Module 1: IAT

I did things in reverse order, listening to the excerpt of Blink first, watching the Dateline video and then taking the IAT.

I grew up in a background where it was OK and sometimes even expected to have negative feelings about those who are different than I was. Until I was an adult I never really challenged these assertions by my parents. I cannot make excuses for this any more than I can change the past. This was simply the way it was.

Without getting into a somewhat involved story of how things changed and why they changed, I will just say that I moved away, met some really great people who were not at all like me and who accepted me and I lived in a house with them. I learned a lot from these people, especially how to accept myself. I think the root of hatefulness is self-loathing or lack of self-awareness or acceptance.

All these things aside, there is still an "automaticity" in thought of which Blink speaks with regard to preference of one race or another. Part of this, in my opinion, deals with the fact that we are generally more comfortable in groups of people with whom we are more familiar. I never had a black friend until I was in college, so it makes a certain amount of sense that I might be more comfortable around those of my own ethnicity. What doesn't make much sense to me is why even as a little I was so interested in foreign languages and cultures, but I digress.

The other aspect which trains these automatic tendencies is the mass media. I believe we either see more instances of young black men depicted negatively that other races or those instances for some reason stick out in our minds. So it is not much of a stretch for me to think that possibly, at least with this particular group, that I may harbor some sort of subconscious dislike, as depicted in Blink. However, I never really knew what to do about it. The book suggests that we must actively pursue opportunities to interact with diverse groups in order to become more comfortable with them and habituate these tendencies such that we are not as preferential to our own previous groupings.

As someone who serves a university community, I know that I have good intentions and that in terms of my official interactions I try to treat everyone fairly. However, I cannot exactly know what I am doing on an automatic level. The director of our diversity office is someone I have been helping recently with some technical issues. I plan on asking him his opinion about some of these issues.

The IAT I took was an ongoing study related to the acceptance of fat people versus those perceived to be thin. I am a guy who could stand to lose about 50 pounds. I am aware that society has some pretty high expectations for weight, especially among women. Moreover, my IAT results said that I have a strong preference for think people.

This is a little more difficult for me to accept in one sense. I believe that I treat everyone fairly and render excellent customer service to anyone who asks me. I realize the IAT is chiefly speaking to how my brain responds. It bothers me to think that I may not have treated someone fairly on any basis, but especially this one because I am fat. I guess I want to hear about more experiences here. Do you think that having a strong preference to one group means that you are not treating the other group fairly?

How does this fit into the educational milieu? I can think of a few implications and am borrowing from the questions posed in activity five:

Firstly, education is about learning to work with and learn from others. The tools of society is partly comprised of developing a skill set which will make one a willing worker within  a global marketplace. it is important that we set the stage early on as being one of diversity, fairness and cooperation.

Second, Learning in part is definitely a matter of building a common reference of associations. We want children to draw from experiences which capitalize on basic native reactions and cultivate a more robust curiosity from the presentation of new information. Behaviorism and automatic responses are the catalyst which begin students on the path to higher levels of discourse. Students, therefore, must be conditioned to accept these linkages. Early grades in my mind serve the important objective of acclimating the student to the schooling process. Simply being part of a classroom and following directions ensures smoother classroom operation in the years to come.

The quote I select from James makes me think of my son. I want to make sure that he treats everyone with respect and judge them according to their character and not with regard to how they look. I therefore need to be a good example such that he might imitate my behavior:

We become conscious of what we ourselves are by imitating others—the consciousness of what the others are precedes—the sense of self grows by the sense of pattern. The entire accumulated wealth of mankind—languages, arts, institutions, and sciences—is passed on from one generation to another by what Baldwin has called social heredity, each generation simply imitating the last.

B.F. Skinner Video: Programmed Instruction via Teaching Machines

Skinner called the application of operant conditioning in the educational environment programmed instruction. Skinner did not invent the teaching machine, but he certainly promoted it and improved upon it (Bjork, 1999; Skinner, 1995). I think it is important to see how this germ of a concept is applicable today. It might be hard to understand how Skinner saw how operant conditioning fits in until you see this video or read about programmed instruction.

