R 8-Pinker

R 8

            Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”  Some may even consider life, God, and gravity as absolute truth.  Truth is, everyone has his or her own opinion about absolute truth, whether it is absolutely true or socially constructed.   Although, we all are occupants of this world, reality is viewed differently among everyone because of our various experiences.  Pinker 2002 explains that “According to the relativistic wisdom prevailing in much of academia today, reality is socially constructed by the use of language, stereotypes, and media images” (p. 198).  However, many times, our own experiences do not match certain situations, and that can cause issues.  For example, Pinker explains how a relativist views stereotyping race and gender as something that can cause oppression and discrimination, or how if we perceive a tree a wrong way, we may bump into (Pinker, 2002).

            As I was reading the article, I tried hard to link the concept of absolute truth with stereotype.  Pinker suggests, “Moreover, even when people believe that ethnic groups have characteristic traits, they are never mindless stereotypers who literally believe that each and every member of the group posses those traits” (p. 204).  However, I always thought that when people stereotype something or someone; they either consciously or subconsciously place all people or things that belong to a certain group in one category.  She discusses how some stereotypes can at times be statistically proven to be true.  In my opinion, since stereotyping is the act of placing all things and people that belong to a particular group in a certain category, how can a stereotype be proven?  Unless there is a stereotype that all mammals are warm blooded.  It just does not make sense to classify that information as a stereotype.  According to Xiuzhen Ren and Hongwei Wang, “That is to say, stereotypes assume that everyone from a group has certain characteristics and allow no room for individual differences” (Xiuzhen Ren and Hongwei Wang, 2006, p. 44).

            One statement Pinker mentions that I do agree on is, “When people are distracted or put under pressure to respond quickly, they are more likely to judge that a member of an ethnic group has all the stereotyped traits of the group” (p. 205).  Thus, I was immediately reminded of the Implicit Associations Tests I took for class in the beginning of the class.  The Implicit Associations Test is an assessment to show how our unconscious thoughts and feelings can surface up and become known to us through immediate and pressured situations.  I believe that subconsciously I favored certain things simply because those things were learned through media and my surroundings.  I was able to socially construct two realities, one that is conscious and another that is subconscious. 

              The fact that everyone constructs their own realities through certain experiences in the world can cause a significant amount of confusion and bickering in the world.  Thus, everyone begins to believe that their own realities are the only truths because it is often difficult to understand other people’s reality.  However, there are some realities that everyone has to go through and are unchanging such as life, death, and social class.

References

Ren, X., and Wang, H. (2006).  A Study of Cultural Stereotypes in Intercultural Communication. 

            Sino-US English Teaching, 3, 44-47.

Module 5

Explain the principle contributions of Vygotsky as a theory of learning and compare and contrast the work of Piaget and Vygotsky.

1)      Vygotsky’s groundwork was focused on how a child cognitively develops through the interactions a child has with his or her parents, teachers, and peers.  Therefore, with the help of others, a child is able to acquire the ability to accomplish a task, in which, was in his or her potential ability.  He explained that the significance of social interactions is culture and language.  Vygotsky believed that culture is the blueprint to development and learning; without culture a child cannot have a fundamental understanding of the knowledge and functions that are needed to adapt in the world.  He believed that the interactions between a child and adults help the child develop language, which in turn, will enhance the child’s mental functions.  

While Piaget emphasized the child as being the sole contributor of making his or her own knowledge; Vygotsky rendered the practicality and importance of social interactions supplying a child’s development.  Thus, the process of learning is as the first step a child is being assisted and then is able to master a task on her own.  Whereas, Piaget believed that a child masters a task through his or her own experiences in a given environment. 

In comparison with Piaget, they both describe that knowledge develops in stages of learning.  Vygotsky presented the process of speech development and Piaget established the process of cognitive development.  The older a child gets, the more he or she is able to think abstractly.

What connections do you see between this article and the chapter you ready by Vygotsky?

2)      Alix Spiegel, the author of the article called “Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills” described that children engage in private speech during their imagination play, which can lead to self-regulation.  He explained that through the technique of private speech, a child is able to control his or her feelings, behaviors, and emotions; which is similar to adults.  Vygotsky’s view on inner speech is similar to the private speech that the author was talking about in the article.  He believed that inner speech leads to the possibility for individuals to guide and direct their thoughts and behaviors.  In the chapter by Vygotsky, he mentions that Piaget and other researchers have mentioned the fact that communication with others in their environment gives them the basis for confirming their thoughts (Vygotsky, 1935/1978).  One passage from the chapter summed up the connection, it says, “Earlier research established that a child first becomes able to subordinate her behavior to rules in group play and only later does voluntary self-regulation of behavior arise as an internal function” (Vygotsky, 1935/1978, p. 90).

