Agency « learntolearn

How Many Ways Can We Describe Individual Learners?

by Fran

There are so many ways “individual differences” have been described in the Education and Psychology literature that its hard to know where to start.

I’m going to begin with a popular Blog named “Personalized Learning.” Here an excerpt and link:

Personalized Learning

excerpt

Sunday, November 8, 2015 Choice is More than a Menu of Options Providing choice can be confusing. If learners are choosing from a set of pre-planned choices from a computer program or a list of options from the teacher, then the teacher is ultimately the one responsible for the learning not the learner. As learners increase responsibility around voice, teachers can also provide a process that builds ownership as learners move toward agency with choice. – See more at: http://www.personalizelearning.com/2015/11/choice-is-more-than-menu-of-options.html#sthash.K9OgSitG.dpuf

Agency Individual Differences Uncategorized

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A Plan for Understanding How Children Learn to be Learners

by Fran

A sequence of posts.

Exploring Learning Models of that are related to Executive Function,

*SocioCultural/Vygotsky (August 30, 2018)

*Behavioral (September 5, 2018)

*Concept-Based Learning (September 19, 2018)

*More than Content: Concepts Plus Process (October 3, 2018)

*Information Processing from a Developmental Point of View/Sternberg and Flavell (October 31 2018)

* * * * *

*Begin with a Plan to Understand and Collaborate with Individual Children About Their Learning (This is our next series of posts.)

* * * * *

Translating the most promising model for your situation into Context-Based Instruction

*Choose Instructional Principles

*Sequence Goals and Objectives

*Engage in Diagnostic Teaching

*Monitor Progress and Make Necessary Changes

*Work toward Generalization

*Apply to A Domain and then Across Domains

*Continue to Grow By Following the Literature

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Conceptual Learning by David Perkins

by Fran

From Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World 2014

From the jacket….

“In Future Wise….David Perkins…offer “a toolkit for thinking through “what’s worth learning?”. …

Through this vital resource, Perkins explores the key concepts, curriculum criteria, and techniques for prioritizing content so teachers can guide students toward the big understanding that matter”…

My takeaways:

From page 52: Big Understanding

“Big Understandings tend to be big in four ways:

Big in insight: The understandings help to reveal how our physical, social, artistic, and other worlds work.

Big in action: The understanding empowers us to take effective action professionally, socially, politically, or in other ways.

Big in ethics: The understanding urges us toward more ethical, humane, caring mind-sets and conduct.

Big in opportunity: The understanding is likely to come up in significant ways in varied circumstances…

From page 74:

“Big questions address particular themes about humanity, our world, and our universe. There are also very general questions that find significance in almost any context…..Later well see how such questions fall nicely into bundles that support inquiry and problem solving….”

“So what makes big questions big? Like big understandings, big questions are big in offering

insight, action, ethics, and opportunity….

“…Questions are content too, with their own life-worthy flavor. To know a big question, keep it alive in your mind, and develop skill in asking it is to have a certain kind of passion and power toward navigating the world….”

From page 97-

Lifeready Learning: Making what’s Worth Learning Ready for Life

Questions A: What does a big understanding (or big questioning) need to be like to be lifeready?

Question B: What kinds of teaching and learning make it lifeready?

Building Understanding through Thinking, Applying, Noticing, and Caring

Details to follow with examples in the next posting.

Bolding of print mine

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Continuing with Models of Learning: Concept-Based Learning

by Fran

I am working on the two remaining Models of Learning that have significantly influenced my thinking on learning in general and Executive Function in particular.

Concept-Based Learning:

Concept-Based Learning is one of those models and is reflected in the work of H. Lynn Erickson’s book Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom. Below is an excerpt from By Anna Murphy, Rubicon International

https://www.rubicon.com/concept-based-learning-curriculum/

Here are a few short excerpts from Murphy’s article:

“Concept-based curriculum (CBC) is an approach to curriculum design that moves away from subject-specific content and instead emphasizes “big ideas” that span multiple subject areas or disciplines. For example, in a CBC classroom, students may study the big idea of “change” in a variety of areas, from patterns in mathematics, to civilizations in social studies, to life cycles in science.”…

” “Conceptual thinking requires the ability to critically examine factual information; relate to prior knowledge; see patterns and connections; draw out significant understandings at the conceptual level; evaluate the truth of the understandings across time or situations; and, often, use the conceptual understanding to creatively solve a problem or create a new product, process, or idea.”…

“CBC contrasts more traditional approaches to teaching and learning, which can be more surface level, with stronger emphasis on rote memorization of facts and concepts rather than their application. In a more traditional classroom, a teacher may teach a specific war by focusing on key facts and individuals, and require students to write a paper and take a test to demonstrate understanding. Conversely, CBC is a 3-dimensional approach that melds what students will KNOW, DO, and UNDERSTAND.”…

“Erickson offers an example of how the CBC structure of knowledge works in tandem with Bloom’s Taxonomy:”

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Another “learning to learn” link

by Fran

https://www.scoop.it/t/good-ideas-about-learning

I have been curating on the Scoopit board since 2013. There are hundreds of ideas about “learning how to learn”

Agency Beliefs About Learning Learning How to Learn

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AGENCY as an Over-Arching Concept to Address both Cognitive/Learning Voice & Social/Emotional Voice

by Fran

AGENCY

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/NQS_PLP_E-Newsletter_No64.pdf

Having a voice

“When children have a say in what is going on around them, they start to develop the sense that their ideas and opinions matter. As educators we can encourage children’s sense of agency by

welcoming and responding thoughtfully and respectfully to their questions and ideas and, where possible, incorporating their ideas and suggestions when we plan and implement experiences. Allowing children a voice in what goes on means sharing some of our power and control, but it also helps to promote a more positive, open and cooperative dynamic between adults and children.

Vital ways of listening to and honouring children’s voices include using children’s interests as the basis for our programs; responding to children’s criticisms or comments; and allowing children to help make decisions that affect them.

However, this listening can happen in more subtle ways as well. As educators we have a responsibility to respond to what children are telling us—both directly and through their behaviour and actions.

Reading children’s cues and responding to them is an important skill for educators to have. This is especially the case with very young children who may not be able to communicate their needs and wishes verbally.

…….”

Agency Beliefs About Learning Collaborative Learning Community Executive Function Learner's Stories Student Voices Voices and Choices

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