Subject: Re: When is CL not appropriate?
From: jim borgford-parnell (bparnell@u.washington.edu)
Date: Fri Jun 23 2000 - 17:05:50 EDT
Louis:
I'm in complete agreement with your points. Chairs bolted to the floor are
often a real nuisance, but they are not the real problem. The real problem
(from my perspective) is that these physical limitations, which are
institutionally built-in, are illustrations of, metaphors for, and often
concrete evidence of, very limited considerations of a wide range of
appropriate pedagogies. No, it is not the chairs, it is the intransigent
mind that is bolted to one way to teach and one way to learn. I also agree
that cooperative(esque) learning just makes sense, although I can well
imagine learning goals and content that call for more individual efforts.
A major theme in the discussions this past week has been the social aspects
of learning. Part of the debate has degenerated into an either/or argument,
which is fine if contained on the theoretical level, but on a practical
level this either/or stance is troubling and problematic. I think it is
often (not always) the case that junior faculty members and TAs are at a
developmental level that requires them to narrowly focus their personal
working theories of teaching and learning. They need that steady anchor in
the rough seas of pedagogy. However, at some point, when they've grown
accustomed to the water, they need to free themselves from that anchor and
take advantage of the current, the tides, and different locales. As faculty
developers, we often provide some of the anchors, but we also need to
provide the means for cutting the ropes. We can't do that if our own
beliefs act as blinders to other possibilities. Bonnie Mullinex said it well
in an earlier Email:
"I would be disappointed in any learning environment that did not recognize
that learning is not either/or (not that you actually said it was by the
way). Rather, effective learning environments would strive to offer such
strategic variety as can help learners to push beyond their little bubble
and expand their comfort levels to encompass a broader and more dynamic
range of learning styles and modes."
Jim
Jim Borgford-Parnell
Instructional Consultant
Center for Instructional Development and Research
University of Washington
(206) 543-6588, Fax: (206) 685-1213
----------
>From: Louis_Schmier <lschmier@valdosta.edu>
>To: jim borgford-parnell <bparnell@u.washington.edu>
>Cc: Paul Hertzel <hertzpau@niacc.cc.ia.us>, tpanitz@capecod.net,
math-teach@forum.swarthmore.edu, stlhe-l@unb.ca,
wac-l@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu, aera-c@asu.edu, aera-c@asu.edu,
aera-j@asu.edu, mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu, cltalk@asu.edu,
pod@catfish.valdosta.edu, k12assess-l@listsrva.cua.edu,
k12admin@listserv.syr.edu, middle-l@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu,
tips@fre.fsu.umd.edu
>Subject: Re: When is CL not appropriate?
>Date: Fri, Jun 23, 2000, 9:51 AM
>
> Interesting question. Speaking as a reformed "talkohoic," I'm not sure
> there is a time when collaborative, cooperative, team, or whatever the
> going term is out of line. I am lucky in that I can move chairs around,
> but that makes it easier. I'm not sure bolted chairs are really the
> obstacle people use as an excuse. What that saying about where there is a
> will, there is......?
>
> Normally when I am confronted with a student who doesn't "want to depend
> on anyone" for his or her grade, I tell that student to go out and find
> one professional, just one, who isn't dependent on someone else for his or
> her success. If one could be found, I would teach that student personally
> in any manner he or she wishes. Hasn't happened yet. I had a student
> challenge the triad arrangement of the class, and I asked her what her
> parents did for a living. Her father was a surgeon and her mother was an
> accountant. I told her to talk to them about not depending on others.
> She quietly came into the next class and joined her triad.,
>
> You know, one of my childhood heroes is gone. The Lone Ranger, alias
> Clayton Moore, died recently at the age of 85. I used to stay glued to
> the radio and then the television listening and watching. I'd go to the
> Saturday movies to see the Masked Man do in the crooks. The William Tell
> Overture, his theme, was my first introduction to classical music. I used
> to run down to the corner newstand each Thursday to get the latest comic
> book. I ate Cheerios because I knew he did. I sent away for silver
> bullets, black masks, and goodness knows what. I wore costumes. When we
> played cowboys and indians, someone always wanted to sing out: "Hi-yo
> Silverrrrrrrr, Awayyyyyy"
>
> The lone hero, the single trail blazer is the idol in our
> American society. It's that individual thing. We place the goals of the
> individual ahead of the group. Community harmony is not a particular
> cardinal value. It's a socialist thing.
>
> If the truth be told, political and social philosophy not withstanding,
> even if you are accustomed to working alone in a competitive rather
> cooperative environment, you can learn the advantages
> of teamwork, of people skills, of communication skills.
>
> I have to do it myself and I can't do it alone. Need to support each
> other, to encourage each other, to help each other. You need to be
> willing to ask for help which is difficult for some intellectual macho
> types as well as some shy types. But, when people work together, they get
> that help. It wields a team. Three people cooperating on a project
> allows them to reach much higher than they expected they would ever be
> able to do.
>
> A close-knit team, drawing on particular strength, talents, abilities,
> skills, of each member. What one person lacks can be made up by another
> member; one person's talent and abilities is shared by all.
>
>
> Make it a good day.
>
> --Louis--
>
>
> Louis Schmier lschmier@valdosta.edu
> Department of History http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
> Valdosta State University
> Valdosta, GA 31698 /~\ /\ /\
> 912-333-5947 /^\ / \ / /~\ \ /~\__/\
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> /\/\-/ /^\_____\____________/__/_______/^\
> -_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\
> _ _ / don't practice on mole hills" - \____
>
>
>
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