Teaching and Learning: A Model for Academic and Social Cognition

331 Pages·2011·1.65 MB·English

by  Marjorie S. Schiering

Teaching and Learning
A Model for Academic
and Social Cognition
Marjorie S. Schiering, Drew Bogner,
and Jorun Buli-Holmberg
Rowman & Littlefield Education
A Division of
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Lanham (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
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Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education
A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.rowmaneducation.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2011 by Marjorie S. Schiering, Drew Bogner, and Jorun Buli-Holmberg
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schiering, Marjorie S., 1943–
Teaching and learning : a model for academic and social cognition / Marjorie S.
Schiering, Drew Bogner, and Jorun Buli-Holmberg.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-61048-426-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61048-427-5 (pbk. : alk.
paper) — ISBN 978-1-61048-428-2 (electronic)
1. Educational sociology. 2. Progressive education. 3. School management and
organization—Social aspects. 4. School improvement programs. I. Bogner, Drew,
1957– II. Buli-Holmberg, Jorun, 1951– III. Title.
LC199.S54 2011
371.2'07—dc22 2011004005
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
PART ONE
A NEW LEARNING AND TEACHING MODEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER ONE Acquiring Memory, Realizing Cognition, and
Comprehension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CHAPTER TWO Varied Learning and Teaching Perspectives. . . . 15
CHAPTER THREE An Overview: A Model for Academic
and Social Cognition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
CHAPTER FOUR The Model’s Foundation: SOW and REAP
and the Umbrella of Reflection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
CHAPTER FIVE Two Interior Components of the Model:
Common Social and Societal Realities and Belief and
Value Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
CHAPTER SIX The Third Interior Component of the
Model: An Overview of the Cognitive Collective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
CHAPTER SEVEN The Cognitive Collective’s Reciprocal
Thinking Phases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER EIGHT The Cognitive Collective’s
Reciprocal Feelings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
PART TWO
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE MODEL’S PARADIGM. . . . 135
CHAPTER NINE Practical Model Application: Classroom
Design and Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
CHAPTER TEN Practical Model Application:
Lesson-Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
CHAPTER ELEVEN Applying the Model in the Classroom:
Differentiated and Interactive Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
CHAPTER TWELVE Practical Model Application: Character
Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Appendixes Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Appendix B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Appendix C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
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PREFACE
What led you to want to be a teacher? Do you remember el-
ementary, middle, and high school? Is what you remember
mostly positive or negative? Perhaps there is a mixture of
feelings and emotions attached to those years. While some teachers ex-
cited us about learning, others did not. Some classes were enjoyed and
some just had to be gotten through, taking in curriculum that was re-
quired by our state government’s educational standards.
Something led you to want to teach. Was it an interest in children’s
success, both academically and socially? Was it a desire to facilitate stu-
dents, at whatever age, in knowing themselves—impacting their future in
a positive manner? This may have served as the impetus for going into the
educational field. You’re invited to take a moment and reflect on what led
you to want to be a teacher.
To be good at this craft of teaching, we understand that those re-
cipients of information are not just thinkers, but feeling human beings.
Subsequently, in order to teach the whole child, there needs to be an
acknowledgment of differences and similarities of students in our charge.
Teaching and Learning: A Model for Academic and Social Cognition was cre-
ated to stimulate this awareness and bring it to realization.
This model presents the things that influence our lives both internally
and externally. Just recognizing this presents a broad picture of what im-
pacts learning—our own and that of our students. Subsequently, the first
part of this book examines who we are as educators and who our students
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PREFACE
are as learners. The second portion provides means for implementing and
applying the model, whether that is in the school, home, or community.
This book is designed to hold a conversation with you, the teacher
candidate, practicing teacher, or interested parent or person. There is
information presented that addresses you directly, and at other times
there’s material for your reflection that may be addressed with a friend or
in groups. Much of the text is from our personal experiences as educators,
and some is from those of other known authors.
As the famous animation artist and visionary Walt Disney said,
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things,
because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
“Go forward,” we say. “Go forward and enjoy the read! Learn and teach
