Theories
We’ve broken down this section on theories into the following five categories:
Add a Comment Show CommentsCurriculum: What Should Be Learned?
Instruction: How Should Learning Be Designed?
Education History
Our current education system dates back to the Industrial Revolution. At the time, our country needed to prepare its agricultural workers for factory jobs. So we built a school system that catered to the mass production mentality. This education system was efficient and measurable, and it churned out students who were ready to face the demands of our nation’s new economy.
In today’s age of instant information, the Industrial Revolution is a distant memory. So why is it that we still educate our students as if preparing them for a life of machine and assembly line work? Teaching by rote and following rigid academic agendas doesn’t cut it anymore. To say our scholastic curriculum is outmoded is putting it nicely.
Today’s children need to learn the skills that will help them in today’s job market and today’s society. They need to learn how to make decisions on their own, work well with others, and sift through vast amounts of information. And it’s time our schools rise to the occasion and fill this need.
Want More Information?
To further explore the history of our current educational system, take a look at the following websites:
In Emile or on Education, a classic book on education reform, Jean Jacques Rousseau argues for a return to a more natural education.
John Dewey is perhaps the most influential American educator of the 20th century. Be sure to explore these additional web pages on Dewey.
For a comprehensive overview of the history of education, visit this post.
Add a Comment Show CommentsPatterns
Christopher Alexander’s work on pattern languages provides a framework for thinking about the design of houses. We believe the same thing is needed for the design of educational products. A pattern language is like grammar–each part contains different ways to define how we think about education. Funderstanding uses a pattern language to provide a structure to our design. Within this structure, we use the pattern language to express ourselves in a way that’s easily understood by others. The major components of our grammar are outlined below.
We apply the “grammatical rules” of our pattern language by starting with the broader issues and working our way down to the specifics. For example, when we confront a new challenge, we tackle the large groups first. Once we understand how the large groups operate, we determine what components of knowledge management are appropriate for them. Then we determine what needs to be done to seed a community of practice. Next we select the relevant learning styles. We don’t always use all the components detailed below; however, we use some of them on every project. Because this process is a work-in-progress, we welcome your comments on it.
- Large groups
- Knowledge management
- User-contributed content
- Intelligent agents
- Expert view
- Small groups
- Communities of practice
- Multiple perspectives
- Individual learning styles
- Just-in-time
- Simulation
- Tutorial
- Assessment
- Intrapersonal skills
- Brain-based learning
- Cognitive psychology
- Emotional Intelligence
- Self-motivation
- Mood management
- Self-awareness
Emotional Intelligence
In a 1994 report on the current state of emotional literacy in the U.S., author Daniel Goleman stated:
“…in navigating our lives, it is our fears and envies, our rages and depressions, our worries and anxieties that steer us day to day. Even the most
academically brilliant among us are vulnerable to being undone by unruly emotions. The price we pay for emotional literacy is in failed marriages and troubled families, in stunted social and work lives, in deteriorating physical health and mental anguish and, as a society, in tragedies such as killings…”
Goleman attests that the best remedy for battling our emotional shortcomings is preventive medicine. In other words, we need to place as much importance on teaching our children the essential skills of Emotional Intelligence as we do on more traditional measures like IQ and GPA.
Exactly what is Emotional Intelligence? The term encompasses the following five characteristics and abilities:
- Self-awareness–knowing your emotions, recognizing feelings as they occur, and discriminating between them
- Mood management–handling feelings so they’re relevant to the current situation and you react appropriately
- Self-motivation–”gathering up” your feelings and directing yourself towards a goal, despite self-doubt, inertia, and impulsiveness
- Empathy–recognizing feelings in others and tuning into their verbal and nonverbal cues
- Managing relationships–handling interpersonal interaction, conflict resolution, and negotiations
Why Do We Need Emotional Intelligence?
Research in brain-based learning suggests that emotional health is fundamental to effective learning. According to a report from the National Center for Clinical Infant Programs, the most critical element for a student’s success in school is an understanding of how to learn. (Emotional Intelligence, p. 193.)
The key ingredients for this understanding are:
- Confidence
- Curiosity
- Intentionality
- Self-control
- Relatedness
- Capacity to communicate
- Ability to cooperate
These traits are all aspects of Emotional Intelligence. Basically, a student who learns to learn is much more apt to succeed. Emotional Intelligence has proven a better predictor of future success than traditional methods like the GPA, IQ, and standardized test scores.
Hence, the great interest in Emotional Intelligence on the part of corporations, universities, and schools nationwide. The idea of Emotional Intelligence has inspired research and curriculum development throughout these facilities. Researchers have concluded that people who manage their own feelings well and deal effectively with others are more likely to live content lives. Plus, happy people are more apt to retain information and do so more effectively than dissatisfied people.
Building one’s Emotional Intelligence has a lifelong impact. Many parents and educators, alarmed by increasing levels of conflict in young schoolchildren–from low self-esteem to early drug and alcohol use to depression, are rushing to teach students the skills necessary for Emotional Intelligence. And in corporations, the inclusion of Emotional Intelligence in training programs has helped employees cooperate better and motivate more, thereby increasing productivity and profits.
“Emotional Intelligence is a master aptitude, a capacity that profoundly affects all other abilities, either facilitating or interfering with them.”–Daniel Goleman,
Emotional Intelligence, p. 80.
