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[QUOTE=Karldw]
Do you feel that the working level of education has been slow to respond to developments in cognitive science? Why? How could this be overcome if it is a problem? Do you see a forum like this being able to help?[/QUOTE]
Yes, the working level of education is VERY slow to respond. Many teachers have gut feelings about what is best for students, and teach to what they know they should do, rather than what their district and administrators tell them to do. But, more teachers are either not aware of what is best for students, or don't want to be aware. I will explain some of the issues that are getting in the way from my perspective as a elementary teacher.
Tradition: The days of farming are long gone, but the long summer break is still with us, and all that time away from learning is not good. But, we still have the summer break. (There are some schools that are year round, but this is the exception, not the rule.) Many people do not like change. And, many teachers rely on the summer to make up for the crummy pay and working conditions the job entails. Administrators in my part of the world do not want to take on the responsibility of keeping schools open in the summer because of costs. Air conditioning is expensive. This is only one example of the traditions that get in the way of what's best for kids.
Government: Public schools rely on federal, state and local governments for money. That means, whoever is in charge, or whatever party is in charge, has control over that money. In order for these governments to supposedly be responsible with that money, they need accountability, which means tests. These tests virtually run our schools, real estate, and this relates to our whole economic system. So, any change here is very slow to come.
Fear: Since we are fast becoming a world of increasing travel and communication, people of different cultures are being expected to actually get along. In my class, we have a phrase. Meet Your Pen Pals. When my students meet their pen pals from another city in Western Washington, they have to learn how to show respect and get along enough to enjoy an hour and a half together in a park. This is actually very hard to do, but they get through it. So, when I want them to "stretch" in difficult social situations, I say Meet Your Pen Pals, and they understand what they need to do. We would like this to be a common theme throughout our world, because the adults running the show are having a hard time stretching. Accepting multi cultures into our country is very hard for many people. This keeps a barrier up as far as creating educational environments for people of all cultures to succeed in.
Money: To attract people into the teaching profession that are willing to take risks, the amount of money they make would need to be more than it currently is. Teachers diagnose, prescribe, and treat the brains of all our kids. Learning more about the cognitive development of brains make this an even more important job. The whole child is involved, emotionally, physically, and socially. Yet, most teachers are seen as care takers. I would love to make enough money to attend the conference in England this July so I could meet with other people who are interested in brains and learning. But, I am satisfying myself with taking part in this forum, and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts and hear from others on this topic.
So, yes, this forum does work. I read the paper you referred to on number lines and the parts of the brain developing to accomodate learning math. Even though there's not much I can do with the information except in my own classroom (because of the reasons mentioned above), it keeps my passion alive.
As discussed above, the brain does not work through autonomous activities of its component parts, but as an integrated system. Moreover, this integrated system does not function in isolation from the rest of the body. There is a wealth of research demonstrating positive effects of physical activity on elements of the brain associated with learning. Physical activity has been shown to up-regulate the expression of many genes associated with synaptic plasticity, neuronal structure and signal transduction (Lu and Chow, 1999; Neeper et al., 1996 Russo-Neustadt et al., 2000; Tong et al., 2001), enhance long-term potentiation (LTP), and boost neurogenesis (van Praag et al., 1999), in addition to improving performance at many learning tasks (Anderson et al., 2000; Kempermann, 1997; Samorajski et al., 1985; van Praag et al., 1999) . This type of research supports pedagogical practices that engage the whole body in learning, such as experiential learning and integrated physical education curricula.
Dear 4th grade teacher
I really appreciated your sharing honest feelings about the teaching situation and brain information. There is a list called CATENet that I subscribe to that is provided by the California Association of Teachers of English (CATE), which is a California Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation. It warns that “Opinions expressed on CATENet are not necessarily those of CATE.†It is an active forum with many participants from outside California.
I believe that the following excerpts indicate some of the problems that you mentioned.
CATENet: February 15, 2005
from the moderator
“I hear so much about (the trials of and concern for) new teachers lately.
When you listen to the way education and schooling is discussed in the
public forum lately, you wonder why people would want to enter the
professionâ€
The list then has many examples of good teachers being let go for no fault of their own. All reasons are for staffing and budget problems. The following is more critical from our point of view. The following pieces are taken from one contributors post.
