One of the tenets of Progressive education, which is now over 100 years old and had many pioneers in the Chicago area such as Francis Parker and John Dewey, is the tie between education and democracy rests on the reality that educated citizens are necessary to partake in a representative government. "We the people" implies we have the collective decision-making capacity to run our own affairs without the oversight of a gilded class. This is representative democracy 101, but what impact should this have on the classroom? Obviously we need to teach civics and related subjects, including those necessary for us to complete the technological and other demanding tasks of a complicated economy. I wonder if we might also take some republican ideas and infuse the curriculum with them. What is wrong with students taking part in group classroom decisions? Helping set up assignments, as appropriate. I know that many of these activities have been tried; sometimes with mixed results. But, if we want to talk about authentic learning, I think there are a number of participatory activities that could increase student success in the classroom and as citizens.
For example, as technology has become a bigger part of the learning process, it has opened up many options for educators and students. Instructors and students can now create content and in this way become more active in their own learning. This interplay between technology and civic learning is illustrated through the application of Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT). RMT posits that students can have a positive impact on civic society and their own learning through the development of academic-related content. When applied to the classroom, RMT empowers students to create learning objects such as videos/audios, wikis, and blogs. These learning objects, when produced under the guidance of faculty, can provide unique content to supplement more traditional academic research, such as scholarly journals, books, and governmental sources. Those with access to resources have more control over their learning.
When we discuss classrooms we do not always (or in fact often) mean those in a school. I like to think of classrooms as being content-rich environments (traveling, for example) combine with opportunities for prompts and reflection. Prompts are important to ensure awareness is part of the experience but perhaps the importance of feedback, including that which is evaluated, may be overrated. Sometimes we may exaggerate what responding in an academic way does. We sometimes force participants to choose a correct answer when none exists or put themselves into conflict with others by creating evaluative situations. Perhaps there is greater benefit for non confessional situations. Where people do not have to respond. Do not have to be right or wrong or even anything. They can just process and scaffold.
For example, as technology has become a bigger part of the learning process, it has opened up many options for educators and students. Instructors and students can now create content and in this way become more active in their own learning. This interplay between technology and civic learning is illustrated through the application of Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT). RMT posits that students can have a positive impact on civic society and their own learning through the development of academic-related content. When applied to the classroom, RMT empowers students to create learning objects such as videos/audios, wikis, and blogs. These learning objects, when produced under the guidance of faculty, can provide unique content to supplement more traditional academic research, such as scholarly journals, books, and governmental sources. Those with access to resources have more control over their learning.
When we discuss classrooms we do not always (or in fact often) mean those in a school. I like to think of classrooms as being content-rich environments (traveling, for example) combine with opportunities for prompts and reflection. Prompts are important to ensure awareness is part of the experience but perhaps the importance of feedback, including that which is evaluated, may be overrated. Sometimes we may exaggerate what responding in an academic way does. We sometimes force participants to choose a correct answer when none exists or put themselves into conflict with others by creating evaluative situations. Perhaps there is greater benefit for non confessional situations. Where people do not have to respond. Do not have to be right or wrong or even anything. They can just process and scaffold.
RMT encourages students to add their own voices and research to the academic process and thereby provides opportunities for authentic learning. Students become part of the research process and not only learn about a particular topic but also learn how academic information is created. In this way, students get a more meaningful learning experience as learning is both specific to a topic and also generalized in touching on how information is created. For example, a student studying Turkish history might create a video on Kemal Ataturk and put that video into a larger paper on the topic. This larger paper would also include more traditional sources, such as books on the history of Turkey.
Classroom environment can be seen as a metaphor for society, where the idea is to develop citizens--those with an active role in making connections, scaffolding, and creating/interacting with content rich situations. We might evaluate people in terms of their capabilities and appreciation of learning environments and potentials. On the lookout for fellow learners.
Classroom environment can be seen as a metaphor for society, where the idea is to develop citizens--those with an active role in making connections, scaffolding, and creating/interacting with content rich situations. We might evaluate people in terms of their capabilities and appreciation of learning environments and potentials. On the lookout for fellow learners.
I currently teach traditional information literacy classes. We review the four main elements of academic research and writing: books, academic journals/magazines; Google and other open Internet sites; and Experts, such as historians, journalists, and others.
Civic Intervention as part of the Academic Process
Classroom teaching is obviously a major part of any academic's responsibilities. However, the role of public intellectual and other forms of civic engagement are also a consideration. Civic engagement is a malleable term involving the exchange of knowledge between academics to non academic or in non academic setting. Public lectures in a library, for example. Civic engagement might also include interdisciplinary academic exchange beyond the walls of the academy. There is the Odyssey project in Chicago that features faculty teaching humanities to those at poverty level.
Motti Bunzl who is an executive with the Chicago Humanities Council says that a heavily academic lecture will fail as a public intellectual event. Public at large does not care about an academic's CV. To be successful, a public intellectual should explain why they are passionate about a discipline and why it is important. Originality is not the issue, passion and analysis is.
A big part of the civic engagement contract is reciprocity. What does public bring to the discussion, not just what does the discussion bring to the public.
A major question is how do we invite people to be participants rather than just passive recipients-- reciprocity -- creating spaces to hear from everyone.
Using civic engagement and other everyday events as educational tools is a way to transform everyday objects and events into works of education. This is a way to become a folk educator; of changing the perspective of day-to-day from what might be seen as the ordinary (the landfill of architecture) and using it to fill in the blanks of content.
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