ASSIGNMENT 1 POST 5- Benjamin Bloom

Benjamin Bloom - BLOOM'S TAXONOMY

Following the 1948 Convention of the American Psychological Association, took a lead in formulating a classification of " here).
Eventually, Bloom and his co-workers established a hierarchy of educational objectives, which is generally referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy, and which attempts to divide cognitive objectives into subdivisions ranging from the simplest behavior to the most complex.
It is important to realize that the divisions outlined above are not absolutes and that other systems or hierarchies have been devised. However, Bloom's took a lead in formulating a classification of " here).
taxonomy is easily understood and widely took a lead in formulating a classification of " here).
applied.

http://www.cte.usf.edu/materials/institute/ct/index.html

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. During the 1990's a new group of cognitive psychologist, lead by Lorin Anderson (a former student of Bloom's), updated the taxonomy reflecting relevance to 21st century work. The graphic is a representation of the NEW verbage associated with the long familiar Bloom's Taxonomy.

Remembering: Can the student recall or remember the information?

define, duplicate, list, memorise, recall, repeat, reproduce, state

Understanding: Can the student explain ideas or concepts?

classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognise, report, select, translate, paraphrase

Applying: can the student use information in a new way?

choose, demonstrate, dramatise, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write

Analysing: can the student distinguish between the different parts?

appraise, compare, contrast, criticise, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test

Evaluating: can the student justify a stand or decision?

appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate

Creating: can the student create new product or point of view?

assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write

http://web.odu.edu/educ/llschult/blooms_taxonomy.htm

CRITICAL REFLECTION

One of the key points I've taken from Bloom's theory is his taxonomy of learning, and the notion of higher order thinking. Higher order learning promotes knowledge retention and is a significant aspect of cognitive education. While lower order learning is sometimes necessary in terms of the remembering, recollection and recalling of facts and information, as a teacher I must strive to get higher order thinking our of my students. Higher order thinking refers to the contruction of knowledge through analysis, evaluation and creation - which can be seen as the top three steps of the taxonomy diagram. When students are given the opportunity to exercise these aspects of higher order thinking, they develop their own ways of understanding and interpreting information which best suits them, thus they will nearly always remember the information they have learnt.

From my own knowledge, activities which can be undertaken which promot this higher order thinking include personal reflection, an in-class debate, even appropriation (for example, students are given an article and are asked to read through the article, describe the main points and then re-write the article showing what they understood from it).

ASSIGNMENT 1 POST 4- Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 – September 16, 1980) was a Swiss philosopher, natural scientist and developmental psychologist, well known for his work studying children and his theory of cognitive development.

Piaget is best known for reorganising cognitive development theory into a series of stages. Each stage is characterised by a general cognitive structure that effects all of the child's thinking. Each stage represents the child's understanding of reality during that period. Development from one stage to the next is thus caused by the accumulation of errors in the child's understanding of the environment; this accumulation eventually causes such a degree of cognitive disequilibrium that thought structures require reorganising.

The four development stages are described in Piaget's theory as
Sensorimotor stage: from birth to age 2 years (children experience the world through movement and senses and learn object permanence)
Preoperational stage: from ages 2 to 7 (acquisition of motor skills)
Concrete operational stage: from ages 7 to 11 (children begin to think logically about concrete events)
Formal operational stage: after age 11 (development of abstract reasoning).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget

Piaget believed there is a biological inevitability to how children develop. Piaget's theory has had a major impact on educators and schooling because of the insights he has provided:

• children think differently (in qualitative terms) at various stages of their development. Their movement through these stages depends on the quality of their experiences.
• learning requires active involvement, physically and mentally, between the child and the environment
• children build their own cognitive structures.
• children think differently to adults and their thinking levels vary at different stages.

