week 7

1
week 7
2

• Donaldson 7
• how does one move beyond the bounds of human
  sense (75).
• when does thinking move from being embedded to
  disembedded
• the better you are at tackling problems without
  having to be sustained by human sense the more
  likely you are to succeed in our educational
  system (77)
• he imported new premises of his own--frequently
  basing them on human sense--or he ignored part of
  what was 'given. (77-78)
• however, the argument here is that you cannot
  master any formal system unless you have learned
  to take at least some steps beyond the bounds of
  human sense, and that the problem of helping
  children to begin to do this in the early stages
  of their schooling--or even earlier--has not be
  properly recognized and is usually not tackled in
  any adequate way. (82)
• how does one change the value system without
  denying the significance of intellectual skills?
  (83)
• apartheid.
• take seriously intellectual potential (86),
  particularly given the endless IQ controversy.

3

• teaching an asymmetric relationship
• one person more responsible for the relationship
  than the other(s)
• an asymmetry of responsibility, not power
• the more responsible person expects to put more
  in than she will get out
• type of asymmetry varies by grade, specific
  context etc
• within an asymmetric relationship the symmetry or
  asymmetry varies from moment to moment, situation
  to situation.
• a good asymmetric relationship will involve
  negotiation and sharing of responsibility

4

• learning
• the process of making sense of the world with
  others
• begins with what is already known
• constrained externally and internally

5

• Donaldson 8
• explore the five "prominent features" of the
  young child at the beginning.
• what is meant by thinking being "directed
  outward" and that in order to be successful in
  school, a child "should learn to turn language
  and thought in upon themselves"? (90)
• the difference between the written word and
  spoken word, between writing and speaking. (92)
• books provide kids with favorable opportunities
  for becoming aware of language in its own
  right." (92)
• consider the claim-- one effect of learning to
  read may be to encourage the conscious
  reflection that produces the apprehension of
  language as a distinct system. (95)
• control central to Donaldsons perspective-- what
  does it mean that "the control of a function is
  the counterpart of one's consciousness
  self-awareness of it"? (96)

6

• when learning appears easy, its because youre
  assimilating, that is, deforming new knowledge to
  fit how you already see the world
• easy answers arent really answers
• accommodating, that is changing how you see
  world, in order to learn something new is
  frustrating, hard, confusing, discombobulating,
  exhausting
• requires beginning with, then moving beyond, your
  human sense

7

• constraints on learning
• external
• culture
• values, expectations, tools, symbol systems,
  availability, etc
• situation
• specific values etc
• internal
• innate
• biology, evolution
• humans predisposed to learn in some areas more
  than others
• knowledge
• what one already knows, how well etc
• familiarity with situation, expectations etc

8

• stages
• the idea that in the process of development
  people go through periods in which functioning
  qualitatively differs from preceding and
  following periods
• sequential each stage builds on the one before
• necessary to through all stages, in order, for
  healthy development

9

• stages
• my Hans is about to enter upon his 7th year,
  which is always climacteric, that is, a time of
  change. People always change every 7 years. The
  first period of 7 years is childhood, and at the
  2nd stagesay, in the 14th yearboys begin to
  look out into the world.At the age of 21 youths
  desire marriage, in the 28th year young men are
  householders and heads of families, while at the
  age of 35 men have civil and ecclesiastical
  positions. This continues to the age of 42, when
  we are kings. Soon after this men begin to lose
  their sense. So every 7th year brings to man some
  new condition and way of life. This has happened
  to me, and it happens to everybody. (Martin
  Luther, 1967/1532, p. 98)

10

• questions
• why do stages attract ECE folks
• is the idea of stages useful?
• when, how?
• is the idea of stages not useful?
• when, how?
• is development in some areas more stage-like than
  in others?

11

• western contexts
• development synonymous with becoming an
  autonomous individual
• goal development of individual potentialin
  school, assumption that each child has unique
  learning style and moves at own pace
• developmental markers autonomous activity
• internal featurestraits, attributes,
  attitudescritical to self-definition
• from early age realization of cultural emphasis
  on individualization and separateness
• sensitivity to self-regard has positive social
  and psychological consequences