CATENet: November 8, 2004
“Jim (the moderator): I am forwarding a retyping of a memo from an Assistant Superintendent, Oakland Public Schools. The point of printing the memo is that it shows
that in practice the philosophy of using a scripted program can be pushed beyond reason and mean the death of any concept of academic freedom.
(following is from memo)
...
By the end of the month it is my expectation that all of my sites will
demonstrate a clear understanding of all Reading First requirements and
expectations. At that time I will begin walk-throughs with you and I will
expect to see consistent evidence of:
...
-No supplements are used.
-No omissions or tweaking of the program.
-All classrooms are set up appropriately.
...
Oakland Assistant Superintendent
Note: OCR stands for Open Court Reading. And, the principal who
distributed this memo added in pen at the bottom of the memo this compliant
statement: "...the above is happening in every classroom and that there is
no tweaking of the program."
I believe that there are many teachers who are either in such a repressive situation or believe they are. This provides two problems for a list like this one. First teachers may feel there is no reason to pursue knowledge of this type and two if they do they would not be allowed to use it.
I would like to hear from some of those who teach teachers about how to deal with this situation. We need support and help to make the goals of this forum happen.
segarama Wrote:
The other evening in my graduate masters class for teachers and psychologists we were, of all things, 'thinking about how we learn." The discussion was as lively as it could possibly be since it is held from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
We were discussing [reviewing]that we learn through our senses and began the short review of naming them. But we only got to five and since we have more,we briefly reviewed them. Then we discussed that the incoming senses to the brain are called 'afferent' and the outgoing are called 'efferent'. That was all fine and good...but guess what? How many of our students really address that we learn through our senses and how many teachers teach that we learn through our senses and that we must be aware of them and keep them healthy and sharp so that we can fully interact with our healthy enriched environment. Sound corny...maybe so, but not all of our students use or can use all of their biological senses...and maybe, just maybe we need to spend more time arranging our learning environment to make the most of learning.
This was a fun evening since senses led to discussions of neurons,axons, dendrites, synapses and myelin etc. etc. Now my students are really questioning their own approaches to enhance student learning with visual aides, recordings, taste, etc. that are commensurate with how they learn.They have some objectives in their environmental sensory enhancement. We love it. Of course this is just the beginning...
Hi, just finished preparing final exams for my Wednesday night class. I am very excited to see how well they do. I am very confident that they have learned a great deal and will be able to express their ideas regarding test questions with great understanding and creativity.
I am putting forth a
universal quote from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Here goes:
"EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE WORLD COMES TO US THROUGH OUR SENSES."
It seems to me that we have not taken our five senses [and our skin sensors]
to the depth that we could, in making our learners cognizant of the importance of our experiences and our enriched environments. With the decade of the brain just finishing and the century of the brain just beginning, it is exciting yet as John T. Bruer might say in one of his lectures...let's be sure that we prove causation before we declare understanding. Dr. Bruer is great and he along with Dr. Kurt Fischer (Harvard) President of the International Mind, Brain and Education Society will be lecturing in July at the University of Cambridge, UK
Be well, I am reading a great book that was recommended by Christina our OECD Expert titled MEMORY From mind to molecules by Larry Squire and Eric Kandel. Thank you Christina.
Hi, just finished preparing final exams for my Wednesday night class. I am very excited to see how well they do. I am very confident that they have learned a great deal and will be able to express their ideas regarding test questions with great understanding and creativity.
I am putting forth a
universal quote from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Here goes:
"EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE WORLD COMES TO US THROUGH OUR SENSES."
It seems to me that we have not taken our five senses [and our skin sensors]
to the depth that we could, in making our learners cognizant of the importance of our experiences and our enriched environments. With the decade of the brain just finishing and the century of the brain just beginning, it is exciting yet as John T. Bruer might say in one of his lectures...let's be sure that we prove causation before we declare understanding. Dr. Bruer is great and he along with Dr. Kurt Fischer (Harvard) will be lecturing in July at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Be well, I am reading a great book that was recommended by Christina our OECD Expert titled MEMORY From mind to molecules by Larry Squire and Eric Kandel. Thank you Christina.
