Introduction to the Lesson
The purpose of
this unit and this first lesson is to introduce the education student to
the ideas and conceptual structures of transformation.
The transformation of beliefs, values and attitudes is a necessary
on-going process crucial to the development of competencies requisite for
teaching diverse populations. In this first lesson, the
student will study transformation from personal and academic
perspectives. Mental models, conceptual frameworks, paradigms, what they
are and how they are used form the basis of this lesson.
According to Pisapia
Mental A mental model is a (1)
prototype for thinking and acting, (2) a filter through which individuals
observe their world.
Mental models
- shape and govern thoughts, behaviors and
values, establish rules and regulations, and define success and
failure.
- They are conceptual in nature but have
special meaning and comprehension for their owners.
- They
provide core assumptions about the nature of the reality facing their
possessors and set the boundaries for intellectual discourse (Nicolaides,
1989,p. 27).
Frameworks, he continues
are another conceptual tool which
organizes experience and bring order to related but disjointed data by
illuminating similarities and making connections.unlike
mental models which are recorded in the mind, frameworks are
[such as Bloom's taxonomy referred to in preceding paragraphs] usually
are inscribed. Conceptual
frameworks simplify the gathering and organizing of facts derived from
observations, assign likelihoods to data, hide data, and fill in missing
data (Knezevich, 1984, p. 127; Starbuck & Milliken, 1988, p. 51).
Breton and
Largent (2001) tell us that
the
word "paradigm" was originally one of those obscure academic
terms that has undergone many changes of meaning over the centuries. The
classical Greeks used it to refer to an original archetype or ideal.
Later it came to refer to a grammatical term. In the early 1960s Thomas
Kuhn (1922-1996) wrote a ground breaking book, The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions, in which he showed that science
does not progress in an orderly fashion from lesser to greater truth,
but rather remains fixated on a particular dogma or explanation - a
paradigm - which is only overthrown with great difficulty and a new
paradigm established. Thus the Copernican system (the sun at the center
of the universe) overthrew the Ptolemaic (the earth at the center) one,
and Newtonian physics was replaced by Relativity and Quantum Physics.
Science thus consists of periods of conservativism ("Normal"
Science) punctuated by periods of "Revolutionary" Science.
Even more important that the concept
"paradigm" in this lesson is the the concept
""paradigm shift" or "paradigm change." Again
citing Breton and Largent
When
anomalies or inconsistencies arise within a given paradigm and present
problems that we are unable to solve within a given paradigm, our view
of reality must change, as must the way we perceive, think, and value
the world. We must take on new assumptions and expectations that will
transform our theories, traditions, rules, and standards of practice. We
must create a new paradigm in which we are able to solve the unsolvable
problems of the old paradigm.
The use of fire, the use of tools, the
invention of the wheel, the invention of writing and more recently, the Copernican
Revolution and its impact on cultural worldviews are important
contextual components. How paradigms change is the most relevant component
of this lesson because most multicultural, anti-bias, and social justice
competencies in education pedagogy are accompanied by significant paradigm
change.
This lesson was developed to address
elements of competencies #2, #3 and #8 on the functions of the educational process
(teaching and learning) and schooling for education majors who are taking
EDG 2701 in partial fulfillment of the graduation requirements for an
Associate of Arts degree in Teaching (Elementary), Teaching (Secondary),
Early Childhood and Exceptional Education.
Competency #2 reads (in part) as
follows:
The student will examine the role of
philosophical and theoretical knowledge in clarifying questions of
educational decision making in policy and practice by
Comparing and contrasting the
philosophies of education in terms of their implications for schooling.
Explaining how philosophical theories
have influenced practices in education from antiquity to the present.
Explaining how teaching and learning
theory relates to the work of the teacher
Competency #3 reads (in part) as
follows:
"The student will examine barriers to understanding diversity
by
Defining the concept of transformation
(including paradigms and paradigm shifts) and explain how it affects
the way a person or a group reduces or eliminates prejudice and
discrimination."
Competency #8 reads (in part) as
follows:
The student will demonstrate knowledge
of the social problems and tension points that affect students by
Identifying the impact of poverty,
homelessness and child abuse on classroom behavior and learning.
Describing the current structure of
U.S. families and identifying the difficulties that single parents and
working parents face in raising children.
Explaining how gender bias leads to
unequal educational opportunities for females.
Describing the responsibility and
liability schools bear in cases of student to student sexual harassment.
Competency #9 reads (in part) as
follows:
The student will demonstrate knowledge
of the importance of recognizing and valuing the diverse nature of their
students and its implications for establishing an optimal learning
environment by
Identifying and analyzing the opposing
philosophies regarding the need to incorporate multicultural education
throughout the curriculum.
Explaining the concepts of cultural
diversity and cultural pluralism and their classroom implications.
(A complete list of all the competencies for EDF 1005 is provided
below by clicking on the link titled competencies) | 
