activity, and demonstrates their learning.

Behaviourism is also sometimes described as a traditional teaching style.

2. Constructivism

Constructivism is a theory that people learn through experiences and reflection. A Constructivist pedagogy puts the child at the centre of the learning, and is sometimes called ‘invisible pedagogy’. A constructivist approach would incorporate project work, inquiry based learning, and might adopt a Montessori or Steiner method.

What does a constructivism pedagogical approach look like in a classroom?

Constructivism is based on the pedagogical research of Piaget (1896-1890). Piaget wrote extensively about ‘schemas’, an idea that learners come ready to learn, and the teacher must build activities to facilitate their learning. Younger children work things through physically, whereas older children tackle symbolic and abstract ideas.

A lesson might include individualisation, a slower pace, hidden outcomes, the mantle of the expert, and less teacher talk. Some adopters of this pedagogy would also place emphasis on being outdoors, and engaging with nature.

Constructivism is also sometimes described as a progressive teaching style.

3. Social constructivism

A Social constructivism pedagogy could be considered to be a blend of two priorities: teacher guided, and student centred. Cognitive psychologist, Lev Vygotsky developed social constructivism, building on the work of Piaget, but argued against the ideas of Piaget that learning could only happen in its social context, and believed that learning was a collaborative process between student and teacher.

What would a social constructivism approach look like in a lesson?

The teacher would use group work elements, but would use smaller group sizes, and limit the choice in topics. The teacher might also use teacher modelling, questioning, and a mixture of individual, pair, and whole class instruction.

4. Liberationism

Liberationism is a critical pedagogy developed by the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire. Freire was the Director of the Department of Education, and developed an approach of teaching where he was able to teach illiterate adults to read in just 45 days. Freire focussed on removing the two barriers to learning: poverty and hunger. Freire was then imprisoned following a military coup. Once he was released, he wrote a book called 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' where Freire wrote about the dehumanisation of students in schools, and argued for cooperation and unity. A liberationist approach is one where the student voice is placed at the centre, and a democracy is put into the classroom. Value is placed on having the teacher as a learner, and the class discovering subjects together.

What would a social constructivist approach look like in a lesson?

The teacher might use examples of literature that contain non-standard constructions, such as hip-hop, or graffiti. Students may take on the role of the teacher, and decide upon the topic of the lesson. The teacher should provide space and opportunity for the students to showcase their learning, and this can take the form of a performance, speech, or dance.