"Education is basically about engineering learning experiences." (Nathan, p.3)
This quote caused my first stop, as I considered the simple yet complex nature of the statement. Teacher development is about the kinds of learning experiences we present for students. I believe all teachers want to create and present the best learning opportunities for their students, yet what that looks like varies greatly. Herein lies the dilemma of education - about which much is written, argued about and copious resources developed to support the learning of students. How do we engineer the best learning experiences for students? Does this change depend on the time period during which we are teaching or the culture in which we teach? How does the composition of the classroom and the individuals therein (students and teacher) affect the best learning experiences? So many questions... can we even agree on how to define learning? The author of this article includes a definition of learning as "changes in our behaviour." The author goes on to explain that, "a pattern is emerging...that embodied learning is a natural human activity, and it is possible to design for it and harness it in ways that can inform educational practices and policies in order to usher in a new era of educating the embodied mind." (p.5)
Another stop for me (there were many in this article) came with this statement, "Meaning and sense making through personally grounded ways of knowing are not the primary objectives of these scholastic experiences. It justly matches what students most often say when asked what they are doing in school: 'I don't know'." (p.6) It is so true, that many students don't know how to explain what they are learning, and yet isn't it true that to truly understand, one should be able to explain understanding to others?
The last stop I will discuss has to do with assessment. As educators, we often create "restrictive environments" (p.7) to assess students. Does this really allow teachers to develop understanding of what students know? I have recently been experimenting with more open-ended ways of assessing students' knowledge and have come to see that traditional assessments only give us a tiny glimpse of student knowledge, knowledge which may go well beyond what students are able to show in traditional assessment.
As I read this article, I found myself often in agreement with the author. The article discussed the use of cognitive tools, particularly grounding and linking metaphors, based in embodied experiences. Ideas of equity and enthnomathematics were discussed. I have asked lots of questions above, feel free to answer (or add your thoughts about) any of them but I will also end with a final question. How does embodied learning support students in sense-making and meaning-making in mathematics?
Joy, this is a great explanation of your "stops". I really enjoyed this week and the different ways to engage in mathematics with our bodies.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question, I can't help but think about the way that I talk/learn best. I am a "hand-talker". I gesture, move around, point, and generally create stories with my hands and body that match what I'm saying. If this is the case for a (generally) well-educated adult, how much moreso must it be true for our students!
The article I read was interesting in that it made a distinction between random gestures and gestures that align with what is being taught verbally. Even though the instructors didn't directly tell their students how to gesture, they demonstrated correct gesturing throughout the problem-solving process that was then learned and adapted by their students.
I'd love to know more about how to construct these gestures! I wonder if student-to-student creation would have even more influence that teacher-to-student...
It would be an interesting study to compare the effectiveness of student created versus teacher created gestures in learning experiences for students. In my class, we often create actions to help us remember songs or other information we are trying to learn. Sometimes students have great ideas and other times the suggestions don’t make sense to the group, or the students get stuck and need teacher support. The learning is happening through it all, even as we hammer out why a certain action or gesture will or will not work for us as a group. When we go through this process together, it strengthens everyone’s connection to the learning.
DeleteJoy, in your reflections on Excerpts (pp 3-7, and 147-151) from the book by Mitchell J. Nathan, titled Foundations of Embodied Learning, you raise some interesting questions. For example, “How does the composition of the classroom and the individuals therein (students and teacher) affect the best learning experiences?” That is an excellent question. On page 14, the author discusses intended (idealized) curriculum and the enacted curriculum, which not only will differ depending on instructors but also “when the material is taught by the same instructor over the course of a single day, because the specific interactions will vary with different students.” I can relate to that. Once I was scheduled to teach two geometry classes (grade 10 students at an international school) on the same day. The two classes were amazingly different. Nathan ends the section by stating that he would “offer a more well-supported account of why embodied learning offers a better path forward.”
ReplyDeleteDue to my background and interests, I particularly enjoyed reading his section on geometry (p. 151). For introducing the topic of angles, I used TV aerials (telescopic antennas). He suggests that students use their arms to form straight angle, right angle, and other benchmark angels (45 and 135). I think that is a great idea.
Joy, you mentioned “As I read this article, I found myself often in agreement with the author.” Me too. I agree with what he has said. But as the chapter title includes “Education System”, the issue of learning in schools involves more stakeholders – not only teachers and students. Perhaps he has elaborated somewhere else in the book, but I didn’t see it.
Good discussion, everyone! Joy, thanks for bringing your group into the article you read with your summary and interesting stops and questions.
ReplyDeleteI am also especially moved by your description of your body measurement work with your Grade 1 class in the school garden. Your discussion of developing empathy with living things really resonates with me. What an important thing for kids to learn, especially through 'technical' topics like math and measurement, which are so often considered to exclude emotion and relationship! Great work.