effectively!”
Authors’ Philosophy
The philosophies presented in Teaching and Learning: A Model for Aca-
demic and Social Cognition are based on concepts relating to the model’s
theoretical constructs. The core perspective is that there’s an interrela-
tionship between thinking and feelings that’s reciprocal. Reflection on
past experiences effect behaviors in the present and influence one’s future
actions. Thinking and feeling are seen as major influences for behaviors
and actions in academic and social settings.
The concept of holons—everything being connected to something
(Koestler, 1978), or nothing being separate from anything else, with an
interdependence being realized—is part of the model’s philosophy. Com-
mon social and societal realities experienced in all settings impact on
individual and whole groups’ belief and value systems. These, in turn, are
affected by external factors of religion, economics, academics, and politics
to form a world sociology. These philosophies serve as the underpinning
and overriding components for knowing who one is as a learner and
teacher. They collectively rely on awareness of academic and social think-
ing and feelings/emotions.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to give special acknowledgment to Drs. Rita and
Kenneth Dunn for their learning style model. In many ways,
their model served as a philosophical antecedent to Teaching
and Learning: A Model for Academic and Social Cognition and continues to
inform best practice in teaching. Their model involves the active engage-
ment of children learning new and difficult material by knowing their
learning preferences within the five strands of environmental, emotional,
sociological, physiological, and psychological factors.
These educators have several hundred publications addressing best
practice for children’s learning, and how to implement learning-style
teaching strategies in the K–16+ classroom. They have worked tirelessly
for the benefit of student learners’ academic success and to this, we are
indebted.
Additional recognition is offered to those teachers who read the first
version of this manuscript and offered comments regarding its contents.
These people are Drs. Robert Kinpoitner, Audrey Cohan, Arthur Mor-
gan, and Larry Honigman, as well as colleagues Ida Ayres and James
Million. Sharing of their learning and teaching expertise facilitated our
continuance of this book. This led to a reconfiguration of portions of
the manuscript and additions. Subsequently, it led to a second reading
of the manuscript by additional individuals who were either in education
or related fields, or were parents of students presently at the K–16 level
in school. These people include Drs. Audra Cerruto and Barbara Hayes,
Rev. Susan Lunning, Joan Byrne, Tony and Sue Warner.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Further Acknowledgments
Marjorie Schiering: Special appreciation is extended to my husband,
George, who has listened to and commented on the model’s content, be-
fore and after its initial conference presentation and publication in 2003.
As one is his/her experiential past that affects the present and future, the
following persons are acknowledged: my children, Matthew, Alyssha,
Joshua, Jolie, Mara, and Seth; siblings Judy Borkum and Edward After;
parents Mollie and Red; Daisy Schneider; and Roy Pellicano for a com-
ment on a world sociology.
Also recognized are Mr. Bailent, principal of the first elementary
school in which I taught in Columbus, Ohio, and all the students who,
during my forty-five-year career, showed me that learning and teaching
are infinitely interconnected and we never stop learning and teaching,
simultaneously. Lastly, there is appreciation for Miss Carragher, who
taught me in a tenth-grade social studies class that telling someone “I
believe in you” may well serve as the catalyst for their self-respect, and for
their coming to the point of realizing “I am enough.”
Drew Bogner and Jorun Buli-Holmberg: We acknowledge our spouses,
Karen Bogner and Jon Eric Holmberg, for their support and willingness
to make available even more time from our personal lives to pursue this
academic endeavor.
Combined Special Acknowledgment
The authors of this book collectively offer their special acknowledgment,
gratitude, and appreciation to Mrs. Diane Fornieri, assistant to Dr. Drew
Bogner. The transcribing of the book’s content, addressing photocopying,
mailings, corrections to text structure, and a myriad of other activities in-
volved in compiling this manuscript, over a three-year time period, would
not have been a reality without her dedication to the overall endeavor. A
thank you hardly seems adequate considering Diane’s expertise applica-
tions, as well as her attention and allegiance to our project.
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PART ONE
A NEW LEARNING AND TEACHING MODEL
You’re becoming a teacher, or you are a teacher, and in either instance
you know, whether overtly or subliminally, that the responsibilities
of educators encompass a great deal of information presentation
and processing. You may see this as the academics of education, as it deals
with “what” you’re teaching. However, underscoring that, there’s the class-
room environment, which takes into consideration emotional factors. You
would think of this as being “how” the class interacts when learning and as
the social part of education. Together they form a whole classroom.
You probably recognize each classroom as being unique because of
those occupying that space having different abilities and personalities.
1
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