This semester has offered a variety of tools to improve as an innovative thinker. Mainly this has come in the form of new design ideas, both with technology and evaluating the effectiveness of my instruction in terms of sense-making.
I learned quite a bit from instruction models like, ISD, ARCS, TPACK, SAMR, and SITE. They all offer a glimpse into the plethora of variables involve in student learning. I've always had an interest in student motivation and engagement, this focus in teaching has helped me excel and create the rapport and trust to effectively teach. The models expand that approach, and though I've been out of the classroom for the past 2 years, I'm considering returning to have a "lab" where I can try out all these models. Progress, challenges and successes have all been arrested by the fact that I'm not currently teaching in the classroom. It has been a challenge to gauge my success with the content without having students to conduct action research with. Many of my projects for the class had to be hypothetical without my own classroom to test out the practices, this made the course a bit unengaging. Overall though, I've enjoyed learning about the systems and models that I'm sure I'll be able to apply at some point. Again, I'd like to echo that this M.Ed. should really be marketed towards working teachers, as the assignments to not directly apply to working professionals like myself.
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I've been thinking about how the SITE model applies to my work this semester. Specifically, how the sociocultural aspect can be explored, and used EFFECTIVELY. My work within schools is mainly as a consultant around the topics of social emotional learning (SEL), restorative practices, and mindfulness. In repackaging the experience of mindfulness, I have to consider the SITE model's sociocultural elements, how will different groups of students respond to the idea of mindfulness, that in the mainstream, may appear to be exotic, from a different religion, or prohibited. This impression is mainly due to the origins of these practices in the West, but they are also basic tools, that can be used to benefit students. It is all about the packaging of the content, and the pedagogy techniques. the ARCS model has also come in handy.
These ideas bring up the idea of sense making, but just in the delivery of these topics, but also in the measurement of success. I expect my discoveries this semester will inform my capstone project and beyond. Baggio and Clark go hand in hand. Clark breaks down the categories for instructional content, while Baggio elaborates on how this information is best transferred to learners. These actually have to go hand in had to be effective, as the visual impression of the content can have a huge effect on learning outcomes.
Clark states that the brain makes connections primarily through contract, repetition, alignment, and proximity. These elements are innate to general rules of aesthetics. How the eye scans an image for meaning from left to right, top to bottom. I also appreciated Clarks suggestion to turn the image upside down to see the design of the image, apart from the content. As an artist, I have sensitivity to design, I'm quickly engaged when instructional material also appeal to the design eye. As an instructor I seek to expand my design skills to engage student attention, combine with well organized content. The element of the SITE model that is most relevant to my research question is around the Sociocultural subcontent. The motives and values of students directly relates to the affect domain, elaborated by Baggio as the primary domain of the trilogy of the mind; that must be supported to facilitate learning. Since affect is such a huge factor in learning, the source and roots of that affect is important. The SITE model provides insight into what is included in the affect domain through the sociocultural subcontent.
In addition, the ARCS model also brings up the idea of relevance as paramount to learning, tapping into the learners motives and values is key to making content relevant. Through my research, I hope to identify the impact of different instructional models to facilitate Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Factoring in the sociocultural subcontent is important to consider to analyze student needs, background knowledge, motives, and values. From there, it's more straight forward to create an ARCS model that supports SEL as well. For me, the SITE model is also relevant in terms of Sociocultural subcontent. Content that motivates me, and supports my values is much more appealing. This is obvious for all learners, we transfer information quicker when it already has a schema to place concepts within. As an adult, following Baggio's insights around androgogy, learning happens when it's useful to the learner. I enjoy writing these blogs, giving voice to how this information is relevant. Reading the material with this goal in mind, certainly appeals to the sociocultural subcontent. I enjoyed and found the Dervin article validating to a post-modern view of the world that has developed throughout my life. The discontinuity she brings to light is actually the starting point in my constructivist approach to teaching. In the article, I believe she is explaining the process of making sense of information, and the principle that each persons perspective guides how the information is approached, addressed, valued, and applied.
Relating this information to my area of focus in social emotional learning (SEL), I feel that a post-modern view is helpful to see why the discontinuity occurs, also allowing me to see the struggle and discomfort students face when their view is discontinuous with the status quo understanding. This diversity of perspective is a great treasure of our society, as a teacher I want to learn from my students as they reveal when sense-making is discontinuous. If I've established enough rapport with my students they will show me this vulnerability, which allows me to adapt, reframe, and approach the gap from a different direction. Baggio's input into constructivism reveals how students' motivation, bias, beliefs, and understanding all contribute to how they will make sense of the information. I also found it insightful to contrast pegagogy with androgogy, the later being strategies for adults, taking into consideration that adults will want to know the "why", and how it can be applied. The idea that we are blank slates according to Paiget, doesn't match my own experience in learning and teaching; instead information is acquired when it is accepted, when the information gap is manageable, and tools are offered to facilitate sense-making. In sharing this, I think of some of my more stubborn colleagues over the years, who become so attached to their way of understanding that any lack of sense-making is seen as the students' fault. What a cop out! How about learning about the thought processes of students and adapting to them?! Sociology reveals that the indexicality of meaning requires that no one perspective be unshakable to others; unfalsifiability makes any perspective inherently flawed. How arrogant for someone to think that the exact time, place, family, SES, education, motivations, etc. have created their sense-making to be objectively true; I may be off the post-modern spectrum with this thought, but our beliefs are certainly not validated as true because they are ours. This is commentary on the nature of epistemology, it is a justified belief through the intersectionality of various disciplines, but it is not an objective truth, it requires continued flexibility. Validity comes with utility, not allegiance to past understanding. We may come to a similar conclusion, but keeping the imaginative and innovative flexibility within teaching brings more agency in our students. I propose this even though I taught various high school math subject. This department is often seen as binary, either right or wrong, but the path to discovering the solution for X can be found through countless methods, math in it's highest form is creative. The sequential path of Blooms taxonomy doesn't allow the novice access to this level, but that doesn't mean that creativity is left out. As a student I always enjoyed addressing a geometry proof in unconventional ways; it was always incredibly motivating to discover postulates through experiment. The great part about math is you can know if the solution is right or wrong; it's one of the few things in life you can know for certain, but even in that, the path to solve varies, and is abstracted by students in infinite ways. Positive risk-taking needs to be inserted into math instruction to make room for creativity. To teach these concepts to a high school student would require addressing the fact that young people have not acquired their full brain capacity, their abstraction level will likely still be developing, their ability to objectively monitor and identify their sense-making process may also be limited. Part of my work in nonprofits, allows me to face a similar challenge, how to speak about abstract concepts like mindfulness, in concrete ways. Making it approachable and motivating to bridge the gap. Baggio suggests that visual impressions are the most powerful way to communicate information. In addition, the constructivist approach requires motivation and utility to be addressed; adding scenarios could support sense-making around sense-making. To instill a lasting understanding, I would also use help-chains, were the strategy for solving the problem (gap) is dissected and the use is emphasized. I think this understanding is essential for teachers, we are artists of young minds, responsible for understanding needs to bridge the gaps to sense-making. This is what makes my work in education satisfying; I seek to bridge the gap between the abstract and the concrete, hoping that our shared representation will benefit larger societal goals. |
AuthorAs a teacher and community advocate I strive to remedy the challenges of adverse childhood experiences (ACE), poverty and violence. I'm intrigued by the motivation that is cultivated by different supportive and discouraging learning environment, and how overcoming the achievement gap can transform our society. Archives
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