May 31, 2005
Hi there! I want to continue talking about the importance of senses in learning and then maybe I will give it a rest for a bit. We take our senses for granted and here is a personal account that may shift some paradigms. My grandson on (my daughter's family) had a very normal birth and I was pleased to be present at the delivery. He was excellent in every respect. We all followed the basic rules of having the child see his pediatrician at the recommended times for the usual observations, measuring etc. etc. Everything was found to be normal. Well, as he was approaching kindergarten age, he was tested by the school during their normal screening process. They reported to his parents that he could not see out of one eye. (nothing at all!blind). He was immediately taken to his pediatrician who confirm this to be true. Within hours he saw two specialist who confirmed the blindness. He was taken to one of the finest specialist who suggested that he operate as a last resort. The diagnosis was "coat's disease". The operation was not successful and he is today blind but has over come this setback with one good strong eye with the brain making cellular adjustments.
My other grandson (son's side of family) was diagnosed with retinoblastoma at age one and a half. He had this cancer removed by removing his entire eye. He has overcome this setback also with one good strong eye...and a false eye for important cosmetic effect. We found that to determine the size and progression of the cancer that we had to go back through all of the baby pictures and with great care we could actually see the tumor growing by looking at the snap shots. (red eye camera film) It appeared as a "white tiny pin head at first". Then as a larger white dot. By the time he was diagnosed at age one and a half, the white dot was easily seen in the candid pictures taken. By dating the first pin head dot to the last picture taken, the oncologist could determine that the tumor was approaching the optic nerve of the eye. (benign or cancer?) The eye was removed and the pathology revealed cancer nearing the optic nerve. If the eye was not removed, the cancer most likely would have traveled the optic nerve to the brain. This loss of an eye is tramatic enough...the senses were jolted but not broken.....He also has one good strong eye. SENSES ARE IMPORTANT. Adjustments needed to be made.
At age two my granddaughter (son's side of family) was diagnosed with autism...so strong intervention was begun. Her goal is to be able to care for herself when she grows up. She is age eight now and come a long way. She will need care for the rest of her life. SENSES AND HEALTH ARE IMPORTANT FOR LEARNING...
Segarama-Rob
I would like to add an important dimension to the discussion of sculpting pedagogy with research-driven knowledge. Research cannot effectively influence classroom practice in a unidirectional manner. It is imperative that there is a reciprocal integration of research and practice. Classrooms are highly particular environments and teachers have an understanding of the intricacies of their classrooms that researchers cannot. Therefore, teachers’ knowledge must act in synergy with research results to determine appropriate situated practice. On a large scale, practitioners’ knowledge must serve as a feedback system to guide the direction of research.
~Christina
OECD expert Wrote:I would like to add an important dimension to the discussion of sculpting pedagogy with research-driven knowledge. Research cannot effectively influence classroom practice in a unidirectional manner. It is imperative that there is a reciprocal integration of research and practice. Classrooms are highly particular environments and teachers have an understanding of the intricacies of their classrooms that researchers cannot. Therefore, teachers’ knowledge must act in synergy with research results to determine appropriate situated practice. On a large scale, practitioners’ knowledge must serve as a feedback system to guide the direction of research.
Hi Expert,
You raise a foundational issue, in relation to the translation of research into actual practise in the field.
Which highlights the process of translating the technical linguistic discourse of Neurological research, into a discourse which is accessible to the Teaching profession, without requiring extensive Neuroscience studies?
In which case, I would suggest that 'Metaphor' should be the dominant medium of instruction. With the 'Technical Information' as a support.
Crucially metaphors provide an insight which enables more immediate interpretation and application to situations as they occur within the classroom setting.
Though further to this, is the need for the development of a discourse which enables effective communications between Teachers, Parents and Students.
A common discourse would also support a more effective feedback relationship between Researchers and those 'in the field'.
Therefore I would suggest that their is an overarching need for a comprehensive discourse from Researchers that can also be explained to a 7 year old child.
Geoff.
Hi Geodob,
The problem of a lingua franca between educationalists and neuroscientists has been raised at many of our meetings. Your metaphor suggestion is a good solution. There is also a Danish developmental psychologist called Daniel Stern who has written books from the viewpoint of a child which is very effective to getting across difficult concepts. We have been trying in the dissemination of our work on brain and learning to use as much as possible lay person's language, and provide glossaries and explanations for techical terms. Professionals in their various fields are so used to their technical jargons it is difficult to break their habits. It can also go the other way, when for example in the popular press they sometimes go too far the otherway and simplify things so much that they become misinterpreted altogether.
