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Motivation
Tool Chest for Students & Teachers
Page 2 of 2
Resource Page
It is the conceptual mind that makes
sense out of the world. If the conceptual mind is not engaged, then there is no
real thinking going on.
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REMEMBER: Your
TEKS are written to Emphasize Concepts AND
Depth of Content
 | Higher Complexity moves from facts to concepts
for enduring understanding |
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| Higher Complexity requires
Critical, Conceptual, and Creative Thinking
 | Critical
Thinking-- The ability to deal with abstractions; discovering
patterns and meanings, system thinking: to see the "big picture" of
interrelationships (between domains),
the ability to take educated risk,
and utilize collaboration skills
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How do you teach the
essential knowledge and skills in your content area?
You cannot use the student objectives as check lists to check off Topic
by Topic, or Fact by Fact. Topic-based curriculum is boring and referred
to as the "coverage level" or "Cover-to-cover"
(book) curriculum. This low-level teaching method does not engage
the student at the conceptual cognitive level.
Children begin school at the conceptually engaged level.
They are taught "family", "self", "community". These are all concept
terms. However,
somewhere about the second to third grade they are turned into "fact munchers". In Kindergarten, they study the "big ideas" -- family, town,
environment, which are all conceptual ideas. But later in school, teachers
believe that factual teaching is the only way to get curriculum across. It
is well known that human beings are thinking beings.
A thinking being
does not put "heart" into a flatline
topic-based curriculum. A thinking being is
curious about how patterns fit and how puzzles work.
The growing criticism of public
schools is based on several major issues, but none more so than the
dissatisfaction with children who cannot think. The critics claim that
schools disperse inert (unused) knowledge. This is knowledge that is not
transferable, not by its nature, but because it is has not been applied or
transferred across domains.
“The causes of limited knowledge
transfer are mostly attributed to the dis-embeddedness of learning
situations in schools.” (Vanderstraeten and Biesta, 2005) The
“dis-embeddedness” referred to here is the lack of connectedness or
transferable learning that can be used to build mental models in diverse
situations to solve problems or to make sense out of the world.
Constructivism shifts the focus of
learning from rote memorization to learning by building conceptual
structures through reflection and abstraction in order to apply knowledge
across domains.
Building conceptual structures
requires the learner to see connectedness by using structures of knowledge
that are generalizable and transferable. This transferability is desired
so that the learner can use processes in one domain to solve problems or
devise new ideas in another domain. In other words, the transfer of
knowledge helps the learner to be more productive.
John Dewey, a founding
constructivist, stressed that continuous, “intrinsic connection of
organism and world on the level of action..thus
introducing the notions of
action and experience.” (Vanderstraeten & Biesta, 2005, p. 1)
Constructivist see learning as an
active process where the learner constructs new ideas based on
past/present experiences. The learner creates mental models to manipulate,
propose hypotheses, discover new principals or explain new concepts.
This
definition simply describes knowledge as something that must be built by
the learner through linkages to prior knowledge and not received through
some passive environment i.e. a lecturing teacher.
In other words, learning is work, not of the teacher, but of the
student. Learning requires concentration, reflection, action, and mental
modeling.
The mind is NOT lazy! It actually likes to
solve problems. Look at the picture below and count how many
triangles you can find.
Actually, there are no triangles in the
picture, but the mind works to resolve the diagram and to make sense
of it. The mind automatically draws conclusions and solves the
dilemma. The mind is ALWAYS working, solving, calculating, and
discerning. Why then are children seemingly lazy, bored or
disinterested in classroom activities?
There is a need to build capacity in student/teacher leadership
through research and data analysis skills, Internet literacy skills, and
productivity skills. In response to these needs, teachers must create a
learning atmosphere in the classroom which promotes
leadership capacity through research, communication, problem-solving, and
presentation skills.
Teachers who love "learning-to-learn"
will be able to transfer that attitude to students.
"In a
thinking
classroom, facts become tools to develop concepts and generalizations and
become building blocks to support Conceptual Learning.
Motivation
is intrinsically generated by the conceptual mind.
As factual
coverage increases, conceptual
engagement decreases--along with motivation
for learning." Dr. Lynn Erickson
NOTE:
In early grades we begin K-3 learning with concepts like: family,
community, and emphasize social behavior. But for some reason at around
the 4th grade, we often turn learning into "facts" causing student
motivation to start its downhill slide.
LET'S
PRACTICE: Remember that Conceptual Learning allows all
learners to work at their own level of understanding. It allows gifted
students to work at their level and special needs students to work at
their level. Conceptual learning creates a synergy between the lower
(factual) and higher (conceptual) levels of thinking.
Examples of Key Cross-Curricular
Concepts:
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| Conflict
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| Cooperation
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| Patterns
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| Populations
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| Systems
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| Change/Continuity
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| Culture
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| Migration/Immigration
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| Interdependence
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| Justice
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| Freedom
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| Corruption/Greed
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| Competition
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Grouping/Association
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| Laws/Rules
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| Change/Change
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| Markets
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| Supply and Demand
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| Cost |
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| Leadership
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| Beliefs/Values
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| Perceptions
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| Power |
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| Identity
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| Time |
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| Resources
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| Government
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| Ethics/Character/Integrity
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| Customs
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| Tolerance
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| Similar/Difference
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from
Hensen, Kenneth
T. (2001). Curriculum planning: Integrating multiculturalism, constructivism,
and educational reform. Second edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher
Education. Page 93.
1. Learn how to live with uncertainty,
complexity, and change;
2. Develop the ability to
anticipate (think ahead, plan, time
manage);
3. Adapt to new structures, new
constraints, and new situations without emotional drain and emotional collisions
(Emotional Intelligence);
4. Learn how to learn, that is, learn how
to search out contradictions in one’s values and understandings
(Research);
5. See
relationships and be able to sort
and weigh them
(Measurement);
6. Understand the facts of life
(realities) and become aware of alternatives;
7. Learn to
analyze the consequences of
one’s choices;
8. Learn how to make
choices;
9. Learn how to
work together to get
things done. For example, youth must learn how to reach compromises and how to accept
compromises with honor
(Collaboration).
10. Learn to appreciate
multiculturalism,
including the study of foreign languages; become competent in one or two other
languages;
11. Study the arts, learning about metacognition, thinking processes, and reaching a
greater depth of understanding
of the core subjects (Concepts).
Six Life
Skills (SCANS) Are Useful Concepts for Cross-curricular Activities
—
Theodore Roosevelt, 19th/20th century American adventurer and politician, Nobel
Prize-winning U.S. president
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