What assumptions do we make about teaching and learning?
Chip Bruce
(chip@uiuc.edu)
(not ready to use)
ASK
Subject Areas
Grade Levels
| Kinder, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, Vocational, Undergraduate, Continuing |
Unit Keywords
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teaching, learning, assumptions, curriculum, subject mastery, knowledge, feedback, lesson plans, teachers, students |
Open Directory Category
Rationale of the Unit
| Consideration of some of the assumptions we make about teachers and teaching, students, learning, and the interactions between these variables. |
Background and Resources
Readings
Bohannon, Laura (1971). Shakespeare in the bush. In James P. Spradley and David W. McCurdy, eds., Conformity and conflict: Readings in cultural anthropology . Boston: Little Brown and Company.
Bruce, Bertram C. The problem with an inquiry lesson plan.
Dewey, John (1956). The child and the curriculum
Easley, J. (1987). A teacher educator's perspective on students' and teachers' schemes. In D. Perkins, J. Lochhead, & J. Bishop (Eds.), Thinking: The second international conference (pp. 507-527). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Web sites
About Learning: Theories on How People Learn. Examines 10 different theories on how people learn, including Constructivism, Behaviorism, Piaget's Developmental Theory, Neuroscience, Brain-Based Learning, Learning styles, Multiple Intelligences, Right and Left Brain Thinking, Communities of Practice, Control Theory, Observational Learning, Vygotsky and Social Cognition, and Problem Based Learning.
Engines for Educators: For those who are interested in how people learn and what that says about how we should educate them.
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School - Recent research provides a deep understanding of complex reasoning and performance on problem-solving tasks and how skill and understanding in key subjects are acquired.
Roof On Fire
Many months ago a group of four people sat in a sauna. Arturas and Dirk were trainers and Evija and Jaqueline were participants in the Long-Term Training Course of the European Youth Centre. They were talking about different ideas of training and, by magic, the idea formed for them to organise a training course in Lithuania. A course where youth workers could get a taste of experiential learning and then think about how to use it with the young people they work with.
Resources
Learning and Teaching
Edited by:
Joseph Zajda
ISBN 1-875-40808-8
Learning and Teaching explores major and current themes in the learning/teaching process - from an international and comparative perspective.
The authors debate such issues as learning and cognitive processes, students in the classroom and teaching styles. Their views are based on either the findings of original research or observation as experienced teacher educators. Topics covered include learning enhancement, reflection in education, cognition, excellence in education, special schools, classroom interaction, discrimination, assessment and what makes a "good" teacher. Learning and Teaching offers a unique introduction to significant issues affecting the nature of learning and the quality of student/teacher interaction in the classroom.
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Dialogues, Discussions, and Presentations
Consider each of the eight assumptions in the Easley article, working in small groups. Which of these are true, sometimes true? What factors might cause you to question any of them? - Teachers should regularly lead class discussions, presenting clear explanations and examples of basic concepts and/or asking questions so that students can piece together the principles desired.
- All teachers need to master their subjects, as a prior condition to trying to teach them.
- Teachers can and should transmit their knowledge to pupils.
- Teachers should, at first, present simple and easy problems and tasks, in order to build pupils' courage to tackle more difficult and unfamiliar tasks.
- Teachers should give equal attention to all pupils.
- Teachers should give quick feedback on pupils' work, indicating clearly what is wrong and why.
- Children should focus first on content and second on means of expression.
- Children should strive to understand their teachers and the textbooks.
Easley, J. (1987). A teacher educator's perspective on students' and teachers' schemes. In D. Perkins, J. Lochhead, & J. Bishop (Eds.), Thinking: The second international conference (pp. 507-527). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. |
Assessment, Related Questions, and Story of the Unit
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