When I was young, I remember hearing the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It seemed it was a common understanding that becoming a fully realized, intelligent, adult required more than what was going on in the house and home. By interacting with ideas that differ from what is presented in our homes, we widen our understanding of a subject while also practicing the powers of empathy. Lev Vygotsky looked at the way culture affects learning with his theory of sociocultural learning. This theory suggests that those within our culture, including parents, peers, mentors, etc. are a major asset in developing higher order thinking (Cherry, 2022). This theory continues with the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development which theorizes that to learn most effectively you must stretch your current knowledge, but if you stretch it too far you enter an area that you are incapable of with your current knowledge (Cherry, 2022). By students collaborating, playing, and simply socializing, students can learn effectively and in a more fun and culturally enriching way. In my experience, my best learning comes from reaching out for help, collaborating, and discussing with others. I attempted to capture the benefits of sociocultural learning in a time lapse video. This was meant to be stop motion, but it sort of turned into a slideshow. My intention was to illustrate that learning together leads to more empathy and peaceful coexistence. Please view the video below: My best experiences in my professional role are learning from my colleagues, but more importantly, from my students. I am eager to learn from them. I have recently moved to a wide variety of choice menu assessments for my English 12 class. For example, students are able to make playlists, short podcasts using Anchor, or pieces of art as chapter assessments highlighting theme, symbolism, plot development, or even major plot points. They then explain their assessment models in a low stakes writing scenario. I am not interested in perfection, but a personal connection to the main ideas of the text. Every year, I understand the books that I teach, and I understand how my students see these texts in a much clearer way. I graduated high school 22 years ago. I was a student during the infancy of the internet and broadband. My childhood was defined by a pre-internet world. I watched what was on TV, because it was the only thing that was on. I want to hear about their experiences having everything “on demand,” and how that shapes their interests, education, and learning. These choice menus allow my class to turn into a learning environment where we are all learning from one another, and because the students are connecting the material to their experiences and contexts, they are often eager to share. This model would not have been possible without support from my colleagues. Once again, our wild ideas become refined and possible through collaborating.
Years ago, we said “It takes a village to raise a child,” but lately it seems that tradition has fallen out of fashion. Politics has led us to believe that public schools are places for indoctrination, and that person down the road may be a predator or bad influence. We seem to be more inclined to shut our doors to ideas that shake our contexts, traditions, and morals, even though several theories support that this is exactly how we strengthen our convictions, shake those same convictions, learn new things, and become more empathic. Despite that being the sentiment on social media and popular cable news networks, that is not what I am seeing in my class. My students are more homogenous than when I was a student, they are eager to learn from one another, use technology to do so, and try new things. I hope these same kids enter the adult world with their eyes and minds as open as they are in my classroom, and I will still be there waiting to learn from the next batch that I have the pleasure to meet. References: Cherry, K. (2022, June 3). Sociocultural theory of development. Verywell Mind. Https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-sociocultural-theory-2795088 McGregor, D (2022, July 22). My Learning Theory Stop Motion. [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/TwJRU6F-834
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David McGregorI am an English teacher and cat lover from Genesee County, Michigan who is eager to learn new things. Archives
August 2022
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