References

Bjork, D. W. (1999). B.F. Skinner: A Life. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Skinner, B. F. (1995). The Behavior of Organisms at Fifty. In J. T. Todd & E. K. Morris (Eds.), Modern Perspectives on B.F. Skinner and Contemporary Behaviorism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Non-useful Classical Conditioning Video

Although unethical and possibly illegal, this video demonstrates concepts posited by Pavlov, Watson and Thorndike.

Chapter 13 - The Acquisition of Ideas

James explains how the transition between concrete and abstract activities and thinking might occur and that there is a generally accepted order in which information can be presented such that a child will make use of it to acquire more abstract and complex ideas.

From this position he makes a couple of assertions which are very useful for which I present the following statement:

"It is not till adolescence is reached that the mind grows able to take in the more abstract aspects of experience, the hidden similarities and distinctions between things, and especially their causal sequences. Rational knowledge of such things as mathematics, mechanics, chemistry, and biology, is now possible; and the acquisition of conceptions of this order form the next phase of education. Later still, not till adolescence is well advanced, does the mind awaken to a systematic interest in abstract human relations—moral relations, properly so called,—to sociological ideas and to metaphysical abstractions" (p. 73).

1. Younger children are more attuned to acquire information which has some concrete basis or deals with specific articulable tasks and is also generally accepted to be more attractive to the child.
2. We have to be very careful when explaining abstract concepts to children of a certain age, as their minds are still in a more literal phase and they are more apt to interpret what you explain in varied ways.

I see these things every day in my son. It is so much fun to see how children literally interpret abstract words and concepts into their literal world. This underscores an important point: Many children are neither interested nor able to metabolize abstract concepts or those at higher levels of discourse until they have explored their physical world and concepts that exist therein.

Can you list examples from your own experiences where children have had difficulty understanding abstract or advanced topics? Can you name other scholars who have plugged into this position? What practical advice would you offer teachers with regard to this talk?

Chapter 15 - The Will

As a crescendo to the previous fourteen chapters, James explains the significance of the will within the educational context. He explains the dual definition of will; it describes both the capacity for impulse and action, as well as to describe actions which are deliberately executed in the face of multiple possibilities. A conscious thought eventually results in some sort of motor action in the body. However, one thought might override another, thus delaying this motor action. In fact, it is the interplay between the thought which might result in motor action and those successively held oppositional thoughts which is one of the main points of the chapter:

James defines the resultant voluntary action as "a compounding of our impulsions with our inhibitions" (p. 87). Out of this reactive contest emerges his definitions of will; one in which impulses will triumph and the other in which inhibitions will predominate. 

"So you see that volition, in the narrower sense, takes place only when there are a number of conflicting systems of ideas, and depends on our having a complex field of consciousness. The interesting thing to note is the extreme delicacy of the inhibitive machinery. A strong and urgent motor idea in the focus may be neutralized and made inoperative by the presence of the very faintest contradictory idea in the margin" (p. 85-86).

James admits that understanding this psychological tenet and the application of theory might be tricky. However, he reviews his previous words on the concept of education as a conditioning the habits of students as a means of shaping their will. In contrast to quoting John Wesley (p. 89), James admonishes us to consider that the educative process need not be a contest of wills, rather a gentle shaping of habits in order to allow the individual the self-governed ability to encourage desirable behaviors and displace the mental roots of potentially undesirable ones.

In fact, the real crux of this chapter and maybe the whole book takes place where James outlines what he calls "the general or abstract duty of teachers." It is to supply students with a deep reservoir of information (ideas) on which they may link more abstract and involved concepts, while at the same time diminishing their naturalistic immature impulses, but without stifling their passion for learning and "vigorous action" (p. 89).

How did you perceive the book? What lessons will you take from its pages? I think one useful exercise might be to construct an "instructional playbook" from this work. In other words, what are five to ten instructional maxims you could put into an outline or a rubric to let yourself know you had appercepted James' ideas?

