Cheryl
Honkomp
EDAC
634
October
30, 2013
October
Month End Review
Over
the last month, I have continued to recognize names of important contributors
to the Adult Education field. Chapter
nine begins by discussing non-Western learning perspectives. I thought it odd that one of the subtitles to
this chapter was “Why study other ways of learning and knowing?” Such a basic question that in my opinion, the
answers can be assumed. However the
text did list three purposes to study other cultures which are:
1)
To expand our understanding of knowing and
learning
2)
Affecting our practice of having learners
having other worldviews
3)
Personal enrichment
Non-Western
as well as indigenous learning have been known for holistic approaches. Learning is not just cognitive, but relies on
the physical, mental and spiritual to work together. Success is a Western term and materialistic
whereas non-Western success is to value belonging, harmony, family, security
and guidance. This section has been interesting and has
heightened my curiosity in Eastern learning.
Holistic learning helps to grow
the complete person. The emphasis is on meditation
to control oneself and internal integration between self and nature. The Holistic approach to learning is to
become fully human through self-rectification and spiritual study. The text provides eight steps to reflect
upon:
Eight steps to The Great
Learning:
1)
Investigation of things
2)
Extension of knowledge
3)
Sincerity of will
4)
Rectification of the mind
5)
Cultivation of one’s personal life
6)
Regulation of the family
7)
National order
8)
World peace
Teacher and student are not
equal in Eastern learning, Confucian.
Hinduism
combines both cognition and spirituality to create individuals who view
learning and the development of knowledge as becoming unified beings.
I
was unaware of the Maori traditions and had to Goggle the location for
reference. The Maori signed a treaty with the British
Government so the Maori people could continue to provide 3 principles for their
people:
1) Protection
2) Partnership
3) Participation
Maori traditions include six
sub-principles which are:
1)
Relative autonomy
2)
Cultural aspirations – Maori language and
knowledge
3)
AKO
reciprocal learning – teaching and learning connected to Maori life
4)
Mediation of difficulties
5)
Extended families – collective people toward
a common goal
6)
Collective vision or philosophy – what
constitutes excellence in Maori education
Another
interesting non-Western culture is the Islamic culture. The Islamic culture believes in total
submission to Allah and obedience to his law.
Islamic law draws upon the Quran which is a record of Muhammad, the
prophet. Differences in the Islamic way
of life from the West include: purpose
of knowledge communal obligation, responsibility to share knowledge, and
teacher-student relationship. Learning
is sacred and obligatory for individuals and the community.
African
indigenous people encourage participatory education which is acquired and
shared through observation, imitation, continuous practice through
ceremonies/rituals, spiritual work, and intellectual training. “To learn is to live usefully and happily
with one’s family, with one’s community, one’s society, and the spirits of
one’s ancestors.” Everyone plays
multiple roles both as learner and teacher.
These non-Western learning
environments have four common themes:
1)
Interdependent – non independent as western
beliefs
2)
Communal – responsibility of community to
learn and teach
3)
Holistic – moral, spiritual – good person
contributes to the community
4)
Informal learning - value certificate learning but not learning
is not all formal – nonformal has its place
The second
major portion of the month was spent on learning theories and where many of the
theories derived from. I appreciated the no nonsense definition provided for
learning: “Learning is a process that brings together cognitive, emotional, and
environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing or making
changes in one’s knowledge, skills, values, and worldviews.” (Illeris, (2000; Ormrod, 1995) Along with the
definition for learning, this chapter is filled with names and theories of
great importance.
Gredler
(1997) discusses the difficulty in identifying a theory vs a contemporary
perspective and she recognizes seven perspectives: Skinner and operant conditioning; Gagne and conditions
of learning; Gagne and cognitive learning principles; Piaget and cognitive-development
theory; Vygotsky and sociohistorical theory;
Bandura and social-cognitive theory; Weiner and theory of motivation. All of these perspectives fall into five
major categories which are discussed in chapter 11, the first of which is Behaviorist. Three basic assumptions are held to be true
of Behaviorist:
1)
observable behavior rather than internal - learning is manifested in a change in
behavior
2)
the environment shapes behavior
3)
The principles of contiguity (how close in
time two events take place for a bond to form-and reinforcement
BF Skinner contributed operant conditioning
to the Behaviorist Theory which means reinforce what you want the individual to
do again and ignore the behavior that needs to stop. Dr. Armstrong brought up the fact that B.F.
Skinner taught at IU Bloomington which makes an interesting bit of local information
knowing that educators who graduated from IU Bloomington have been schooled in
the Behavorist theory.
The table provided in the
text which identifies all five categories and their characteristics, is very
useful and I anticipate referring to it in the near future.
The
second category discussed is Humanist: humanist
refuse to accept the notion that behavior is predetermined by environment or
one’s subconscious – rather humans can control their own destiny: people are
inherently good and will strive for a better world - people have unlimited
potential for growth and development -
perceptions are centered in experience. Maslow is well known for his humanistic
theory based on hierarchy of needs. Self-actualization
is broken down into ten more detailed steps:
(Sahakian, 1984)
1)
Discovery of vocation or destiny
2)
Knowledge or acquisition of a set of values
3)
Realization of life as precious
4)
Acquisition of peak experiences
5)
Sense of accomplishment
6)
Satisfaction of psychological needs
7)
Refreshing of consciousness to an awareness
of the beauty and wonder of life
8)
Control of impulses
9)
Grappling with critical existential problems
of life
10) Learning
to choose discriminatively
Carl Rogers, Knowles, and
Mezirow are also highlighted as Humanist.
Cognitive Orientation has
two key assumptions:
1)
The memory system is an active organized
processor of information
2)
Prior knowledge plays an important role
Piaget
combined both behaviorist and humanist theories. Ausubel, who is known for assimilation
theory, distinguishes between meaningful learning and rote learning. Meaningful attaches to a person’s cognitive
structure – rote does not become linked and is easily forgotten.
Gagne, Briggs, and Wager
(1992) linked instruction to acquisition and processing of knowledge and identified
8 types of knowledge
1)
Signal learning
2)
Stimulus-response
3)
Motor training
4)
Verbal association
5)
Discrimination learning
6)
Concept learning
7)
Rule learning
8)
Problem solving
Each
with appropriate instruction procedures
Subconcepts of learner are
involved
1) Learner’s
needs
2) Person’s
learning style
3) Training
– organized activity
The
last section for review was the underrepresented in Adult Education. The focus of racism in adult education is on
African Americans even though racism includes much, much more, therefore, I did
not find this section of the reading of interest. As stated in the text, blacks are
underrepresented in adult education, but in my opinion, more dollars are spent
on African American equality issues than any other race. I have heard it said that green is the only
color that matters so why do we continually focus on a skin color?
The group project has not worked for us. Online has been too difficult to communicate
effectively, but maybe it is because we are all new at this and have not found
the best way to deal with a group project.
I am a social person so I appreciate brainstorming for answers or
creative ideas. Brainstorming is not conducive
to online learning. We have not found an
effective way to work on the group project which continues to be a major
frustration.
Merriam, Sharon B., Caffarella, Rosemary S. and Baumgartner, Lisa
M., Learning in Adulthood
No comments:
Post a Comment