Re: beeeeutifully said, Genevieve

Peter Smagorinsky (smago who-is-at peachnet.campuscwix.net)
Tue, 28 Sep 1999 08:50:46 -0400

I think these points would benefit from some interrogation. I'm not sure
just where I'd draw the line in following Mike's view of stage theories. I
agree that theories such as Mastery Learning, which used a staircase as its
learning metaphor, can lead to some pretty rigid and disenabling
teaching. On the other hand, most educational systems that I'm familiar
with assume that learning takes place in some kind of sequence, and that
some sequences work better than others, and that for at least
some learning it's hard to do Thing B unless you can do Thing A fairly
well. If you can't add single-digit numbers, I suspect that it's hard to
add triple-digit numbers. (if this example is misguided, please pardon me
for relying on folk wisdom and personal experience)

I'll bet, for instance, that for those of us who work in universities, it's
widely assumed that people should do coursework before writing
dissertations. Furthermore, they should pass a comprehensive exam of some
sort before writing a dissertation. The inability to pass courses or comps
always disqualifies a student from proceeding to the dissertation
stage. And I fully support this set of assumptions, assuming that the
course work and comps are authentic indicators of someone's ability to
write a dissertation.

So my question is, what's really at stake in this discussion? Are we really
saying that background knowledge doesn't matter? Or that background
knowledge as embodied in rigid stage theories is misguided?

Peter
At 08:11 PM 9/27/99 -0700, you wrote:

>Hi All-- I have been following fleetingly, but am swamped with quarter
>beginning
>
>Genevieve wrote:
>
> Essentially, the department had carved out
>a kind of 'instructional space' for developmental
>students that broke with the rigid 'Step A goes to
>Semester 1, Step B goes to Semester 2 and if you can't
>follow you fail' flow of student bodies in the writing
>curriculum. Basically, this was a form of retention.
>Then, about 3 or 4 semesters into the experience, the
>Chancellor's Office told us to shape up and cut out
>all the parallel courses. We were being very bad boys
>& girls for keeping qualified students back, and a
>student who passes a particular level is by definition
>qualified to tackle the next.
>
>
>For a long time we at LCHC have railed againt all forms of
>"Level 1 before Level 2" stage theories of literacy and
>numeracy acquition. They are built for domination and conservatism.
>They select in a deadly way.
>
>My colleagues and I have written about this pernicious form of
>pedagogy/selction in a number of places. Getting this message
>straight would be, in my opinion, very helpful. But maybe its
>crooked by nature?
>
>This discussion is getting close to what I consder the heart of the
>matter: the essential duality of formal education FROM THE BEGINNING:
>its entwinement with (literally) middle class and its double message"
>transform AND select. Teachers live at the contradictory heart of that
>matter.
>
>Can we make it beyond chaining?
>mike