Multi-Media Presentation: Session 10: Organizing What We Know - The Structure of the Disciplines
To download essay, click on name of response file below:
To download essay, click on name of response file below:
wjs_session10_discipline-structure_21june-2016.pdf |
Session 10
Organizing What We Know:
The Structure of the Disciplines
A Common Core with Variations
William J. Smith
June 21, 2016
Response File: wjs_session10_discipline-structure_21June-2016.pdf
My preferred approach to teaching is to heighten students’ interest and enjoyment of learning “through the ‘sense of excitement of discovery’ they experience as the structure of a discipline becomes clear to them.” (Darling-Hammond et al., 2003; Bruner, 1960)
Since the central modes of inquiry and knowledge-finding tools of the disciplines all begin with the same questions,
and certain ideas cut across disciplines to form a common core—namely notions of
a similar ‘sense of excitement of discovery’ exists for all disciplines.
These similarities facilitate the transfer of knowledge of approach, if not facts, from one discipline to the other. I can help my students understand the structure of a topic by providing an overarching conceptualization of the big ideas and then locating specific facts or information that relate to the big ideas. (Darling-Hammond et al., 2003)
Comparison of Methods for Discovering Knowledge for Various Disciplines
Discipline
Description
Analysis
Careful Ob-
servation
Evidence
Theory
Language
Phonics
Semantics
Patterns
Usage and meaning, Root meanings
Word patterns and meaning
Syntax
Literature
Story
Plot
Patterns
Literary elements
Character
Theme
History
Story
Validity
Patterns
Conjecture
Contempo-
rary accounts
Archaeology
Events
Power
Culture
Society
Mathematics
Frame
Equations
Graphs
Patterns
Conjecture
Equations
Manipula-
tives
Proofs
Manipula-
tives
Physical predictions
Inverse operations
Ratio and proportion
Balance and Equilibrium
Biology
Story
Equations
Taxonomy
Genetics
Chemistry
Patterns
Phenotypes
Genes
Reactions
Flora and fauna, chemical structures
Evolution
The table above, Comparison of Methods for Discovering Knowledge for Various Disciplines, shows that the methods of inquiry for all of the disciplines have many similarities, and thus discovery engenders a similar sense of excitement for any of the disciplines. The disciplines use methods of inquiry that are similar at a higher metacognitive level, indicated by the column headings in the table, and a comparison of the elements in cells for each discipline show that disciplines rely on many of the same more concrete elements for discovery. For example concrete stories are used to describe three of the five disciplines, literature, history and biology, and concrete patterns are sought to analyze all five of the disciplines. Some of the concrete elements for biological analysis and observation are unique, for instance taxonomy and genetics.
The similarities in the methods of inquiry into the disciplines illustrates that some concepts, such as patterns, are fundamental to acquisition of knowledge. I plan to find or create spiral curricula that introduce these central and fundamental concepts “early in a child’s education and revisits these concepts again and again in the later grades in more sophisticated ways.” (Darling-Hammond et al., 2003, pg. 176) By using spiral curricula, I will narrow the gap between ‘advanced’ knowledge and ‘elementary’ knowledge” (Bruner, 1960, p. 26) and provide my students the knowledge and learning strategies they need to provide for themselves and their families in a competitive world.
References
1. Darling-Hammond et al. 2003. The Learning Classroom: Theory Into Practice. Detroit: Annenberg Media.
2. J. Bruner 1960. The importance of structure. In The process of education (pp. 16-32). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Organizing What We Know:
The Structure of the Disciplines
A Common Core with Variations
William J. Smith
June 21, 2016
Response File: wjs_session10_discipline-structure_21June-2016.pdf
My preferred approach to teaching is to heighten students’ interest and enjoyment of learning “through the ‘sense of excitement of discovery’ they experience as the structure of a discipline becomes clear to them.” (Darling-Hammond et al., 2003; Bruner, 1960)
Since the central modes of inquiry and knowledge-finding tools of the disciplines all begin with the same questions,
- How does each discipline construct, critique, and revise knowledge?
- How do you know something is true?
- What counts as evidence?
and certain ideas cut across disciplines to form a common core—namely notions of
- description,
- analysis,
- careful observation,
- the evidence for a claim and
- theory
a similar ‘sense of excitement of discovery’ exists for all disciplines.
These similarities facilitate the transfer of knowledge of approach, if not facts, from one discipline to the other. I can help my students understand the structure of a topic by providing an overarching conceptualization of the big ideas and then locating specific facts or information that relate to the big ideas. (Darling-Hammond et al., 2003)
Comparison of Methods for Discovering Knowledge for Various Disciplines
Discipline
Description
Analysis
Careful Ob-
servation
Evidence
Theory
Language
Phonics
Semantics
Patterns
Usage and meaning, Root meanings
Word patterns and meaning
Syntax
Literature
Story
Plot
Patterns
Literary elements
Character
Theme
History
Story
Validity
Patterns
Conjecture
Contempo-
rary accounts
Archaeology
Events
Power
Culture
Society
Mathematics
Frame
Equations
Graphs
Patterns
Conjecture
Equations
Manipula-
tives
Proofs
Manipula-
tives
Physical predictions
Inverse operations
Ratio and proportion
Balance and Equilibrium
Biology
Story
Equations
Taxonomy
Genetics
Chemistry
Patterns
Phenotypes
Genes
Reactions
Flora and fauna, chemical structures
Evolution
The table above, Comparison of Methods for Discovering Knowledge for Various Disciplines, shows that the methods of inquiry for all of the disciplines have many similarities, and thus discovery engenders a similar sense of excitement for any of the disciplines. The disciplines use methods of inquiry that are similar at a higher metacognitive level, indicated by the column headings in the table, and a comparison of the elements in cells for each discipline show that disciplines rely on many of the same more concrete elements for discovery. For example concrete stories are used to describe three of the five disciplines, literature, history and biology, and concrete patterns are sought to analyze all five of the disciplines. Some of the concrete elements for biological analysis and observation are unique, for instance taxonomy and genetics.
The similarities in the methods of inquiry into the disciplines illustrates that some concepts, such as patterns, are fundamental to acquisition of knowledge. I plan to find or create spiral curricula that introduce these central and fundamental concepts “early in a child’s education and revisits these concepts again and again in the later grades in more sophisticated ways.” (Darling-Hammond et al., 2003, pg. 176) By using spiral curricula, I will narrow the gap between ‘advanced’ knowledge and ‘elementary’ knowledge” (Bruner, 1960, p. 26) and provide my students the knowledge and learning strategies they need to provide for themselves and their families in a competitive world.
References
1. Darling-Hammond et al. 2003. The Learning Classroom: Theory Into Practice. Detroit: Annenberg Media.
2. J. Bruner 1960. The importance of structure. In The process of education (pp. 16-32). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.