Chapter 14 - Apperception

Meriam Webster's online dictionary (merriam-webster.com) lists two definitions for apperception:

1: introspective self-consciousness
2: mental perception; especially : the process of understanding something perceived in terms of previous experience

James begins by criticizing an advertisement of Blank's Psychology, a publication which claims to explain the meaning of apperception and will do so for what I am sure in his day was a hefty price. He is critical because although the concept is simple and the implications powerful, the real utility lies with understanding how the mind works in the face of this concept:

"In admitting a new body of experience, we instinctively seek to disturb as little as possible our pre-existing stock of ideas" (p. 78).

This "law of economy" implies that it is not enough simply to know that the mind takes in new information and links it to existing data. We need to know that the mind is orderly and tries to maintain a sense of integrity in the face of new introductions and linkages to information because it is less taxing on the brain.

This powerful concept made me think about my own educational experiences. Oftentimes when I reject  stnew information, I believe it may have been directly related to my inability to make room for new concepts due to my current understanding of the subject, misconceptions that I had from prior instruction or attitudinal positions based on my ignorance of other perspectives.

In my opinion, these concepts are universally applicable to both young and older learners. The "old fogyism" (p.78) of which James speaks is something definitely applicable to me as I pursue this doctoral degree.

Are there subject areas for which providing obvious and direct linkages more beneficial to you? -

References

Apperception. (2011). merriam-webster.com. Retrieved October 24, 2011, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apperception

Chapter 12 - Memory

James begins by attempting to shed light on definitional memory of which most of us are aware and the operational aspect of what he calls associationist psychology, which is an attempt to understand the association of ideas within a specific context. More specifically, James posits that in order for a thought or concept to become resident in one's mind, it must be introduced in some fashion and it must become tied to some pre-existing thoughts.

James shares two other important important concepts. First is the notion that memories are tied together as multiple systems in the brain.

"We have, then, not so much a faculty of memory as many faculties of memory. We have as many as we have systems of objects habitually thought of in connection with each other. A given object is held in the memory by the associates it has acquired within its own system exclusively. Learning the facts of another system will in no wise help it to stay in the mind, for the simple reason that it has no 'cues' within that other system" (p. 62 ).

James relates to us that not every person is a master of every faculty. For example, some individuals are better at math and science reasoning, while others possess a facility for recalling historical dates. Toward that end, he introduces the concept of the mnemonic devices for facilitating ways of thinking. However, he admits that this can become a tedious exercise which subverts what to me the main point of this talk; Rote memorization is not the best way by which to evaluate a student. Students have individual strengths and weaknesses. It is a more effective strategy to build upon prior knowledge and to consider the level of discourse at which a student may participate in a given area relative to their strengths in other subjects.

This fits in perfectly with what Sweller (1988) says about instructional activities relative to the stated objectives of learning. When teachers have students perform tasks far removed from the desired learning goal, it unduly taxes the brain. To marry the concepts of these two works, it seems that the establishment of direct associations that might be universally understood will best help students internalize and retain information.

Can you recall an instance in which a teacher presented information which made a lasting impression on you?

References

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science,
12, 257-285.

Chapter 11 - Attention

To further explicate points made in chapters nine and ten, James describes what he calls the attentive process, underscoring that even in situations where one is interested in a subject, attention waxes and wanes. Moreover, in order for a subject to remain interesting for students, it must exhibit some degree of change while it is examined. If the subject matter is static or dull, then the teacher must present it in dynamic ways. Moreover, James admits that some teachers simply possess an innate ability to make static things more interesting and that this gift cannot be neither precisely described nor perfectly taught.

This particular topic is something that I have discussed in previous EDC classes. I am not sure yet where I stand on the issue except to say I know there are born teachers out there who never would have had to take a single education class. When you have the ability to connect with students, gain their trust and garner their attention, the delivery of instruction might almost become ancillary. Yet I know we study instruction relative to a set of stated goals based on discovered needs because for those of us who do not perfectly connect to learners, there are helpful strategies to assist us.

