Module Four |
Reading Three: Process and Product Lesson Planning |
Process education
Process education has been separated into seven building skills for the purposes
of this presentation. The most vital process and relationship content areas
and skills have been subsumed into manageable and distinct areas of focus. This
next representation of building blocks summarizes these eight process and relationship
content areas at the four levels of development. The categories are:
Becoming | Learning behaviors | Communications | Cooperation |
Self control | Respect and esteem | Social Responsibility | Leadership |
These eight areas are developed in some detail, and are represented as a series
of practices and abilities which are developmental and incremental. The process
skills are not taught as a separate set of competencies which take up new curriculum
time, but instead are integrated into thematic units which are already being
taught or as part of the substance of a lesson in math, English, science, etc.
Steps for Integrating Process
The major changes between current practice and suggested practice would be:
a) lessons would be planned and executed combining specific content and specific process skills
b) process would be systematized and taught using goals and objectives
c) the student learning of the process skills would be tied to appropriate evaluation
d) the process portion of the curriculum would be reported to parents and be a requisite portion of the school's scope and sequence
e) classroom, group and individualized goals would be used to facilitate the teaching of process proficiencies.
Once process skills are incorporated into a large number of teaching settings it will be possible to assess which developmental progression will be most beneficial and which will work well for classrooms at differing grade levels. It will also become easier to see ways in which teachers have combined skills and concepts most effectively and creatively with specific subject matter. It may also become clear that some of these process skills, such as learning to be a learner, acquiring the skills for decision making, for leadership, for self control, are continuous elements.
We frequently believed that essential learning behaviors and skills were being acquired systematically. Unfortunately much have been left to chance, presented in a cursory fashion, not recognized as valuable by some youngsters. For some students, there are many more missing skills than we expected.
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