Thanks for all those people who responded to my question about
the nature of coop teachers.
I received about half of the responses from people who felt they
were introverted versus my thought that to work CL effectively one
needed to be extroverted. They felt that Cl techniques were important
enough to learn, even if they require an overt behavior pattern which
resembles extroverted behavior, in order to move away from the lecture
method which is much safer and maintains one's control. I also view
myself as being introverted according to how I feel and react to social
situations however I have "trained" myself to act in an extroverted
manner when in class and in certain social situations. I wonder if that
is what respondents meant?
Do we act differently in class while using CL techniques than we
might in other situations?
I am including below two responses which I thought were
particularly interesting and which might encourage additional discussion
on this topic.
WHAT ARE COOPERATIVE/COLLABORATIVE TEACHERS LIKE???
If anyone wishes to receive the entire set of responses please
e-mail me and I will try sending the file out individually versus
sending it to the entire list. It runs about 30 pages on MS word 5.1a.
Regards,
Ted
tpanitz@cape.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 From: Frank Leibold <fliebold@gamewood.net>
Frank Leibold, Ph.D. Professor Averett College
To: aednet <aednet@pulsar.acast.nova.edu>
I believe Ted Panitz raises an important question about characteristics
of
successful CL teachers. Not to oversimplify, but my experiences are (w/o
reading Ted's thoughts):
* Competence
* Confidence in one's ability and vunerabilities
* Passion & belief in CL
* Difficult previous experiences that enable one to
constructively
manage conflict
* A teaching style that encourages risk, recognzes not criticzes
effort
* Good listening skill's
* Ability to test student's comprehension level
* Use of self-deprecating humor
* Ability to connect theory with relevancy; and relate it to
student
lives
I could go on but these are major characteristics I have correlated to
effective CL.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thu, 17 Sep 1998 "J.NAKAGAWA" <vf2j-nkgw@asahi-net.or.jp>
cl@jaring.my
--Jane Joritz-Nakagawa (Miyagi U., Sendai, JAPAN)
I lack a formal background in psychology (there's the disclaimer) but I
am interested in this topic and will bravely forge on.
At University of Hawaii this summer I talked with a professor who was
interested in the effects of personality on learning and teaching. I
was describing strong negative reactions which I've received at
presentations--these were few, perhaps because such people, knowing the
workshop content, wouldn't come to the presentation in the first place.
He gave the idea that these people are basically afraid of or made
uncomfortable by new ideas and having their (traditional) world view
upset. On the converse, maybe CLers enjoy upsetting things? Or are
reformers rather than conformers....
Possible CLer traits I would propose for discussion are (I'm
incorporating from the previous posts as well) :
--low need for power distance (egalitarian ethic) (I borrow the term
from Hofstede)
-- high need for autonomy
--low need for domination
--low need for aggression
--high need for introspection (CL is an introspective method, it
requires it)
--low need for orderliness (some chaos tolerated if not encouraged? CL
teachers often deal with a lot of stuff spontaneously, whatever comes
up in the group etc.)
--low need for control
--low need for certainty
--nurturance is valued ("feminine" values), and thus the strong
commitment to teaching mentioned by Mr. Panitz (v. committed to
primarily just expanding knowledge of subject taught) --teaching as
nurturance
--dislike of containment (support for expansion)
--abundance (v. scarcity) orientation (which leads to cooperative (v.
competitive) attitude)
--positive or optimistic general outlook re the capacity of people for
growth and change; optimistic belief in the method, (a/or in one's
personal effectiveness to help students achieve the goals--not
necessarily this) (cf Mr. Panitz' self-described boyish enthusiasm)
--positive view of change/negative view of "stagnation"; low need for
stability
--reform v. conform orientation (leader v. follower)
--values-driven personality
--flexible types
--intuitive feeling types? (humanists)
I see overlaps here for example optimism overlaps with areas like
perception of abundance and so on.
CL might be liked by introverts too except they might not interact with
their groups as much? They might especially like planning the course
and being the invisible hand, the behind the scenes orchestrator.
I think it's easy to see why some teacher personalities wouldn't like CL
It would be interesting to compare our personalities on this list. As
for me, I'm an ENFP on the Myers Briggs (though E/I and F/T were
actually close to a tie when I took the test this summer, and I often
think of myself as introvert).
If we are of a "type," does this create problems for students who are
not our type? I would say not necessarily in that CL can be combined
with other approaches and is itself very flexible/accomodating. It
seems to me the teacher-centered approach is the least flexible. If
the CL teacher is flexible about how students arrive at the learning
goal then there should be not too much trouble. I think flexible
implementation of CL could be the reason I only get a small minority of
students who profess not to like it?? There are many devices like
roles and so on that can be adapted to different personalities, and
students can be autonomous in fulfilling their own part of a task and
so on, they can adapt the activity to their preferred style of working
to a larger extent, etc.
CL of course fits with a collectivistic culture like Japan (group goals
are not a new concept), although standing in contrast to the
traditional master-pupil idea here, and it has novelty value here as CL
is not widespread and presents (I think!) an improvement on Japanese
groupism, which can have its down side (like lack of responsibility for
actions, lack of individuality).
What do you think about CL's appropriateness for different types of
learners, and teachers?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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