- Marsh, Colin Becoming a Teacher - Knowledge, Skills and Issues 3rd edition pp. 17-18

CRITICAL REFLECTION
Piaget's theory was one of the first theories we studied in first year, and I think that is for good reason. I believe that the points he makes are very important. Am I teaching a student at a level above the stage they are operating at? I think it is important that as a teacher we promote ultimate learning potential for our students, and this will only happen if we present learning material when developmentally and cognitively they are ready to learn it.
As a teacher, it will become important for me to observe and listen carefully to what my students say and do in order to analyse how they think. This can be a difficult process, but it is essential in order to further develop a student's thinking. I need to be aware of thr pact of learning, as well as matching strategies to abilities. Piaget's theory has help me realise that all children develop at different speeds, and there is no one universal or uniform way to teach a lesson - I need to satisfy all the different learnign abilities in my classroom.

ASSIGNMENT 1 POST 3- Vygotsky

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky

" In the process of historical development social man changes the ways and means of his behavior, transforms the matural instincts and functions, elaborates and creates new forms of behavior."

• Lev Vygotsky, born in the U.S.S.R. in 1896, is responsible for the social development theory of learning. He proposed that social interaction profoundly influences cognitive development. Central to Vygotsky's theory is his belief that biological and cultural development do not occur in isolation.

• Vygotsky, alternatively ton Piaget, believed that development is a process that should be analyzed, instead of a product to be obtained. According to Vygotsky, the development process that begins at birth and continues until death is too complex to to be defined by stages.

• Vygotsky believed that this life long process of development was dependent on social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development. This phenomena is called the Zone of Proximal Development . Vygotsky describes it as "the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" (Vygotsky, 1978). In other words, a student can perform a task under adult guidance or with peer collaboration that could not be achieved alone. The Zone of Proximal Development bridges that gap between what is known and what can be known. Vygotsky claimed that learning occurred in this zone.
  
  

http://web.syr.edu/~hcavino/vygotsky.gif

• Therefore, Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the cultural context in which they act and interact in shared experiences. According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs.

http://chd.gmu.edu/immersion/knowledgebase/theorists/constructivism/vygotsky.htm

CRITICAL REFLECTION

One of the key innovators of the social constructivist movement, Vygotsky focused on the idea that learning commences in the social world. Students are able to learn language and ways of thinking from others. I thoroughly believe that enriching and valuable learning can be achieved collaboratively. The knowledge students acquire through interacting socially with the teacher and peers will become their individual knowledge. The most obvious way to encourage collaborative learning is through the use of group work.

An example that comes to mind is when I was studying for the HSC. While there were times I preferred to study on my own, there were times when I learnt alot by simply discussing with my friends. In quite a few subjects we formed 'study groups', and in these groups we discussed syllabus points and successfully bounced off each other to help remember specific points. I thoroughly enjoyed these study groups because not only was it a more fun way to study, but it also helped me remember important information I needed for my exams.

ASSIGNMENT 1 POST 2- William Glasser

WILLIAM GLASSER - Choice Theory and Reality Therapy

William Glasser described in his theory that humans are drived by five basic needs, which influence their behaviour.

1. Survival, safety and security

This need includes health, shelter, warmth, food, water as well as a sense of personal security and safety. If students are fearful in the classroom and a sense of emotional security is at risk, their ability to learn effectively is impeded.
2. Love and belonging
This need recognises the the importance to love and be love. We need to belong and be accepted by others as significant and important.
3. Power or recognition
Power and recognition is the need to know that in some way we are important, accepted, capable and able to achieve. We all need sufficient power to regulate our lives.
4. Freedom
This is the ability to do what we want, to have free choice. It is connected with procedural justice where we seek fair play.
5. Fun
Children are driven by the need for fun, and a relationship exists between learning and our genetic need for fun.

CHOICE THEORY

Choice Theory posits the existence of a "Quality World" in which, starting at birth and continuing throughout our lives, we place those things that we highly value: primarily the people who are important to us, things we prize, and systems of belief, i.e. religion, cultural values and icons, etc. Glasser also posits a "Comparing Place" in which we compare the world we experience with our Quality World. We behave to achieve as best we can a real world experience consonant with our Quality World.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice_Theory

It states that all we do is behave, that almost all behavior is chosen, and that we are driven by our genes to satisfy five basic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun.