Hi OECD,
I would like to pick up on your statement:
"We have been trying in the dissemination of our work on brain and learning to use as much as possible lay person's language, and provide glossaries and explanations for techical terms. Professionals in their various fields are so used to their technical jargons it is difficult to break their habits. It can also go the other way, when for example in the popular press they sometimes go too far the otherway and simplify things so much that they become misinterpreted altogether."
Where I would bring the 3 points that you made together?
Initially, your "attempt to use lay person's, glossaries and explanations for technical terms."
Secondly, "the difficulty of breaking Professional's habit of technical jargon usage."
Thirdly, "the misinterpretations that commonly occur in the media."
Where I might suggest that what is really needed, is for the Research Professionals to be actively supported in developing their own metaphors for their technical discourse? Rather than just waiting for them to 'break the habit'.
Which could assist with overcoming 'misinterpretation', and additionally more effectively communicate their work to the broader community.
In addition to this, supporting Research Professionals to define their own metaphorical discourse, in fact would add a valuable extension to their technical discourse. In that, it would extend the boundaries for 'thinking' about their discourse. Given that technical discursive thinking is restricted to a previously defined technical vocabulary. Which in turn limits the potential thought that can occur within a technical discourse.
Therefore encouraging Professionals to develop their own metaphors, would also provide an extension of their technical discourse, which could enable a more lateral contemplation of their field.
With the potential to then be able to recognise a broader potential applicability of their research.
To think beyond the limits of their own technical jargon?
Geoff.
I just completed correcting final exams and one thing I noticed about most all of the students in the class; they want to use their skills to learn more about "Discover learning in the mind, brain and body". The temporary constraint that we have at this point is closing the communication gap or knowledge gap (not sure) between the teacher (educator) and the neuroscientist so that we call speak from a knowledge base that is truly scientific and educational for teachers and students. I am reading a book recommended to me by OECD Expert Christina titled Memory from Minds to Molecules by Squire and Kandel. I noticed that Squire is a professor at UCSD just a few miles from me in San Diego. (Small world) I will visit with him.
In reading the above mention book I am excited to begin making a full circle of what I will call 'real' learning about how memories are stored and simple system for cellular and molecular studies. Actually the simple nervous system of a sea hare (aplysia californica) and the fruit fly (Drosophila) have been very useful in studies of learning and memory.
I have many students wanting to continue to study the brain and learning and will stay in contact over the year via the net.
Is memory a big or little part of learning? Well, huge!
Nondeclarative and declarative (also known by other names but let's keep it simple) allows us to be human and to enjoy the things that we do...and remember them.
Nondeclarative Memory
Essentially this is memory that is like swimming, riding a bike and other mostly physical types of memory that we cannot verbalize. Many times I have heard it described as muscle memory, but it is a simple nondeclarative memory. Essentially we can use and re-use nondeclarative memory with very little or any review. "Can you ride a bike after years of non use?" Sure you can...and it seemed to come right back to you. You still needed a little practice and you are now wearing a helmet.
Declarative Memory
This is a different kind of memory from Nondeclarative memory.
Quoted from Memory: From Mind to Molecules by Squire and Kandel
pgs. 70-71.
Declarative memory is memory for events, facts, words, faces, music - all the various pieces of knowledge that we have acquired during a life time of experience and learning, knowledge that can potentially be declared, that is, brought to mind as a verbal proposition or as a mental image.
I will never forget my freshman year in college chemistry when the professor gave us an assignment from the text. We were to be tested in a few days. I really believed that I studied harder for this chapter test than at any other time. I went into the test with great confidence and when I received my test back a few days later, I had received a [D-]. I marched up to the professor's desk and asked him which answers were incorrect. He smiled and said that none of my answers were wrong, but that I did not understand a word I wrote. He said..."I can tell that you worked very hard to memorize the text," I would prefer that you understand it. He was right and it was an important lesson...but still a [D-].
:confused: I remember when I first found out that 'prior learning' was actually a physical change in the brain in the form of neuronal networks. That really caused a 'paradigm shift in my thinking'; it was a real eye opener. NOW DO we have memory being a physical change as an engram or neurogram which is a memory trace or maybe neuronal (neural) networks of memory distributed throughout the cortex etc. of the brain? Maybe not quite the same.
It is really a great feeling to know that we can enhance our long term memory but it will involve new protein synthesis for the switch to Long-Term Memory. Memory is a huge part of learning as I mentioned before. It helps us remember our wedding anniversary and "be human."