James makes one of the most useful suggestions toward the end of the chapter.

"Do not, then, for the mere sake of discipline, command attention from your pupils in thundering tones. Do not too often beg it from them as a favor, nor claim it as a right, nor try habitually to excite it by preaching the importance of the subject. Sometimes, indeed, you must do these things; but, the more you have to do them, the less skillful teacher you will show yourself to be. Elicit interest from within, by the warmth with which you care for the topic yourself, and by following the laws I have laid down" (p. 56).

There must be a component of disposition and personality inherent to most good teaching. This feels true to my own experience. What do you think? Can someone master instructional techniques and still be a lousy teacher? Can someone be a fantastic communicator and teach effectively without using prescribed methods?

Chapter 10 - Interest

In the previous chapters, James said a lot about how to understand the workings of a learner's (particularly a child's) mind. As I reflect on these with regard to chapter ten, the most salient points have been the following:

• There are learner characteristics and behaviors pertaining to the less educated (or trained) mind 
• More experienced learners exhibit other attributes and behaviors. 

Of these, James often calls the former native and the latter acquired reactions. This is important because with so many things in life we must consider our target audience in order to be effective in serving them.

In chapter nine, James explains the concept of idea association; how ideas emanate from and are linked to previous ideas in successive waves of thought. He is setting the stage, in my opinion, for one of the more useful chapters so far.

In order to understand how to apply this chapter to practical situations, we have to understand this notion of native versus acquired reactions and extrapolate it to the concept of attracting a student's interest. Consider the following passage:

"Since some objects are natively interesting and in others interest is artificially acquired, the teacher must know which the natively interesting ones are; for, as we shall see immediately, other objects can artificially acquire an interest only through first becoming associated with some of these natively interesting things" (p. 46).

This is a powerfully true statement for anyone familiar with children. He mentions that young children are not at all interested in abstract concepts, and are immediately interested in living, moving and interactive things; things which are unique and perhaps just a little (or maybe a lot) dangerous. Moreover, James wrote that in order to garner interest in an object of which children have no native interest, one must link it to something interesting.

What items do you find get children's interest right away? Are there items which hold their attention longer than others?

Chapter 9 - The Association of Ideas

The second time I read this chapter I thought to myself, "James is talking about schema." The notion of schema as it ebbed and flowed inside my mind touched off several different thoughts. For example, I began thinking of this big Excel spreadsheet related to items in my household. Then my mind recalled a schema analogy using a hotel I heard the first time I became acquainted with John Sweller: Thinking of the word hotel conjures up myriad images; the front desk, the pool, room service, the exercise room. Each of these elements contain various sub-components until we may be thinking of something completely different that the original object of thought.

How did I arrive at such a place? James tries to shed light on this phenomenon in presenting his construct of idea association. In so doing, he presents a law of contiguity and a law of similarity, the basic premise of which is that one's stream of consciousness has a structure; ideas though sometimes tangential, are related and relatable to prior thoughts.

Based on my understanding of the text, the practical application of this information is incumbent on understanding two main concepts. First, James shares an anecdote about anticipating a possible windfall from a deceased relative's bequest:

"The words 'I, the heir,' immediately make an electric connection with the marginal thought of the will; that, in turn, makes my heart beat with anticipation of my possible legacy"

I believe James is trying to underscore the fact that steps can be taken to encourage or stimulate students by using tactics to stimulate them through use of prior experiences via associated ideas. Using words, pictures, sounds or other stimuli to invoke associations which would yield enthusiastic responses and gain students' attention might be a powerful motivating force pedagogically.

Second, James presents the concepts that chains of ideas which point to similar linkages in thinking might yield more predictable results than those which may cause a more chaotic or misdirected change in the stream of consciousness; humans often tend to look at the pattern as a whole when the ideas therein are more directly linked in a compatible manner.

One thing I like about this book, and especially in this chapter is that this is not a practical step-by-step guide for classroom teaching. However, he is giving theoretical concepts and just as he said in the first chapter, suggesting there are several ways one might implement them.