How are Bruner’s ideas related to those of the other two constructivists (Piaget and Vygotsky)?

Bruner’s theory on human symbol systems and Vygotsky’s theory on language in particular are similar.  Bruner, Piaget, and Vygotsky believe that the members of a given culture and its technology influence people communication and experiences with the world, in which, their minds are enhanced by.  Also, Bruner’s theory on categorization and coding systems resembles Piaget’s schema theory.   Both theories express how individuals are able to perceive the blueprint and components of an object.  Furthermore, the concept of attainment and the concept of formations have a close connection with Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation because they believe that everyone has previous knowledge that they can add to in the future as learning progresses.  In addition, Bruner and Piaget believed in student-centered base learning.  Thus, the child is able to construct his or her own meaning through discovering information on his or her own.

What exactly is Bruner’s theory on concept and percept?  Are they similar to Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation? Or are the three modes (enactive, iconic, and symbolic) similar to Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation?

R 8

            According to Bruner, “Learning, remembering, talking, imagining: all of them are made possible by participating in a culture” (Bruner, 1996, p. XI).  Many times, when I think of culture, I think of family and traditions.  However, Bruner described that culture can also be fostered into societal domains that everyone shares; either at work or in school, no matter what a person’s background.  Furthermore, he thought that culture was an element that was needed in education because there were cultural issues in the schools, especially during the civil rights movement.  These issues in the schools were poverty, alienation, and racial discrimination.  He believed that students were not doing well in school as a result of those cultural issues, in which he called “cultural deprivation.”  As a means to rectify the interference of acquiring knowledge because of certain discrepancies of students, he believed that “mutual learning cultures” was the solution.

Bruner (1996) described one version of “culture at its best” when, “There is mutual sharing of knowledge and ideas, mutual aid in mastering material, division of labor and exchange of roles, opportunity to reflect on the group’s activities” (p. XV).  He understood how this type of culture would be difficult to apply in schools, given that there are policies and regulations that are strictly enforced.  In my opinion, if there were not any limitations to what schools can do, having a kind of collectivist classroom would be difficult to accomplish because group work is usually not encouraged in schools.  In addition, there is so much competition in schools that the thought of most students helping their fellow classmates would be nonexistent in their minds. 

Although everyone is from different backgrounds outside of school, they all share a common goal in school.  Therefore, an ideal classroom would be if all differences are put to the side, and every student can work as a team to help one another reach this common goal, which is learning.  At least by establishing a communal learning environment, it is guaranteed that alienation and racism would not be an issue, yet poverty could possibly still be.  Thus, if students are in poverty, most likely they are not getting the proper nutrients to concentrate in school.  Furthermore, according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, food is one of the physiological needs, so if that is not met, then students will not be motivated to move on to the next level.

After viewing the film Waiting for Superman, I discovered the affects of poverty in various school districts.  Since the issues of poverty in the schools have contributed to the lack of effective learning due to limited and generic resource materials and dilapidated ceilings, this too would be a form of inequality.  Therefore, the culture of poverty will still have a huge effect on students’ learning, so how can mutual learning supersede the affects of poverty?   

