Week 6

TheCriticalMind

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Announcements

Section meetings this week: Wednesday, November 1 at 11:30 AM, Larsen 210 Thursday, November 2 at 2:00 PM, Larsen G01

Quick questions after class

Yasmin Kafai presents: "Hard Fun - Digital Games and Learning" on Tuesday, November 7, 2:30 - 4 pm in Longfellow 308.

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Words from the Teaching Fellows about the proposals (see other PowerPoint)

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Review & Preview

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Creating learning

Pandora questions

Avoiding ‘aboutitis’

Theory One

Teaching for Understanding

Whole game learning, big field of action around the knowledge base

Teaching and learning for transfer

Learning from others, distributed cognition

‘Hot’ cognitive economy

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Preview

Beginning ‘The challenge of better

thinkers and learners’

1. Pandora and the critical mind

2. Academic and critical literacy

3. Designing with the story of knowledge

4. Rapid review and looking ahead

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Learning Goals

Understand how the Pandora questions help to organize ideas about the critical mind.

Get a sense of how two powerful critical stances – academic literacy and critical literacy – can help to organize thoughtful learning

Develop the ‘story of knowledge’ as a design tool

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Pandora and the Critical Mind

Goal: Develop perspective on the readings by relating them to the Pandora questions

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The Three Sources

Toward a critical pedagogy of popular culture -- Morrell

Facts or critical thinking skills? -- Wenglinsky

Knowledge alive -- Perkins

The Pandora Questions

1. What’s worth learning?

2. What’s hard about learning that?

3. So how is it best learned?

4. How is the learning going?

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Academic and Critical Literacy

Goal: Understand the potential of the two ‘whole games’ of academic and critical literacy by trying and comparing them

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“Academic literacy…refers to those forms of engaging with, producing, and talking about texts that have currency in primary, secondary, and postsecondary education.”

“Critical literacy…is defined as the ability not only to read and write, but also to assess texts in order to understand the relationships between power and domination that underlie and inform those texts…

…the socially constructed meaning embedded in texts as well as the political and economic contexts in which texts are embedded.”

Ernest Morrell

Michigan State College of Education

12 A. LISTEN to the

poem, A. E. Stallings, “Apollo Takes Charge of his Muses”

Roles

1. Academic literacy applied to ‘Apollo…’

2. Academic literacy applied to ‘Things…’

3. Critical literacy applied to ‘Apollo…’

4. Critical literacy applied to ‘Things…’

B. WATCH the music video, C&C Music Factory, “Things that make you go hmmm….”

C. Individually APPLY your perspective to the work you are particularly responsible form

D. Collectively COMPARE AND CONTRAST what the academic and critical literacy stances yield to produce 2 or 3 HEADLINES

13A. E. Stallings

Apollo Takes Charge of his Muses

They sat there, nine women, much the same age,

The same poppy-red hair, and similar complexions

Freckling much the same in the summer glare,

The same bright eyes of green melting to blue

Melting to golden brown, they sat there,

Nine women, all of them very quiet, one,

Perhaps, was looking at her nails, one plaited

Her hair in narrow strands, one stared at a stone,

One let fall a mangled flower from her hands,

All nine of them very quiet, and the one who spoke

Said, softly:

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"Of course he was very charming, and he smiled,

Introduced himself and said he'd heard good things,

Shook hands all round, greeted us by name,

Assured us it would all be much the same,

Explained his policies, his few minor suggestions

Which we would please observe. He looked forward

To working with us. Wouldn't it be fun? Happy

To answer any questions. Any questions? But

None of us spoke or raised her hand, and questions

There were none; what has poetry to do with reason

Or the sun?"

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C&C Music Factory

featuring Freedom Williams

1991 #4 top single

16 A. LISTEN to the

poem, A. E. Stallings, “Apollo Takes Charge of his Muses”

Roles

1. Academic literacy applied to ‘Apollo…’

2. Academic literacy applied to ‘Things…’

3. Critical literacy applied to ‘Apollo…’

4. Critical literacy applied to ‘Things…’

B. WATCH the music video, C&C Music Factory, “Things that make you go hmmm….”

C. Individually APPLY your perspective to the work you are particularly responsible form

D. Collectively COMPARE AND CONTRAST what the academic and critical literacy stances yield to produce 2 or 3 HEADLINES

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Designing with the story of knowledge

Goal: Understand the ‘story of knowledge’ as a design principle through quick design

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Creatingknowledge

Organizingknowledge

Communicatingknowledge

Acting onknowledge

We areparticipantsin the story

of knowledge

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How Morrell’s approach shows the story of knowledge

Creatingknowledge

Organizingknowledge

Communicatingknowledge

Acting onknowledge

Through critical

examination of works

Through examination

of works, discussion,

writing

The two ‘games’

Through encouraging

activism

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Creatingknowledge

Organizingknowledge

Communicatingknowledge

Acting onknowledge

Topics for the Story of Knowledge

Democracy

Rain forests

The origins of the universe

Tragedy

The germ theory of disease

Revolutions

…Or something else

1. Choose a topic from the list opposite

2. Choose an educational setting, e.g. middle school, adult ed, ed television, etc.

3. Sketch how the topic might be treated so as to engage learners in the full story of knowledge:

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Rapid Review and Looking Ahead

Goal: Consolidation and mental preparation

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Learning Goals

Understand how the Pandora questions help to organize ideas about the critical mind.

Get a sense of how two powerful critical stances – academic literacy and critical literacy – can help to organize thoughtful learning

Develop the ‘story of knowledge’ as a design tool

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Beyond these walls

Apply a critical literacy stance to everything!

Look for the story of knowledge