February 10, 2006

Good Afternoon,

At the end of the day politics and power control can usurp from the teachers the art and skill of teaching and set the goals and objectives in education. This is not a theory; this is a fact. The only real control over the politics and powers seems to be the electorate who then exerts change through politics and power. Where this must change is to include a wide spread of policy makers in the process of education; not just a an attempt to sell a good thing.

Documentation is both impirical and many excellent text and articles can be cited. We need truth, and pluralism to get what is wanted by the more altruistic of the population.
Be well,
Rob

Is there a universal field theory that can, in one stroke, reconfigure and reorganize our thinking about education; that has the power to destabilize the existing learning culture, shake up every individual and every single classroom, to make space for a new model?

The answer is Yes. There is a magic bullet—a vaccine to protect us against the toxins of the U.S. Department of Education’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and similar educationist politburos. Yes, the whole megillah—testing, standardized learning, old-school methodology, thinking, and models—the whole tired, top-heavy bureaucracy can be gone, vaporized—not even a poof! As smart and quiet, as simple and elegant as the earth-born bacteria that kill off the aliens in War of the Worlds. We can win. We can reclaim our learning culture. Throw a switch—click—and the lights go on. Everything that matters in education magically falls into place. Self-organization. Charmed information. Inspired Communication. Positive Socialization. Instinctive Motivation. Just by an act of nature. Concrete, tangible, and irrepressible, play is at work. Why rage against the machine when you can, like Wallace and Gromit, work smart, exact revenge, and outwit the owners of the education factory farm?

Who could entertain such an absurd possibility? These are the musings of an idealist, you say. Such things are impossible in the ‘accountable’ world of Education!

I would argue that the pages of history are replete with solitary earth-shaking change-makers, individuals whose eureka moments shower sparks and ignite enlightenment. Such subversive individuals can lurk inside the school zone as anywhere else. “Men,” wrote Churchill, “occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.” One day I watched children respond to puppets in unison, their shrill squeals of delight piercing the air like the song of spring peepers at twilight in April. Something about that stuck in my brain. Something happened, and this is what eventually evolved. Something for you to ponder:

Working definition of play: for this topic.

Play referred to is innate, higher order learning. Such play is largely unadulterated and uninhibited, and can be consciously, unconsciously, or semi-consciously engaged. Hence, play that is fragile, spontaneous and responsive, involving reciprocal patterns of movement, action, thought, or communication, and often accompanied by silliness, surprise, humor, or fun. This behavior may include word play, make-believe, private speech, improvisation, in-dwelling, day-dreaming, doodling, hand- or puppet play, or the uncensored manipulation or expression of ideas and imaginings. This order of play depends on a degree of feeling free and safe, and may or may not become subject to the more controlled and organized aspects of play associated with competition, electronic games, directed role-playing, formal theater, and the like.

This thread will provide accessible online resources about the brain and learning. Feel free to discuss what you read and/or add other resources.

First, we'll start with some great background resources about the brain:

Neuropsychology: http://www.neuropsychologycentral.com

The Whole Brain Atlas: http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/home.html

An amusing article in the NY Times on brain scanning:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/scienc...1&emc=eta1

Is it possible to purchase inexpensive portable brain imaging equipment?
I saw on TV brain experiments with simple looking devices which are bowl
shaped and simply sit on the subject's head like a hat. This is attached to a computer which records the results. Is this positron emission tomography or something else? I would like to do simple experiments using such equipment if possible (such as observing the results during a learning task). Is this type of equipment available to mere mortals?

Thank you.

What do you believe "intelligence" is? How would you define it?

-Is it mutli-faceted, as proposed by Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences?

-Is it incremental (capable of being developed) or fixed?

-Is it dynamic in that it varies from situation to situation?

-Considering the powerful impact of emotion on performance, could one go as far as to characterize intelligence as state rather than a trait? Certainly traits can change over time, even disappear all together… Given this, what exactly distinguishes a trait from a state?

-Would you include a motivational component the definition of intelligence?

-Is it a characteristic of an individual? Or, as an extension of Vygotsky, could we consider intelligence as a quality of a social group?

-Could intelligence be different in different situations (i.e. social in certain context while individual in others, or incremental in certain domains while more greatly fixed in others)?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

All the best,
Christina

January 7, 2005

It seems that our basic instinct for learning does not cease after high school or college. As a matter of fact some of our great things we do throughout our entire life is learn. We are living longer and stimulating our brain more with hobbies, and intellectual and physical exercise [remember good health includes the whole body]. I truly believe that humans have a natural instinct for learning and that if inclusion of information is free to all sociocultures.

If we put Erik H. Erikson's book The life cycle completed by Joan M. Erikson [1997], along side of ages, stages and learning through very old age, we will easily conclude that flexibility in obtaining information, total inclusiveness in access to information and learning is in need of resolve.

It seems that we learn at a rather interesting pace throughout our life. Why would we have so many senior citizens wanting to volunteer and help. The need for life long learning is natural with a degree of urgency. The urgency comes in the socioculture differences in the acceptance of old age in differing culture. Many countries revere their elderly...many countries ignore their elderly...but open access and
total inclusion of learning must be provided to all.
Actually [life long learning] is enhanced by self-efficacy espoused by Albert Bandura.[Stanford University]
Be well,
Rob

January 3, 2006

Good Evening,

My students are adults working on their masters degrees in education and psychology. Tonight I really thought long and hard about the assessment of their learning. Much of the material that I teach in Understanding Learning in the Mind, Brain and Body is non-declarative learning (unconscious) and experiential. You asked how can that be given the
title of the course...well trust me, it is.

Does that mean that the assessments must be both in non-declarative form and declarative form? I think so since what I am looking for is whether or not the student understands the material and if the material is important enough to be assessed then I would be looking for long term memory along with the deep understanding.

I think we are making some good progress both in the learning and the assessment of the learning.
I would be very interested to hear any comments on this.
Be well,
Rob

What ethical issues could arise as brain research is used to inform teaching practices?

Thanks,
Christina