Declarative memory involves neurobiology and some explanation.
Segarama - Rob
Hi Geoff,
I agree that researchers should think beyond their own technical jargons, and have to be prodded to make a concerted effort to do this, as it does not come naturally to most of them.
I am a little skeptical though about your idea of defining a sort of "fixed" metaphorical discource, could this not at some point become stale, turning them into "dead" metaphors ,which then risk to loose their figurative value? Or do you not see this a problem?
OECD expert Wrote:I would like to add an important dimension to the discussion of sculpting pedagogy with research-driven knowledge. Research cannot effectively influence classroom practice in a unidirectional manner. It is imperative that there is a reciprocal integration of research and practice. Classrooms are highly particular environments and teachers have an understanding of the intricacies of their classrooms that researchers cannot. Therefore, teachers’ knowledge must act in synergy with research results to determine appropriate situated practice. On a large scale, practitioners’ knowledge must serve as a feedback system to guide the direction of research.
~Christina
Christina,
You have provided much to think about which is a great service to the field. I will start with your “Response to issues in research and practice†that you posted on another thread but I feel is appropriate here. I had originally intended to look at this briefly and go on to other subjects but as I got into it I found so much in your statement that I decided to discuss it in this post only.
I feel that one of our problems is that there is not an adequate model of the system that we are trying to effect. The present system is really a system or interrelated systems. We have numerous forms of education delivery, various forms of education administration, education systems for educating educators, industries such as book publishers and technologies of many forms with motives of which quality of education is not the primary objective, political influences that are often influenced by many of the above systems. And that is not looking at the complexity of the research sectors nor of information exchange mechanisms.
We also have the fact that as impressed as we want to be with what we have learned about the brain and learning and how fast understanding is advancing we are only at the very beginning. Philosophies are changing. Mathematics needs some advances. The instruments for brain research are approaching the problems associated with particle research. They are very complex and very expensive and can not easily be implemented. We love the pictures from brain scans but seldom are we told what it takes to get those pictures nor are we clearly told what they imply.
We also need some social reality. The media needs some self discipline. The future of education advances will be hurt by reports like “Don't eat eggs.â€, “Eggs are good for you.â€, “Fat is bad for you.†, “If you don't eat fat you increase your chances for a heart attack.†Each week is a startling revelation only to be contradicted the next month. The field of the brain and education is too important not to have every step forward on solid ground or at least in a full, independent disclosure context with mechanisms for validation. As some countries move to the mysteries of privatization much of what we hear is really propaganda for a profit objective. After years of promise and projection about elearning we are now being told that there is a bad spot on the apple of education. Possibly the greatest need at this time is the development of reliable sources of public information about brains and learning. A consideration may be the establishment of a Wiki encyclopedia and or dictionary for the field.
This communication group has a very difficult position. I do not think it is realistic to expect the researchers, each with their own traditional peer group, to interact on a regular basis with educators working at the application level. At the same time it has to be recognized that there is a role that educators can play in research, however, they are severely limited by their peer groups who are steeped in tradition and incorrect understanding of research. The teacher does not have the resources or support for this kind of activity.
I have personally found that there is much to gain at this level and that it can lead to very practical and useful results. There is a book about the future of education being published in the UK and will be coming out at the end of '05 and will have a chapter on some of this work. I am not sure yet what the other materials are but from what I can see it will show that there is a lot of competition for new approaches.
Valid research in this field is seldom done by individuals. The cooperative teams in brain research are huge compared to the lonely teacher. This used to exclude individuals from the research arena but this has all changed with the open internet and its connectivity and resources. I can see a great future in this but a lot of thinking has to go into it. Whole new conceptual structures of open source cooperation and management have to be considered. Linux and the open source software projects are good examples of the possibilities. There are other areas of application also. Google “open law†and see what is happening. This is not a dream it is a reality.
OECD Wrote:Hi Geoff,
I agree that researchers should think beyond their own technical jargons, and have to be prodded to make a concerted effort to do this, as it does not come naturally to most of them.
I am a little skeptical though about your idea of defining a sort of "fixed" metaphorical discource, could this not at some point become stale, turning them into "dead" metaphors ,which then risk to loose their figurative value? Or do you not see this a problem?
Hi OECD,
I agree with your suggestion that defining "fixed" metaphors, would have very limited value. Perhaps just becoming a part of the Jargon?
