Module Four |
Reading Three: Process and Product Lesson
Planning |
Where we begin
We begin by recognizing and naming the existence and importance of process and
relationship in education and in so doing, take ownership for what we have been
doing and achieving in the past. Next we tackle the definition of what process
and relationship can mean in education and how and when we will be teaching
the concepts. It is crucial to establish methods for recognizing, defining,
measuring and reporting process in education so others can value it as well.
As we place emphasis on process and relationship it will be important to look
for ways to refine the concept more fully for ourselves, to see the process
as a process, a flux rather than an outcome, a way of becoming rather than a
final destination. A set of beginning definitions of process education might
be:
- The something inside which happens so that 2 + 2 = 4 is more than a rote
statement
- A pyramid of skills, procedures, drills which ";ferment", then
bubble up as ideas, insights, connections, thinking
- Structured situations which free themselves, because of the electricity
of thinking and take on the "Gestalt" sense of being more than the
sum of the parts or participants
- A door which somehow opens so that education goes from being a teacher directed,
teacher instigated set of exercises to a headlong rush into taking responsibility
for thinking, for knowing, for questioning and questing
- Perhaps it is the calling, naming and knowing of personal ownership for
education
A starting place for defining relationship might be:
- Building an ability to see, pay attention to, and become personally involved
in the perspectives of others
- Learning the skills to work in concert with others to accomplish a goal
- Becoming fully human by melding personal strengths and mission with an optimal
group outcome
- Shifting in and out of personal need to develop outcomes which elevate all
participants
- Acquiring and utilizing skills for social interaction which add a positive
dimension to any cooperative situation
What this will mean for the Role of Teacher
The following are some of the issues which may be a vital part of articulating
that building process. As we call upon teachers to individualize and personalize
their approaches to learning, it is incumbent upon the system itself to revamp
the way innovation is introduced. Thus, the tasks need to be shred in ways that
empower teachers and fit their abilities to visualize, dream and change rather
than compelling change from “above.”
Gathering Speed
The following may initiate excitement and energy for change.
- Evaluate current and future roles and interplay of teacher, student and
content
- Consider ways that human nature and child development factors are crucial
determinants in the educational process
- Establish educational expectations, practices, and content on the basis
of best outcome for student and society rather than on ease of measurement
- Visualize roles of teachers as a dynamic continuum rather than static
- Establish the value of learner as self directed and responsible
- Determine the importance of individual satisfaction and mastery or competitive
norms as the measure of schooling success [norm referenced or criterion referenced
testing].
- Recognize and value all stake holders and provide productive ways for interplay
- Address the issues of process and product as outcomes of educational practice
- Explore the value and importance of teaching people to be fully and clearly
human and treated with the dignity that suggests as well as taking responsibility
to provide that sense of dignity to others
- Consider implications of viewing education as a service and profession
- Recognize that emotional, social, philosophical development and human relationship
skills are not automatically acquired in the same way that physical development
occurs
- Address ego development as part of education - i.e. the ability to see and
give credence to others’ views, others’ needs, others’ cultural
perspectives and to feel some sense of obligation to live life from the dual
vantage point
- More thoroughly explore what it means to be fully human and which of the
factors are essential to the well being of the individual and society; consider
which develop in spite of neglect or attention, which can be enhanced through
education and then assume the mantle of that knowledge.
Determine how these things can be developed most effectively
Encourage a home school partnership to tie community building to home and school
Include teaching and valuing of these concepts and practices in the curriculum
Establish procedures for measuring and evaluating their emergence and permanence
References
Brown, D.S. (1988). Twelve middle-school teachers’ planning. Elementary
School Journal, 89, 69-88.
Bruner, J. (1962). The process of education. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
Flanders, N. (1970). Analyzing teacher behavior. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Galloway, C. (1970). Teaching as communicating: Nonverbal language in the classroom.
Washington, D.C. National Education Bulletin No. 29.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New
York: Basic Books.
Guilford, J.P. (1988). Some changes in the Structure of Intellect model. Educational
and Psychological Measurements, 48, 1-4.
Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R. T. (1987). Learning together and alone (2nd
ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Maslow, H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York: Viking Press.
Rich, D. (1988). Megaskills. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Slavin, R.E. (1991). Synthesis of research on cooperative learning. Educational
Leadership, 48(5), 71-82.
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