The lens you offer makes so much sense from the benefit of teacher experience. Goes against everything we assume about learning and were taught. The word 'competence' never rated a (meaningful) mention in ITE but 'independent learning' often did.
I think that there are ways to ensure student independent learning through instructional design… This is NOT new research - it’s grounded in theory, research and practice over more than 20 years of proven efficacy. By ensuring concepts & cognitive strategies are taught for generalisation - then students (anyone) can learn how to learn = independent learning for life!! THAT’S Exactly what doctoral research should be extending - if it’s at all possible to do online or in a mixed mode of online & face-to-face learning?
Great points. Just like with a learner driver, they can't have autonomy just through being handed the car keys. They need to be taught how to drive first.
A couple thoughts. First, what seems to be left out of the equation is motivation, especially the intrinsic kind. In our experience, this force drives learning autonomy more than anything else. You learn to learn when you want to learn…when the electrical potential between what you don’t know and what you want to know is greatest.
Second re competence, there appear to be 2 kinds. The first is intellectual, the second procedural. Certainly having foundational knowledge is essential to forging ahead alone. But knowing how to ply that knowledge is critical. This kind of competency requires, knowing where and HOW to look, knowing what’s NOT relevant, what dots to connect/triangulate, what questions to ask, and when and how long to rest to maximize concept assimilation (cognitive overload). Combined we often call this type of competency intuition and it really differentiates the star performers
Children feeling competent is the foundation for learning. Your image of the child as competent is very important. It sends a message that you view all children as competent, which is critical for children's learning and development. This helps children work to master what is being taught.
Autonomy and structure are both important. Teachers structure the environment in which a child is taught. If you know what the child is currently capable of mastering - the knowledge and skills they already have- you can structure choices for them that will provide the development of autonomy, and if you are aware of each students' needs, the teacher can also structure the kind of support that child needs that will lead to mastery of content.
A big question to contemplate is how do you know whether the child actually understood what they wee supposed to learn. What are you using to determine this?
I believe the main reason they are not popular is that nothing on these is ever included in initial teacher training… When did you hear of these? As well, my understanding is that constructivist/ discovery learning approaches to teaching (including program design & content) are SO MUCH EASIER for teachers… it’s a shame that all the evidence supporting this approach is still ignored?
I found a paper today that supports explicit instruction in learning second language new vocabulary for ESL Adults over implicitly learning new vocabulary from reading more? That maybe if interest in your work? Email me if you want the reference - though it is open source! Best wishes for your thesis research! 👍
I love this - what a valuable research topic
The lens you offer makes so much sense from the benefit of teacher experience. Goes against everything we assume about learning and were taught. The word 'competence' never rated a (meaningful) mention in ITE but 'independent learning' often did.
I think that there are ways to ensure student independent learning through instructional design… This is NOT new research - it’s grounded in theory, research and practice over more than 20 years of proven efficacy. By ensuring concepts & cognitive strategies are taught for generalisation - then students (anyone) can learn how to learn = independent learning for life!! THAT’S Exactly what doctoral research should be extending - if it’s at all possible to do online or in a mixed mode of online & face-to-face learning?
That’s the answer (in part) to my question on your previous post!!! Wonderful work...
Maybe we should chat sometime? Your term “study skills” needs an operational drift before we can chat?
Great points. Just like with a learner driver, they can't have autonomy just through being handed the car keys. They need to be taught how to drive first.
A couple thoughts. First, what seems to be left out of the equation is motivation, especially the intrinsic kind. In our experience, this force drives learning autonomy more than anything else. You learn to learn when you want to learn…when the electrical potential between what you don’t know and what you want to know is greatest.
Second re competence, there appear to be 2 kinds. The first is intellectual, the second procedural. Certainly having foundational knowledge is essential to forging ahead alone. But knowing how to ply that knowledge is critical. This kind of competency requires, knowing where and HOW to look, knowing what’s NOT relevant, what dots to connect/triangulate, what questions to ask, and when and how long to rest to maximize concept assimilation (cognitive overload). Combined we often call this type of competency intuition and it really differentiates the star performers
Children feeling competent is the foundation for learning. Your image of the child as competent is very important. It sends a message that you view all children as competent, which is critical for children's learning and development. This helps children work to master what is being taught.
Autonomy and structure are both important. Teachers structure the environment in which a child is taught. If you know what the child is currently capable of mastering - the knowledge and skills they already have- you can structure choices for them that will provide the development of autonomy, and if you are aware of each students' needs, the teacher can also structure the kind of support that child needs that will lead to mastery of content.
A big question to contemplate is how do you know whether the child actually understood what they wee supposed to learn. What are you using to determine this?
I believe the main reason they are not popular is that nothing on these is ever included in initial teacher training… When did you hear of these? As well, my understanding is that constructivist/ discovery learning approaches to teaching (including program design & content) are SO MUCH EASIER for teachers… it’s a shame that all the evidence supporting this approach is still ignored?
I found a paper today that supports explicit instruction in learning second language new vocabulary for ESL Adults over implicitly learning new vocabulary from reading more? That maybe if interest in your work? Email me if you want the reference - though it is open source! Best wishes for your thesis research! 👍