http://www.wglasser.com/whatisct.htm

The Ten Axioms of Choice Theory
1. The only person whose behavior we can control is our own.
2. All we can give another person is information.
3. All long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems.
4. The problem relationship is always part of our present life.
5. What happened in the past has everything to do with what we are today, but we can only satisfy our basic needs right now and plan to continue satisfying them in the future.
6. We can only satisfy our needs by satisfying the pictures in our Quality World.
7. All we do is behave.
8. All behavior is Total Behavior and is made up of four components: acting, thinking, feeling and physiology.
9. All Total Behavior is chosen, but we only have direct control over the acting and thinking components. We can only control our feeling and physiology indirectly through how we choose to act and think.
10. All Total Behavior is designated by verbs and named by the part that is the most recognizable.

http://www.choicetheory.com/

REALITY THERAPY

The Reality Therapy approach to counselling and problem-solving focuses on the here-and-now of the client and how to create a better future, instead of concentrating at length on the past. It emphasizes making decisions, and taking action and control of one's own life. Typically, clients seek to discover what they really want and whether what they are currently doing (how they are choosing to behave) is actually bringing them nearer to, or further away from, that goal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_Therapy

Since unsatisfactory or non-existent connections with people we need are the source of almost all human problems, the goal of Reality Therapy is to help people reconnect. This reconnection almost always starts with the counselor/teacher first connecting with the individual and then using this connection as a model for how the disconnected person can begin to connect with the people he or she needs.

http://www.wglasser.com/whatisrt.htm

CRITICAL REFLECTION

The most important concept identified by Glasser is the idea that the only behaviour we can control is our own. Essentially what drives our behavior are internally developed notions of what is most important and satisfying to us. In the classroom environment, the teacher must work towards satisfying the five basic needs of the students as identified by Glasser, in order to manage student behaviour. The idea that all behaviour is purposeful, and that a student is behaving in a way to satisfy a fundamental need, I've realised how important it is as the teacher to be able to interpret such behaviour. Because the only behaviour you can control is your own, as the teacher I need to focus on myself and the relationship I have with my students, as well as the support being offered to enable quality outcome. Central to Glasser's philosophy is the establihsment of relationships with students as a first step towards satisifying fundamental needs, and I agree with this wholeheartedly. If you have a positive relationship with a student, not only will their behaviour be easier to manage, but ultimate performance from the student will be much easier to achieve.

ASSIGNMENT 1 POST 1- John Hattie

PROFESSOR JOHN HATTIE - University of Auckland

http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/education/staff/j.hattie/papers/download.cfm
At this site there are some really good papers to be downloaded on research conducted by Hattie on different areas of teaching.

"John Hattie, University of Auckland, describes a four-year research project which outlined the attributes of "expert" vs "experienced" teachers. After 1000s of observations the study found that there are major differences between the two groups. The findings offer potential for professional development aimed at increasing the numbers of "expert" teachers and for establishing a critical mass of accomplished teachers who can provide direction for the teaching profession".
- http://www.nzcer.org.nz/default.php?cPath=21_148_194&products_id=485

John Hattie is an prominent education professor from the University of Auckland who wrote a well-known and influential essay "Teachers Make a Difference" 2003.

In this essay, Hattie states that it is excellence in teachers that make the greatest differences, not just teachers.
Hattie along with his colleague Dick Jaeger identified five major dimensions of excellent teachers. Expert Teachers:-

• Can identify essential representations of their subject;
• Can guide learning through classroom interactions;
• Can monitor learning and provide feedback;
• Can attend to affective attributes; and
• Can influence student outcomes.

essay can be accessed at http://www.acer.edu.au/workshops/documents/Teachers_Make_a_Difference_Hattie.pdf

CRITICAL REFLECTION

When the time comes and I have to teach full time, I want to strive to become an 'expert teacher'. These types of teachers get the best out of their students by influencing their outcomes. From personal experience I feel it is important for teachers to inspire and encourage students, and when students produce good work, the teacher needs to affirm this work to encourage good work in the future. Many a time I have been in a classroom working hard on a piece of work, and the teacher has barely acknowledged my dedication and achievement, and I have just thought to myself "Why did I bother?". John Hattie focuses on the idea of affirmation and feedback as characteristics of an expert teacher, which helps to maintain and also encourage student performance. Afterall, as a teacher we are there to get the best out of our students! :-)