Can you give some specific classroom examples where these laws have born out in the words or actions of students? What changes might you make to your teaching in order to incorporate these ideas?

Chapter 8 - The Laws of Habit

In a chapter which is abundantly relevant to almost everyone, James explains the concept of habit as he sheds particular light on how habits are formed and maintained, the use of habituating positive actions, and presents a five maxims by which teachers my guide and lead by encouraging good habits in ourselves (p.34-37).

1. Launch ourselves with as strong and decided an initiative as possible
2. Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life
3. Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain
4. Don't preach too much to your pupils or abound in good talk in the abstract
5. Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day.

Firstly, James suggests that when attempting to adopt a new habit, one should  make as great an effort as possible to manifest it within yourself. He suggests dedicating yourself fully by immersion in a supportive environment which will set you up for success with the highest chance of positive outcomes.

Second, James supports the first maxim by stating that until this habit is fully ensconced in your daily life to allow no exceptions or deviations in your practices or environmental factors to occur.

As James presents his third maxim, I believe he posits that a person should take every possible opportunity to reinforce or practice this habit as situations present themselves in everyday life. In previous entries, I mentioned  what I know of the linkages between B.F. Skinner and James. I believe while Skinner may claim that the environment may play more of a role in the shaping of human behavior, he has certainly said that in order to change behavior, you must change the environment. I do not know how much Skinner wrote about an individual's ability to control this in him or herself. However, I don't think that Skinner would disagree with this position on general terms.

Another fantastic piece of advice in my opinion that over 30 can use in dealing with younger folks is to allow natural occurrences to demonstrate proper behaviors or courses of action. I think a lot of people call these teachable moments. As I look back, I think my most influential memories are comprised of them.

Lastly, to borrow from conventional colloquialism, James tells us to practice, practice, practice! Do a thing for its own sake and because it is the type of thing you want to be doing. Moreover, there may come a time when having mastery of this particular habit may really make a difference in your life.

So far this is my favorite chapter because it proves the utility in reading seminal works that are still relevant and will perdure as long as humanity.

What habit have you successfully integrated into yourself despite the difficulties involved? What habits have you helped encourage in others and how was that intervention received?

Chapter 7 - What the Native Reactions Are

Upon first reading this chapter, I thought that James did not begin as perhaps many authors might by elucidating the concept of native reactions. Rather, he mentions fear and love.

"Fear of punishment is the great weapon of the teacher, and will always, of course, retain some place in the conditions of the schoolroom. The subject is so familiar that nothing more need be said about it. The same is true of Love, and the instinctive desire to please those whom we love. The teacher who succeeds in getting herself loved by the pupils will obtain results which one of a more forbidding temperament finds it impossible to secure" (p. 24).

But after reading a second time, I realize that James is chiefly presenting fear and love as the most vital of the native reactions. The fear of negative consequences or punishment and the need to be cared for, acknowledged and accepted  are among the most basic aspects of what it means to be human.

James outlines these essential aspects of child personality and behavior and shows how the individual might be habituated into a deeper evolution of intellect and behavior in a manner which might facilitate learning and one's eventual fitness to participate as a competent member of society. For example, James outlines the dichotomy between imitation (which he claims evolves into emulation and then ambition) and ownership which he describes as a driving motivating force for every human being, regardless of how selfless or noble they may be. And yet both of these native reactions will serve the teacher if they are stimulated and advantaged appropriately. To appeal to a child's innate desire to imitate and emulate what is presented before him or her and to give that same child a sense of ownership over what is presented in a classroom setting would make for a powerful motivators in the learning process.

On a personal note, I am thinking about all of these concepts presented in terms of my two-year-old. I recently purchased a Spanish immersion DVD from Whistlefritz. My undergraduate degree is in Spanish and I realize that while he will not acquire Spanish through DVDs and my infrequent and non-native interaction with him, I hope that I will allow him some facility in acquiring the phoneme vocalization capability that seems to be more open to children than adults (Ferguson & Farwell, 1975).