Metaphors are also vague, so they are very liable to be mis-interpreted and mis-used.
Rather my concern is with how Teachers can be introduced to Neuroscience and comprehend it in a way which enables them to apply it to their teaching practice. Without blinding them with the science.
Perhaps Applied Neuroscience in Teaching, is what I'm suggesting is needed?
With an emphasis on Applicability.
An understanding of Neuroscience by Teachers is also becoming increasingly important, given the number of neurological reports they are now recieving from Parents. Which they are expected to understand and accommodate.
In the typical busy teaching/classroom situation, teachers really need models to reflect upon and apply fairly immediately?
So perhaps we could look beyond metaphors, to the broader issue of Applied Neuroscience in Teaching? To how this could be presented to both current Teachers and Trainee Teachers?
Geoff.
This is in response to Karlw's discussion on teaching math, and how it is being taught inappropriately because of what we now know about brain development. I agree with you, and I am willing to do "experiments" in my class to help in gathering information to support this. So, if you need field research, I am available. However, next year I will not be a 4th grade teacher, I am looping with my class to fifth grade.
I think most researchers and administrators look at test scores to see if a new approach is worth taking, and I would like to gain support in teaching with new approaches based on other assessment criteria. If it happens to improve my state test scores, that isn't a bad thing, I could use the compliments.
I'm just putting this out there because as I read through this forum (and yes, I am understanding despite the jargon and with or without metaphors) I am hearing that something needs to be done, but there's a question on how to approach consolidating all this thinking about learning. I am not naive in understanding the complexities of proper research and the steps that really need to be taken in applying outcomes. Any data gathered from one classroom is only that -- one classroom-- but I'd really like to be a part of data gathered from many classrooms to see if any immediate or long term effects can be seen. Actually, I've done many mini experiments already, and have even had my students set up some to see the effects on listening to music, etc.
I continue to enjoy the discussion in this forum.
4th grade teacher Wrote:This is in response to Karlw's discussion on teaching math, and how it is being taught inappropriately because of what we now know about brain development. I agree with you, and I am willing to do "experiments" in my class to help in gathering information to support this. So, if you need field research, I am available. However, next year I will not be a 4th grade teacher, I am looping with my class to fifth grade.
.
I want you to know that I have read the message and that I intend to cooperate with you. I am thinking of the best way in which we can cooperate. It will require considerable interaction and not all may be of interest to the list so we may want to exchange some emails. My address is in the personal area. I also have some personal websites that I use and we would be able to work through there in the future.
I think that this could be exciting for us personally to see where this can go. There is a chapter in a book coming out in the UK at the end of the year that has some materials relating to reading and the brain but also some about an experiment with maths and assessment. I may be able to send some of this to you.
Thank you for your interest and offer cooperation. I hope that this forum will see much more of this in the future. When we all start to work together it will be come clearer as to how the future should go.
Karl
Dear 4th Grade Teacher and Karldw,
Your mini experiments sound fascinating, if you are interested in publishing them or a synopsis of them on this site, let us know. We are especially interested to learn of the effects of multi-media on learning, so any data on that would be very interesting to see, there are so far no studies available on this. They are just starting to perform studies in the Transfer Center for Neuroscience and Learning in Ulm (we will have more detailed information on these studies soon on our website) with classroom controlled studies are being undertaken whereby one group of kids is subjected to high action films and then into a learning situation directly after, with a control group having first a relaxing session of calm music. I am not sure of the full details of the experiment, but I think both groups are interrogated afterwards to see how much learning was retained.
We are also interested in the chapter of the UK book Karldw mentions, so keep us posted on this site of these brain-related studies, professional or amateur.
Karldw Wrote:Christina,
You have provided much to think about which is a great service to the field. I will start with your “Response to issues in research and practice†that you posted on another thread but I feel is appropriate here. I had originally intended to look at this briefly and go on to other subjects but as I got into it I found so much in your statement that I decided to discuss it in this post only...
I want to thank Karldw for his thoughtful and important commentary.
There is currently a scarcity of direct communication among education researchers and practitioners, which can render research knowledge inappropriate in situated context, open to misinterpretation, or slow to enter practice.
