Week 8 The Process of Education, Chapter 2 --The Importance of Structure
Week 8” The Process of Education, Chapter 2
The Bruner reading for this week emphasized the importance of structure in curriculum design. Bruner states that in order for students have productive learning experiences, information given to them should incite pleasure and also serve students in their future experiences. He first stresses the importance of who should design curriculum and states that its design must be a combined effort of education scientists who have a deep understanding of the principles and fundamental structure of the subject, successful educators in the field and students. He identifies that it is crucial for educators to make the context of the subject clear and comprehensible then, relate it to a broader context so that students may generalize and apply knowledge at a later encounter. Second, he states that because detailed material is conserved in our memories in condensed versions, in order for students to remember fundamental context, educators must create a vivid detailed learning experience worth knowing through inciting interest and excitement. Lastly, he states that the likelihood of forgetting material one is taught is high if one is unable to tie acquired knowledge with the fundamental structure of any given subject and suggests the importance of the reexamination of material over time for the sake of continuity. According to Bruner “learning should allow us later to go further easily” and mentions two specific ways that learning will serve us in the future.“One is through its specific applicability to tasks that are highly similar to those we originally learned to perform. A second way in which earlier learning renders later performance more efficient is through nonspecific transfer(the transfer of principles and attitudes) In essence, it consists of learning initially not a skill but a general idea, which can then be used as a basis for recognizing subsequent problems as special cases of the idea originally mastered”(Bruner, pg.16)
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As a non educator who is the midst of a career change, I found this reading very valuable . I currently am in an independent study where I teach English at a literacy center in my neighborhood to an adult whose first and only language is Cantonese. I don’t have any teaching experience and I often worry that our interactions are too rote, but do my best to create our experiences and interactions memorable through different activities. I find myself often taking the advice from our readings and putting them into practice during my tutoring sessions. Although some of Bruner’s suggestions(providing detailed material, inciting excitement/interest, reexamination over time) definitely transfer into my situation, I wonder how successful the structure approach would be in terms of literacy and ESL curriculum, especially for an adult that has already formed his or her own generalized idea of communication(in English), prior to entering a more"formal" learning environment, then having to relearn prior knowledge.
First of all, thank you very much for your sharing.
ReplyDeleteBruner emphasizes the importance of curriculum structure, emphasizes the significance of "subject structure"; advocates spiral curriculum development; and believes that curriculum evaluation "is to guide curriculum construction and teaching". Learning should allow us later to go further easy"and mentions two specific ways that learning will serve us in the future."Bruner's point of view is positive. As for the question you raised, worry about the interactions are too rote, I think besides the fixed teaching structure, we should pay more attention to the influence of non-intellectual factors, such as mobilizing students'product. Extreme emotions, arouse students'curiosity and so on. This is also a very important part of teaching.
Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think your experience is very interesting to me because you are teaching a Chinese. Cantonese and English have nothing in common, so I guess that must be a hard mission for you. But I appreciate that you can create your experiences and interacts memorable through different activities though you don’t have any teaching experience. In addition, I think you have raised a good question. Compare with children, it is probably harder to change an adult's thinking because they have already form their own mindsets for many years. So when we teach an ESL adult, we should provide them a better language environment to get more exposure to "new models", but this will be a long-term task.
Hi, Yesenia. I agree that the information should “incite pleasure”, because the learning pleasure could trigger the intrinsic motivation of student which allow the learning machine to keep going. When I was at high school, the Chinese was my favorite class which I could study it for a long time without a sense of tired; while for math, I just felt sleepy when I opened the book. Also, the knowledge should serve students in their future experience, because I think, if the students know what they learned will be useful in their future, they will be motivated by it for their goals.
ReplyDeleteFor teaching an adult learner, I think, they have more previous knowledge which could assistant them to learn a language compared with the younger child, that is to say, the adult could understand more abstract concepts than the younger one.
Thank you for sharing! I believe the point " it is crucial for educators to make the context of the subject clear and comprehensible" is always useful and effective through teaching process. Without understanding and comprehending the contents, there is no way for students applying the knowledge into practice, and it is pointless for learning and teaching in school. Educators need to find strategic ways to help learners effectively comprehend the materials, and be foresighted about the errors that learners will be made in learning. This makes educators be familiar with learners' learning process and levels of learning.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog. I like and agree what you mentioned that"learning should allow us later to go further easily", and I think it requires the concept of "inciting pleasure" in the curriculum design and teaching. It is crucial for students to understand the curriculum goal and the curriculum should arouse students' interest. Then it requires the curriculum designers on the one hand, considering how to arouse students' interest in the content; on the other hand, thinking about how to develop students' practical abilities through implementing the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteHi, Yesenia, thank you for posting. I really agree with the idea that learning should allow us later to go further easily and learning will serve us in the future. As an educator it is really important for us to have a logical structure in curriculum design. We should not only focus the contents but also the development of student’s future development. Besides, I really appreciate your idea of creating your experiences and interactions memorable through different activities. I think students will have fun and learn a lot during your curriculum. Really sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI’m really impressed by the way that you can teach an adult who only can speak Cantonese. I think that is difficult to teach someone who can only speak the language that you can’t. I was in China learning to teaching Mandarin to international students who came from other country and couldn’t speak any Mandarin before.
I think curriculum designer does the most difficult work because curriculum is important and difficult especially for bilingual students.
I think the points made throughout this reading are valid and call for curriculum designers to consider much more than what they have in the past. I also think that students input is valid and their should be a systematic approach to how we survey students interests and needs. Teacher input allows for the structure to be tighter because the insight we have from implementing curriculum is unmatched. I think that the way curriculum is currently designed is way too much of a private sector and does not work cohesively with all stakeholders.
ReplyDelete