[Xmca-l] Re: Laws of evolution and laws of history

[Rod Parker-Rees]

Henry,

Yes indeed, my first ever, hand-written overhead transparency when I moved from teaching 4-5 year olds to teaching undergraduate students was from David Ausubel

'If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle, I would say this: the most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.'   (Ausubel, Novak, & Hanesian, 1978, pp. iv & 163)

Over the past 20+ years what has changed enormously is my own understanding of what is meant by 'what the learner already knows' - now much more focused on attitudes and dispositions than on declarative, explicit knowledge. Creating the conditions in which students feel comfortable about pushing back, when this is often not what their secondary education has prepared them for, is still a challenge. I couldn't agree more, though, with your comment about learning most from students who do help to create a real dialogue.

Rod

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of HENRY SHONERD
Sent: 17 January 2015 18:30
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Laws of evolution and laws of history

Rod,
A rule of thumb in teaching is that before you start teaching something new you find out what the students already know about a topic. One way to do that is to ask “grand tour” questions. Divergent questions, accepting anything students know, or think they know. Convergent, or “leading questions” are meant to direct students to the “right” answers. The point is that good teaching is built around questions and dialog. For a long time I have felt that I learn the most from students who push back, who question the curriculum. That isn’t comfortable.
Henry

> On Jan 17, 2015, at 2:50 AM, Rod Parker-Rees <R.Parker-Rees@plymouth.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Mike - is it too simplistic to say that education is about leading out (divergence) whereas propaganda is about leading in (convergence)? If you know before you begin exactly what you want your students to end up knowing and believing you may be more engaged in propaganda than education.
>
> Rod
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
> [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of mike cole
> Sent: 17 January 2015 02:46
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Laws of evolution and laws of history
>
> Oh! I see what you are discussing. The Park that used to celebrate the
> great achievements of the USSR on Peace Street.
>
> A really good Vygotskian analysis of the term, propaganda, would be
> fascinating to read.
> As I recall the word came into the English language from Latin and a
> Papal decision to "propogate the faith". Seems apt in the Soviet case.
> At the level of social interaction where we are professionally
> involved and have some presumably, useful knowledge to propagate (why
> else do They pay for us?), how do we think of self presentation that is NOT propagating?
>
> When teaching, this topic comes up in seeking to get students to
> distinguish between education and propaganda, starting with the course
> they are taking from me on the history of communication and with it,
> the history of propaganda.
>
> So what is the difference between education and propaganda. My
> students and I often had difficulty distinguishing them.
>
>
> mike
>
> On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 at 5:24 PM, Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hi Philip,
>>
>> Yes, because if we go by the rubric of [sign mediates internally with
>> the mind], and [tool mediates externally with the environment], which
>> I do not reject by the way, then propaganda (as intended), is a tool
>> to the one who produces it (because it is intended to influence the
>> environment of others, and a sign for those who consume it (the intended others to be influenced).
>>
>> My inquiry isn't exactly upon traditionally-considered political
>> propaganda; one could also see advertising as a type of propaganda as well.
>> Even punishment and humiliations can be a type of propaganda, "pour
>> encourager les autres."
>>
>> In a sense, propaganda is a kind of duck-rabbit. You see duck, I see
>> rabbit, depending upon what is externally projected/internally
>> received; nothing changes about the drawing itself, it's all perception.
>>
>> Is this too facile? I feel there may be problems, and appeal to the
>> list to correct me on this. :)
>>
>> Thinking out loud... your mileage may vary!
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Annalisa
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> It is the dilemma of psychology to deal with a natural science as an
> object that creates history. Ernst Boesch.
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