Classrooms are situated and particular, and practitioners have knowledge about their classrooms that is a necessary ingredient for the creation of effective practice. Research knowledge cannot be neatly inserted into classrooms as context plays a role in determining the meaning of knowledge. As Frank Coffield states in his reflections on the Lifelong Learning Meeting:
If, for instance, I raise my right arm above shoulder height,
am I a Royal Prince giving a Nazi salute? or am I a Primary
pupil asking to leave the room to go to the toilet? or am I
trying to catch the Speaker’s eye in the House of Commons?
Only an understanding of the gesturing individual embedded
in a particular context and culture can help answer that
question. In the words of Jerome Brunner: “It is practically
impossible to understand a thought, an act, a move of any
sort from the situation in which it occurs. Biology and culture
both operate locally†(1996:167).â€
The aim of education research could never be to develop a consensus on best pedagogical practice because best practice varies with context. Even empirical results from brain research must interact with many other situational variables to determine appropriate practice. If, for example, it was empirically proven that children’s brains acquire foreign language best at a particular age, this does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that all children should be taught foreign language at that age. There may be a culture in which it could be inappropriate to teach foreign language at that age because members of that culture value the development of other age-dependent skills more highly. The aim of research can be to provide information that is useful in helping teachers construct practice that is suitable for their particular classroom environments. This means, practitioners knowledge about their classrooms is an integral part of research.
Research knowledge that is communicated in a “top-down,†unidirectional manner is often ineffectively implemented due to oversimplification or misinterpretation. This problem could potentially be even greater when transferring across fields because of many of the complications we have discussed on this forum, such as field-specific terminology. To prevent misinterpretation, it is important that learning about the brain occurs through exchange, rather than purely dissemination.
In an earlier discussion, several forum members noted that education research is often slow to enter practice. The root of this problem lies in the currently prevalent system of unidirectional research. Teachers must be empowered to engage in research and enter into critical consideration of practice. Lytle and Cochran-Smiths’ (1992) Teacher Research as a Way of Knowing strongly argues that it is necessary for teachers to become a part of mainstream education research if research knowledge is to be used in a sustainable way. I highly recommend this powerful work to anyone interested in exploring issues of education research.
As discussed by Karldw, there are many obstacles in achieving the goal of involving practitioners in pedagogical research. It requires a restructuring of many of the currently-existing systems of communication. We are not ever likely to develop a single system to guide this type of cross-directional research. However, use of qualitative or interpretive forms of research, such as those discussed by Erickson (1986) and Denzin and Yvonne (1994), in conjunction with many other types of research may be a useful beginning.
It seems that the key is establishing effective mechanisms of communication. This forum is one brilliant solution. Let’s brainstorm other methods of fostering cross-communication… ideas?
The following are the full citations for the works I mentioned above if you are interested in reading more about these research issues:
Erickson, Frederick. (1986). Qualitative Methods in Research on Teaching in Handbook of Research on Teaching, M.C. Wittrock (ed.). New York, Macmillan.
Denzin, Norman K. and Lincoln, Yvonna S. (1994). Introduction: Entering the Field of Qualitative Research in Handbook of Qualitative Research, Denzin and Lincoln (eds). Sage Press.
Lytle, Susan and Cochran-Smith, Marilyn. (1992, Winter). Teacher Research as a Way of Knowing. Harvard Educational Review, vol. 62, no. 4, pp. 447 - 474.
I look forward to further discussion,
Christina
An interesting, multisensory approach:
Brookes, P. H. (1999). Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills. Paul H. Brooks, MD.
All the best,
Christina
Hi Christina, Do you have anymore information on the book that you suggested on sensory? I cannot seem to find it on Amazon and others. Do you have an ISBN for it? Thank you and be well.
Rob
Hi Christina,
Thank you for the hyperlink regarding the book on senses. I just got back from taking my granddaughter age 8 to Neuro Therapeutics, Inc. They worked with her on sensory integratation for about an hour. They all did a good job.[Oregon]
After the session, I had an opportuity to chat with Victoria's therapist and discussed her progress. She is a good therapist and Victoria goes every week along with a her once a week diet program because she is sensitive to foods.(autistic) She also has a therapist from RDI come in to the home once a week. We discussed the afferent sensory neurons coming through the central nervous system into the thalamus. This might be where things are jamming up with her. Thalamus to amygdala or to the cerebral cortex. The therapist is doing an additional workup on her now to see if any additions or changes are needed in her program.
Didn't mean to bend your ear.
Be well,
Rob
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