How do these concepts help you to understand learning relative to your own life situation? Do you know someone who did not experience a good transfer from a native to an acquired reaction? No doubt James will discuss the implications for such individuals.

References

Ferguson, C. A., & Farwell, C. B. (1975). Words and Sounds in Early Language Acquisition. Language, 51(2), 419-439. Retrieved from http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~kchall/Acquisition/Readings/ferguson_farwell.pdf

Chapter 6 - Native and Acquired Reactions

An extension of previous information, in this chapter James encourages teachers to think about the educational process as one of behavior modification. He sets forth the difference between native reactions- those which are a part of the more primitive/uneducated mind and acquired reactions, those which have been developed through series of experiences and with the learner as the active participant. James posits that the teachers role toward this idea is to help the child evolve these native reactions into those which are acquired and more disposed to developing reasoning and higher level cognitive functioning.

Consider this passage:

"The first thing, then, for the teacher to understand is the native reactive tendencies,—the impulses and instincts of childhood,—so as to be able to substitute one for another, and turn them on to artificial objects" (p. 22).

James is chiefly implying is that in order to understand pedagogy, we need to understand the mind of the child, how it functions in relation to the various stages of development and what characteristics and constrains we might need to understand in order to effectively present instruction (Major, 1906).


How would you apply this information to adult learners within a training setting where one might have diverse experiences and attitudes about a given subject?

References

Major, D. R. (1906). First steps in mental growth: a series of studies in the psychology of infancy   Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=ttsjAAAAMAAJ&dq=rst%20steps%20in%20mental%20growth%3A%20a%20series%20of%20studies%20in%20the%20psychology%20of%20infancy&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Chapter 5 - The Necessity of Reactions

My sense of this chapter is that James admonishes teachers to make a lasting impression on students by involving them in participatory activities which will prepare them for the working world. Even if some of these activities do not have direct relationships with things the student will do later in life, such as taking notes or writing essays, these activities engender an intellectual discipline which will shape future attitudes and behaviors.

One passage gave me a bit of trouble:

[Presumably of these activities] "...They confer precision; because, if you are doing a thing, you must do it definitely right or definitely wrong" (p. 18).

How do you think this passage hold up to todays constructivist epistemologies? In other words, how many things that we want students to learn at higher levels of discourse behold such absolutism? Aren't we supposed to be in the business (at least at times) of ill-structured learning domains?

Chapter 4 - Education and Behavior

James posits that the central aim in education is to modify behavior so that the individual may participate in and advance the goals of the society. James said "Education, in short, cannot be better described than by calling it the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior" (p. 15).

This vision is reminiscent of Jerome Bruner, whose Culture of Education (1996) brought, among many others, a very important similar point to light. Bruner believed that the mind exists in a climate where our way of life is shared with other members of that culture such that a shared symbolism exists. It is through this symbolism that we place value on what is important. Bruner believed that one of the purposes of education is to prepare the mind for that shared experience so that the individual may be successful and productive therein.

James goes on to explain the German educational system and how they prided themselves on preparing young minds for the natural sciences above most other pursuits. Based on my limited reading, it seems to me that what Bruner called "society's tools for organizing and understanding our words in communicable ways," James called the organization of "capacities of conduct" (p. 16). In my mind, these concepts seem very similar, if not identical.

What cultural habits do we claim to want to impart to our students? Are we doing a good job of this?

References

Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Chapter 3 - The Child as a Behaving Organism

James explains the purpose of the stream of consciousness and suggests that a duality exists between the rational mind and the mind which operates in a practical or behavioristic manner.

I hesitate to use the term behaviorism in this context because that term is most often associated with B.F. Skinner. In my readings, I have not encountered a passage where Skinner studied James. However, Skinner was a student of Pavlov, Thorndike and Watson, all of which tudied psychological and physiological aspects of the brain and body connection  (Bjork, 1999; Wiener, 1996). Skinner's theories on operant conditioning are specific, evolved and a great deal from the works of these very important scholars. But consider the following passage:

"But the brain, so far as we understand it, is given us for practical behavior. Every current that runs into it from skin or eye or ear runs out again into muscles, glands or viscera, and helps to adapt the animal to the environment from which the current came" (p.12-13).

