Search

This paper is an enquiry into the meaning of teaching. I argue that as a result of the influence of constructivist ideas about learning on education, teaching has become increasingly understood as the facilitation of learning rather than as a process where teachers have something to give to their students. The idea that teaching is immanent to learning goes back to the Socratic idea of teaching as a maieutic process, that is, as bringing out what is already there. Against the maieutic conception of teaching I argue for an understanding of teaching in terms of transcendence, where teaching brings something radically new to the student. I explore the meaning of the idea of transcendence through a discussion of Kierkegaard and Levinas, who both criticise the maieutic understanding of teaching and, instead, argue for a transcendent understanding of teaching-an understanding of teaching which they refer to as 'revelation.' Whereas Kierkegaard argues that revelation-which he understand as a process of 'double truth giving'-lies beyond the power of the teacher, Levinas interprets revelation as the experience of 'being taught.' I use Levinas's suggestion in order to explore the distinction between 'learning from' and 'being taught by' and argue that teaching has to be understood in the latter sense, that is, in terms of the experience of 'being taught.' To connect the idea of teaching to the experience of 'being taught' highlights that teaching can be understood as a process of 'truth giving' albeit that (1) this 'gift' lies beyond the powers of the teacher, and (2) the truth that is given, has to be understood in terms of what Kierkegaard calls 'subjective truth'-which is not relativistic truth but existential truth, that is, truth that matters for one's life. Understanding teaching in these terms also opens up new possibilities for understanding the role of authority in teaching. While my argument implies that teachers cannot simply and straightforwardly 'produce' the experience of 'being taught'-so that what matters has to do with the conditions under which the gift of teaching can be received-their actions and activities nonetheless matter. In the final section of the paper I therefore argue that if we want to give teaching back to education, we need to resist the depiction of the teacher as a disposable and dispensable 'resource' that students can learn from or not, and need to articulate and enact a different story about the teacher, the student and the school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamism of Environmental Management in the 21st century has predicted the need for students to emerge from tertiary programmes with a set of skills that are functional and more widely applicable in the contemporary workplace. To foster the development of such tools and skill sets, there has been an increasing trend amongst teaching practitioners to move from objectivist to constructivist views of learning and teaching. Using the theoretical heritage of constructivism, we in this paper offer an example of the effectiveness of constructive alignment in teaching tools and assessment methods for first year Environmental Management students. Drawing inspiration from the successes reported by Biggs et al. (2010) and Park (2003), we offer further discussion on the merits of such approaches, but from a first-year undergraduate cohort. Through a discursive analysis of student writings and formal feedback received through course evaluation questionnaires, we in this paper demonstrate how this combination of teaching methods led to a cohort that actively participated in their own learning. The results revealed that such methods could be successfully implemented at earlier stages of Environmental Management degree programmes, to encourage normally pragmatic, minimalist work ethic, first-year students, to be active, enthusiastic learners both within and outside the University. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Educación y Educadores is the property of Universidad de la Sabana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores and challenges a number of the assumptions and claims commonly associated with a constructivist approach to school science education, e.g., that constructivist ideas about learning require a progressive pedagogy or that `active learning' demands engaging students with practical activities. It suggests that constructivist ideas have a particular appeal within primary education because they help to justify classroom practices and activities that primary school teachers, for a variety of other reasons, regard as important. It is suggested that the recent dominant emphasis upon constructivism in science education has narrowed both the professional and the research agenda relating to school science teaching. The paper argues for greater clarity and precision when referring to constructivist ideas in science education and for a better understanding of the role that learning theories should play in influencing the ways in which science is taught in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Croatian Journal Educational / Hrvatski Casopis za Odgoj I Obrazovanje is the property of Uciteljski Fakultet u Zagrebu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the concept of authenticity and its relevance in education, from a philosophical perspective. Under the heading of educational authenticity (EA), I critique Fred Newmann’s views on authentic pedagogy and intellectual work. I argue against the notion that authentic engagement is usefully analyzed in terms of a relationship between school work and: “real” work. I also seek to clarify the increasingly problematic concept of constructivism, arguing that there are two distinct constructivist theses, only one of which deserves serious attention. I explain that the correspondence view of authenticity pays insufficient attention to the reality that the presence of “real world” connections does not guarantee that teaching and learning will be truly authentic. As a bridge to a philosophically acceptable understanding of authenticity, I reflect on John Dewey, who famously strove to base his views on education on the experience of the child, while rejecting that such experience requires validation from the “real” world. And Jean Jacques Rousseau offers several clues as to how the search for an authentic self might proceed beyond the Romanticist vision of an inner essence. These include the idea of the self as constructed inter-subjectively, which I capture by the term “one among others” and which, in turn, reveals persons as dialogically engaged in working out who they are and what they stand for (an idea found in the work of Charles Taylor). There is a clear affinity here with the imperative proposed by Newmann. I embrace the idea that the cultivation of dialogue should be a key priority in classrooms, because dialogue drives each individual to seek meaning in the context of seeing her/himself as one among others. I highlight the role of the classroom community of inquiry as an environment which has the dual function of cultivating disciplined inquiry and facilitating the kind of personal development that can, most properly, be termed “authentic”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wikis are one of many Web 2.0 components that can be used to enhance the learning process. A wiki is a web communication and collaboration tool that can be used to engage students in learning with others within a collaborative environment. This paper explains wiki usage, investigates its contribution to various learning paradigms, examines the current