Benefits
The benefits of enhancing the way people learn are limitless. At Funderstanding, we believe:
Add a Comment Show CommentsContinual learning fuels continual improvement.
The more you learn, the better able you are to arrive at your own solutions.
The more knowledge you gain, the better equipped you are to sort through the information overload of today’s business world.
Most of us are too busy for our own good–both at the office and in our personal lives. If we would only invest a little time to learn better, we would work better.
Most executives think education is key to their success. However, most of them would never attend a training session–partly because they’re too busy, and partly because they don’t have enough respect for their company’s training department.
People in your organization are learning all the time. So you might as well find a way to capture the knowledge they’re gaining and reap its benefits.
Education Reform
In today’s online culture, it’s possible for students to access thousands of different topics in a matter of minutes. Yet our current education system is a throwback to the methods of schooling developed during the Industrial Revolution. And we don’t just mean technology-wise. In many cases, the techniques our teachers use to interact with and impart knowledge to our students are embarrassingly outdated.
It’s no mystery that our education system is in dire need of a face lift. The good news is that many, many people agree. Even better, a handful of organizations are rallying to incite such change. Here are two of our favorites:
The Coalition of Essential Schools, headquartered at Brown University, champions a variety of progressive philosophies and scholastic reforms.
The Association of Educators in Private Practice stays active in school system reforms, particularly charter issues.
Add a Comment No CommentsComplexity
Characteristics of a complex system
A complex system is emergent. In an emergent system, smaller parts comprise a larger system. This larger system has properties the smaller units lack. For example, the brain is made up of individual neurons that, when functioning together, are capable of tasks no single neuron can perform alone. The new properties only emerge when the neurons work together.
A complex system is unpredictable.
A complex system contains many iterations and feedback/feedforward loops.
In a complex system, decision-making is decentralized.
Learning is a typically a “complex” activity. Most learning systems contain a number of separate parts that must work together for learning to occur. For example, a typical learning system consists of students, a teacher, a content focus, and resources. This system operates according to a fixed plan–the students follow the teacher’s “rules.”
Learning environments
A learning environment can be emergent. Working together, a group of learners can collectively build their knowledge of a topic, for instance, the phases of the moon. To do so, each learner might research a particular lunar phase, then share what he or she has learned with the rest of the group. This way, the group amasses a body of knowledge that no one person could have acquired alone.
A learning environment can be unpredictable. An exploration of the phases of the moon could result in the group considering whether planets also have phases.
A learning environment can contain many iterations and feedback/feedforward loops. People learn by trial and error–in other words, they learn from their mistakes.
Decision-making in a learning environment can be decentralized. Groups can really thrive when students control the learning process, rather than the instructor.
It’s quite possible that learning occurs best on the “edge of chaos,” where order and chaos meet. To see for yourself, check out these two resources:
Kevin Kelley’s outstanding book, Out of Control, examines how we can use biological theories to help us construct complex systems.
If you want to experience complexity in action, try “building” your own system with SimCity. This software offers a fantastic way to learn about urban planning, while viewing many of the principles of complexity in action. Plus, it’s a blast!
Add a Comment No CommentsInfluences
It’s time we revolutionized the way we teach our children and our workers. Every revolution begins with an idea. And throughout history, we have seen many innovative ideas from one discipline influence–even revolutionize–an entirely different discipline. This is how Funderstanding believes a revolution in education will occur. And these are some of the disciplines that have influenced our view of teaching and learning:
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Neural Networks
Computers are the ideal metaphor for the human mind. Cognitive scientists have long used the serial processor as their model for the brain because this type of computer excels in deductive reasoning.
Researchers are also exploring whether parallel processors can serve as models for how the brain functions. Parallel processors are computers that excel at pattern recognition, or inductive thinking. Parallel processors that can handle many instructions at once are called neural networks (or nets). Neural nets excel at inductive tasks, such as pattern recognition, for which many commercial applications are now being developed.
It’s possible these researchers will conclude that the brain is not a linear tool, as originally suggested by the serial model, but that the parallel model of processing information more closely represents how the mind works. Maybe the ultimate model of the human brain would be one that combines both the serial and parallel analogies.
Add a Comment Show CommentsSystems Theory
In The Fifth Discipline, author Peter Senge details five characteristics that comprise what he calls a “learning organization”–in other words, an organization which cultivates an effective learning environment. The five traits of a learning organization are:
Add a Comment Show Comments1. Systems Thinking–Senge defines this as examining the patterns that connect the larger system. This kind of thinking is intuitive. In fact, children pick it up almost instantly.
2. Personal Mastery–The key to this trait is to continually clarify and deepen our personal vision, focus our energies, develop patience, and see reality objectively.
3. Shared Vision–This occurs when a group collectively develops a “picture of the future.” Shared vision is the sum of the personal visions of all participating individuals. It is not something a person can learn by rote; instead, it stems from a deep-seated belief.
4. Team Learning–The group IQ is higher than that of the individual. Just like in complex systems, unexpected results that are greater than the sum of their parts will emerge. However, people have to communicate with each other for team learning to take effect.
5. Mental Models–Senge attest that we must continually question the deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, and perceptions that influence how we comprehend and react to the world. Once we understand our biases, we can begin to examine and deconstruct them.
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