Skinner builds upon some of these tenets James set forth with regard to more primitive "practical" functions. James' mentions by way of explanation that behaviors of students may be encouraged and discouraged directly by actions or inactions of the teacher. This is a point on which both James and Skinner would agree.

I buy into some aspects of behaviorism for some aspects of education. Even constructivists such as Rogers prescribed behaviorist methodologies to address some individual learning needs (Rogers, 1994). The question I would ask is what really works within the K-12 environment to encourage good and extinguish bad behaviors? A recurring theme in my studies and my belief is that one cannot institute educational solutions where the problems are not educational. For example, students from impoverished backgrounds who lack a good family background are going to have trouble reaping benefits from even the best institution with great resources. How much can teachers really do to help student behavior?

References

Bjork, D. W. (1999). B.F. Skinner: A Life. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Rogers, C. R., & Freiberg, H. J. (1994). Freedom to learn (3rd ed.). New York, NY US: Merrill/Macmillan College Publishing Co.

Wiener, D. N. (1996). B.F. Skinner, Benign Anarchist. Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon.

Chapter 2 - The Stream of Consciousness

In this brief chapter, James explains the stream of consciousness and also introduces analytic versus explanatory states of of consciousness as well as concepts such as focal and marginal objects. In short, James declares that the conscious mind is always thinking about something, and quite possibly may possess more than one 'idea' at a given time. He explains to teachers that this is the fundamental and powerful concept in light of the fact that there is much theory and conjecture which has led to these conclusions.

Now the fact which psychology, the science of the mind, has to study is also the most general fact. It is the fact that when each of us is a wake (and often when asleep), some kind of consciousness is always going on"  (p.7).

This is a powerful statement and this morning it made me think about Vygotzky, my child's thought processes and also his language development. I think part of being a successful teacher/parent might be to attempt to capture more of my son's attention; at key times, I might do well to try things that will encourage him to make me his focal object at critical times. I mention Vygotzky because my almost three year old son is in that stage where he thinks out loud most of the day. I feel like if I am observant I might glean a better understanding of him just by listening to the monologue that plays out before me every day and try to advantage that to help him learn and grow.

James mentioned that even during the lecture, students minds tend to wander. Do any of you have tactics to bring your students and yourselves back to the lesson in constructive ways?

James Chapter One - Psychology and the Teaching Art

This first chapter serves as James' introduction of psychology to teachers. He explains its impactful nature as he delineates its practical role as a science and thus posits that teachers may readily examine its precepts in order to extrapolate effective teaching practices in the classroom.

James claims he lives in a time where psychology is being characterized as a panacea for professional educators. Consider the following passage.

"Psychology ought certainly to give the teacher radical help. And yet I confess that, acquainted as I am with the height of some of your expectations, I feel a little anxious lest, at the end of these simple talks of mine, not a few of you may experience some disappointment at the net results. In other words, I am not sure that you may not be indulging fancies that are just a shade exaggerated. That would not be altogether astonishing, for we have been having something like a 'boom' in psychology in this country. Laboratories and professorships have been founded, and reviews established. The air has been full of rumors. The editors of educational journals and the arrangers of conventions have had to show themselves enterprising and on a level with the novelties of the day. Some of the professors have not been unwilling to co-operate, and I am not sure even that the publishers have been entirely inert. `The new psychology' has thus become a term to conjure up portentous ideas withal; and you teachers, docile and receptive and aspiring as many of you are, have been plunged in an atmostphere of vague talk about our science, which to a great extent has been more mystifying than enlightening. Altogether it does seem as if there were a certain fatality of mystification laid upon the teachers of our day. The matter of their profession, compact enough in itself, has to be frothed up for them in journals and institutes, till its outlines often threaten to be lost in a kind of vast uncertainty. Where the disciples are not independent and critical-minded enough (and I think that, if you teachers in the earlier grades have any defect--the slightest touch of a defect in the world--it is that you are a mite too docile), we are pretty sure to miss accuracy and balance and measure in those who get a license to lay down the law from above.
Psychology is a science, a method of establishing rules, creating constraints whereas teaching is an art, one by which one master will succeed in one particular way and another yet some other way" (p.2).