literature on wiki use in education, and suggests additional uses in teaching software engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to software engineering, which relies on relatively well established development approaches, there is a lack of a proven methodology that guides Web engineers in building reliable and effective Web-based systems. Currently, Web engineering lacks process models, architectures, suitable techniques and methods, quality assurance, and a systematic approach to the development process. As a result, Web engineering is still struggling to establish itself as a reliable engineering discipline. The cost of poor reliability and effectiveness has serious consequences for the acceptability of the systems. One of the main reasons for the low acceptance of Web-based applications is the large gap between design models and the implementation model of the Web. It is therefore not surprising that Web engineering education still focuses on technologies, rather than on critical skills that facilitate engineers to solve real-world problems effectively. To meet the challenges of Web engineering, current education must be aligned with a pedagogical model capable of empowering and supporting the acquisition of critical skills. To do this, a new learning environment must be created that promotes change in both pedagogy and course material, in effect, altering the role of the teacher, the expectations for students, and many other educational aspects. This article describes a learner-centered pedagogical model rooted in the constructivist learning theory for teaching students the skills they need to construct Web-based applications more effectively and collaboratively. The model is iterative and encompasses two types of components: the learning management process and learning phases. The learning management process is concerned with monitoring learning activities, such as providing information, assessing project work, etc. The learning phases are an orderly set of interdependent activities moving from context analysis to the communication of learning results. The approach described in this paper is a result of 5 years of teaching Web engineering. The process of designing a pedagogical model can be characterized as an evolutionary process that progresses through a series of experimentations, evaluations, and redesigns. In evaluating the approach after many years of experience, the instructor can draw the following conclusions. First, applying the constructivist learning theory is clearly a challenge for instructors as it requires making a radical shift in their thinking in order to translate the philosophy of constructivism into practice. Second, it takes time and considerable effort to make significant pedagogical changes. Yet constructivism holds important lessons for how to design environments to support active learning. It gives teachers a framework for understanding students' needs and motivations. It helps teachers to expose students to many aspects of the subject matter that are of crucial importance for the profession of Web engineering. It allows focus on what really matters for students -- the acquisition of critical skills, authentic tasks, motivational aspects, teamwork, collaboration and negotiation, reading and writing skills, formative assessment, and self-evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a problem-based approach that prepares students for future learning in the classroom. In this approach, students complete problem-based activities before coming to class to familiarize themselves with the topics to be covered. After the discussion on how the use of these activities relate to the learning and transfer theories, the structure of the activities is described in detail. Specific examples in a variety of topics are provided. Student perceptions of these activities based on anonymous course evaluations are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Knowledge and its applicability nourish each other in schools where teachers critically analyze data and, through team discussions, have the opportunity to solve the challenges that education presents every day. The premise of this model is that all participants have an active role in the function of creating praxial knowledge. This article presents a model of action learning implemented during two school years, 2007-2009, by 26 teachers, their principal and two external advisors. Four pillars composed the core of this teacher-researcher model: two-fold observation of teaching practices, critical reflection, active planning and implementation of best practices. This four-dimensional approach allowed the participants to construct the ideal of a teacher who has the skills to lengthen her/his learning experience, to widen the spectrum of its application and to deepen the content of her/his inquiry. The outcomes of this project suggest that when teachers conceptualize teaching as a learning experience that requires uninterrupted observation, reflection and action, student performance increases. Most importantly, schools become dynamic educational organizations where knowledge is constructed, rather than instructed from teachers to students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parker Palmer is correct in his claims that good teaching depends more on the capacity for connectedness than on technique and that helping teacher candidates cultivate a strong sense of personal identity is crucial. However, to what extent are Palmer's claims compatible with the various constructivist models of learning that are now prevalent in many colleges of education? Moreover, how are the goals of Palmer's approach integrated with those of constructivism? This essay responds to these questions and negotiates between constructivism and Palmer's educational approach. First the author lays out a predominant constructivist model of teaching and learning. Next, he explores some potential limitations facing constructivism and argues that Palmer's notion of connectedness can help mitigate against some of the shortcomings of constructivism. Finally, the author examines a specific example from an English methods course that represents an attempt to integrate the virtues of Palmer's approach with those of constructivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time and acceptance are criterion often used to measure the legitimacy and worth of an idea. Two decades have passed since the first publications that introduced Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) as a means to conceptualize games teaching and learning. For over two decades various professionals have advocated for TGfU as a sound idea, which is built on assumptions about games education. We will outline why we believe that there is cause for celebration for TGfU as an innovation to games learning. Second, we will argue for the need to work toward legitimacy through data-based, not data-free development. Absent from current discourse are efforts to support assumptions about how students learn games while engaged in the TGfU approach. The case for legitimacy will only improve with more data-based development work. Field-based research needs to be an essential part of good development work thus leading us toward research-based practice. We should consider more programmatic research, which could be grounded in three possible robust theoretical frameworks: (a) achievement goal theory; (b) information processing; and (c) situated learning theory, which could have strong implications for games learning specifically as it relates to TGfU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]