As evident from my title, this article (book?) seemed to me to be an argument for learning by doing. Overall, I liked what the authors were getting at and I think they were pretty much right in their writings about the progression from being a “new-comer” to an “old-timer.” While I know we’re supposed to be doing higher thinking than about how this can be put into practice, I couldn’t help but think about how much schools follow the general scheme the author described. If we think about kindergarteners as new-comers and 12th graders as old-timers, I think the progression of children learning how to act in schools and how to proceed fits well. Many students learn from older siblings or friends how things are in school, whats expected, and even, in high school, what classes are good, what teachers are good, and what teachers to avoid like the plague. I know this was true for me. I got all my insider info at the bus stop, where the older kids in the neighborhood would complain/praise teachers and would share what they heard from their friend who was taking math with Mr. So-and-So, etc. As I learned more about the school and how things worked, I became more confident in my abilities and used my information to excellent ends. By the time students get to high schools, they’re then capable of sharing their accumulated info with younger students, and so on and so on. Schools are like the communities that the author is talking about, and by the end of high school, the successful students are full participants.
I also agreed with the author when they say that all learning is situated. I don’t think its possible, or at the very least its extremely unlikely, that people learn something with absolutely no way to apply/use it. From my standpoint of practicality, it seems like so much wasted effort to try to do this anyway. I think as teachers, we need to acknowledge that all learning is situated and figure out ways to take advantage of this. I have to think that the author would be a huge fan of inquiry learning.
One final note: I found it pretty funny that the author described test-taking as a “parasitic practice” (pg. 112). I think I agree….
Tags: BARB
I completely agree that as teachers we need to acknowledge that learning is situated. Students are not going to learn if they cannot see how they are going to be able to apply it. Even if they are struggling with it; if they can see a use for it, they will be more willing to work through it. Sometimes this is hard because it won’t make sense to them until farther along in the journey. They don’t want to just trust me that it is important, they want to see it – and I can’t blame them, I was/am the same way. Students certainly learn from the ‘old-timers’. We have all taken the advice of someone who has been through it before. Freshmen always look toward the seniors for advice, whether they want to admit it or not. I am hopeful that I am not one of the teachers that students are told to avoid like the plague, but I guess only time will tell 🙂
I liked the way you looked at students in grade K as new comers and grade 12 as old timers, and that you learn a lot of valuable information from other students. This goes along well with the notion in the paper that in many ways you learn more from other apprentices then the mentors. Like Alyson I had a hard time with the idea that all learning is situated. This statement has more questions and problems then solutions. What is learning? What context is in learned in? Is it true learning? I find it all very confusing!
As for testing being a parasitic practice I thought that was a good way to put one of the major problems with education today. It stems from the question above- What is true learning? Is taking an exam and getting a good grade a true test of learning?
I was actually skeptical about Lave and Wenger’s claim that all learning is situated, thinking specifically of the classroom scenario. I guess my discomfort with this assertion stems from the fact that if all learning is situated, then sometimes it is situated in the wrong community of practice. Also, it matters what you count in your definition of learning. For instance, a student can learn (or memorize without understanding) the periodic table. Situated within the community of practice of school, this is okay and the student can pass the test and complete the homework. However, the way that the student learns the periodic table in school is more probably not going to be applicable in a real world chemistry scenario. When learning is “missituated”, it loses applicability and value.