To me, the fundamental and powerful concept here is that no one knows everything or may claim that one field of study may reign over another area. Education is a multifaceted field in which there is more involved and more at stake than the simple process of  transmitting information from one who has knowledge to one who is to receive such knowledge. Even within a training environment, something of which I have some knowledge, I have to know more than just the subject matter and how to get it across. Having understanding of issues related to motivation, organizational culture and prerequisite learner skills are crucial in developing a successful training program. The nature and culture of education (to borrow a phrase from Jerome Bruner) incorporates psychological tenets, but it by no means should be completely defined by them.

Yet psychology serves a purpose and understanding some key aspects of psychology as it applies to education is vital. James goes on to explain that psychology as a science will never completely describe a complete and foolproof way of delivering instruction; there are precepts and accepted rules which may serve to constrain and convey a set of best practices. However, these practices, so long as they fall within the boundaries of these principles are not to be codified in a permanent sense.

"I say moreover that you make a great, a very great mistake, if you think that psychology, being the science of the mind's laws, is something from which you can deduce definite programmes and schemes and methods of instruction for immediate schoolroom use. Psychology is a science, and teaching is an art; and sciences never generate arts directly out of themselves. An intermediary inventive mind must make the application, by using its originality.
The science of logic never made a man reason rightly, and the science of ethics (if there be such a thing) never made a man behave rightly. The most such sciences can do is to help us to catch ourselves up and check ourselves, if we start to reason or to behave wrongly; and to criticise ourselves more articulately after we have made mistakes. A science only lays down lines within which the rules of the art must fall, laws which the follower of the art must not transgress; but what particular thing he shall do poitively within those lines is left exclusively to his own genius. One genius will do his work well and succeed in one way, while another succeeds as well quite differently; yet neither will transgress the lines" (p.3).

This brings me to my question: How would you define pedagogy relative to the role of psychology? At what level (if at all) do teachers consider the mind and direct mental processes as they plan instruction?

Personal/Professional Introduction

Greetings Class.

My name is Chris Daniel. I work for information technology at EKU where I do training and administer our professional development programs. Recently I developed a training program to instruct employees on the use of our highly customized web site content management system. As an ISD doctoral student, I have learned a lot about how to design more effective live and online modules, and so I am excited to be in this program and class.

I am a pretty serious student. I never intended to take my education this far, but life's circumstances, tuition reimbursement and the fact that what I am studying is closely tied to my job have led me here. I tend to talk quite a bit out of enthusiasm and because I have spent all this time reading and writing and nobody at home is particularly interested in educational psychology or any of the theory that lays the groundwork for today's instructional designer.

I will list some research/reading interests at the bottom. One of the things that has interested me about this class is that I hope to delve more into pedagogical aspects of teaching. Most of my classes tend to focus on instructional methods relative to a stated goal or series of objectives. Those are powerful concepts. However, I also am beginning to believe that there are personality and dispositional factors that are an integral part of effective teaching. Instructional communications literature uses the term immediacy. Moreover, we have entire areas devoted to defining and qualifying what is effective pedagogy. So in short, I feel like I know which methods must be incorporated given a set of objectives. However, I feel as if I have limited understanding relative to the interpersonal and classroom factors which are practically endemic to the K-12 teacher.


I look forward to conversing with you all.

-Chris


Research/Reading Interests:

• Cognitive load theory
• New instructional technologies vs. low tech analogues
• Augmented/Virtual Reality
• BF Skinner
• Learning objects
• Adult education
• Training Vs. Education
• Constructivism Vs. Objectivism
• In K-12
• Recent university curriculum shifts
• The Montessori system