Module 4 Qs

1) The principal contributions of Piaget’s cognitive constructivist theory are mainly described as how an individual construct his or her own knowledge to be able to adapt in the environment. The social component of learning is taken away from Piaget’s theory. Thus, only the individual makes his or her own meaning by being active in the environment. People are able to form schemas through their past experiences in order to adapt and make sense of their surroundings, and in turn, gain knowledge. Since individuals are able to construct their own meaning through their experiences, not everyone’s meaning will be the same. Therefore, there is no absolute truth and intelligence is flexible.
Q: Are schemas like reinforcement (once you experience a good outcome of the stimulus, you most likely repeat that same behavior to the stimulus)?
2) The connection I made with Piaget’s developmental stages and James’ theory of acquiring ideas is that they both view knowledge as something that develops with age. Thus, if a child is at the stage of learning basic mathematics, then that child must not be given a problem that is too abstract, such as geometrics. Plus, the child must be given some kind of assessment, proving that she understands the material in order to move on to the next tasks. In addition, both Piaget and James believe that children make their own meaning through their experiences. In James’ chapter “What the Native Reactions Are,” he explains how a stick can have different meanings for different individual (James, 1899/2001). Since James thought that constructiveness, was what he called “instinctive tendency,” and that teachers should attract this native tendency and enhance the students’ passive and active experiences (James, 1899/2001). James said, “But the wise education takes the tide at the flood, and from kindergarten upward devotes the first years of education to training in construction and to object-teaching” (p. 30).
3) After observing Bart’s new class, Airasian and Walsh would first be amazed, and then they will have several questions to ask in regards to how the faculty was able to implement constructivism in the class, what is the student application process, how each student is doing in the class, what are the pros and cons in the students’ and teachers’ perspective, etc. Furthermore, I doubt that Airasian and Walsh will believe that that type of learning environment is effective for every student to gain knowledge of every subject. They would disagree that the Bart’s classroom instruction should only involve one form of learning. Yet, it would be a good observation for them to witness and evaluate. Yes, I believe that Bart’s new class is a form of constructivism.
Overall, I believe that the constructivist theory is most definitely an interesting theory, in which, it lays a mystery because it is something that cannot be measured. Also, since there are not many classrooms that fully implement constructivism, it would be difficult to even observe. I think that the theory has some truths to it, in regards to how individuals make their meaning, and how everyone’s meaning is different through the experiences one may have. I just do not think that the implementation of it is feasible in the classroom.

Building Ideas and Applying them in the Classroom

R7

Vygotsky’s social and cultural constructivist theory and Piaget’s developmental constructivist theory are the two theories that are discussed in the reading. Piaget’s theory puts the learner as the key source to building knowledge. Contrary to Piaget, Vygotsky’s theory emphasizes the role of culture and language to help assist the development of knowledge in learners. Therefore, which one is more effective for learning or even attainable in the classroom?

The root word for “teacher” is teach. However, according to a developmental constructivist view, the teachers’ role in the classroom is to facilitate and mediate their students’ knowledge for learning. Therefore, the role of the students is to construct meaning and be the sole contributor to their learning. It assumes that all students are active learners and have the ability to construct their knowledge. In my opinion, constructivism is impracticable to be implemented in the classroom. A developmental constructivist classroom is not the reality in our schools; it is more of something that can only be attained in a dream. Especially, after watching the film Waiting for Superman, it gives confirmation that our society puts emphasis on the effectiveness of teachers’ instruction, and not on the ability for students to learn how to effectively construct their knowledge. Thus, a social constructivist classroom sounds more attainable.

A social constructivist classroom emphasizes the significance of social interactions between the learner and teacher, peers, and other adults that can assist with the development of the learner’s knowledge. Vygotsky explains, “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice . . . First, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and inside the child (intrapsychological)” (Lefrancois, 2005, p. 261). Furthermore, language is another important aspect of social constructivism that contributes to knowledge. According to Vygotsky, through verbal communication, a child is able to develop language, which in turn, will produce logical thinking (Lefrancois, 2005). Most schools have social constructivism present in every classroom.

Airasian and Walsh (1997) explain the fact that there is no “instruction of constructivism,” yet there are methods that can be used to construct knowledge, such as hands-on learning, product-oriented activities, etc. This reminds me of William James’ views on his chapter called “The Acquisition of Ideas.” He mentions how important it is for students to be proactive in their learning in order to acquire knowledge. William James (1899/2001) states,

“Constructiveness is the instinct most active; and by incessant hammering and sawing, and dressing and undressing dolls, putting of things together and taking them apart . . . , but accumulates a store of physical conceptions which are the basis of his knowledge of the material world through life” (p. 72).

For a constructivist view, there is no such thing as absolute truth. Airasian and Walsh mention, “And since different milieus vary in their constructions and since there is no absolute truth to search for, knowledge becomes relative to the milieu one inhabits” (p. 447). However, in almost every aspect of our society there is absolute truth. Many people are not viewed as reliable assets to their company in the workplace if they are encouraged to exercise their own way of thinking and constructing knowledge. Similarly, it would be difficult for students and teachers to exercise the knowledge they make from their environment. The focus of the educational system is for students to test well on exams, not on their creation of knowledge through their own realities and experiences. Thus, there are regulations and policies that hinder people of the autonomy to make their own knowledge through their experiences. Therefore, how could one’s construction of his or her own truth ever be accepted in the society?

References:

James, W. (1899/2001). Talks to teachers on psychology and to students on some of life's ideals. Mineola, NY: Dover. ISBN: 0486-41964-9.

Lefrançois, G. R. (2005). Theories of human learning: What the old woman said (5th ed.). Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN: 0534641520.