CUNY Practicum: Teaching Psychology In The Community College

odd schedule and conference surprise

The last three weeks were odd in that my class didn't meet much because of the Monday holidays and then met on Wednesday this week, instead of the regularly scheduled Monday. This class also only meets once per week for three hours so regularity of meeting is much needed. Everyone was off their rhythm (myself included)....my students hadn't kept up with the reading or had read ahead and there was no lecture to reinforce that reading so it was soon forgotten. I realized that I too need a routine, not just in schedule, with my class but also in how I outline a lesson. I attempted to do so a bit differently this week since we also had to review for a take home essay exam, and the lesson seemed disjointed and there wasn't much time at the end of class for the usual group activity. Normally I would postpone the exam a week but the class withdrawal deadline is looming and there was already too much time in between when most of the material was covered and the exam.

Additionally, I learned that my conference submission on a topic we discussed here (The Multicultural Classroom and Implications for Instruction) was accepted and that the conference is in less than 4 weeks! Evidently some snail mail got crossed so I didn't receive any info on this when it was sent out in early January. I spent a lot of time lately getting a draft together for the paper to be presented and as a result, felt guilty that I didn't have a better activity planned for my students when we all got back.

As for the conference draft, I am  writing about our unique opportunities at here at CUNY and at much of SUNY to teach in multicultural environments and how this good fortune also leads to some challenges, not just for us as instructors, but for our students as well. I plan on approaching the second half of the talk, discussing implications for instruction from a constructivist viewpoint. Wish me luck....and I hope that I don't feel too guilty when I read their exams this week!

Class Discussions

Reading all of our posts on class discussion, I see that we are thinking about making active discussion happen in a meaningful way in the lesson (not mearly asking and answering questions). Peter is also looking for descriptions on how it is happening....or how we know it is happening as he brings up the concept of a "constructivist conversation'. I thought about this a bit and it kept bringing me back to the big question of "how knowledge is acquired'...How do we know what we know...And do we really know that we know something. 

Since philosophers have been strugggling with these issues for centuries, we are not going to solve them on this blog but, keeping the concepts in mind seemed like a good idea to me. The "how we know we actually know a certain thing" is mostly going to be assesed by testing. But Piagetians look at the how knowledge is acquired in a constructivist way. so how do Piagetians consider a discussion "constructivist"?...Maybe not by looking solely at its content but by concentrating on its approach.

Our students look to us the bearers of knowledge and the holders of grades. They look to us to begin discussions, ask questions, and provide the answers to those questions. All in all, not a confidence building approach to acquiring knowledege. A Piagetian approach to discussion might be one where, as the knowledge bearers, we base an opening question or a scenario for discussion on a somewhat common experience for the age group (in our case, a grade group of college students). A "constructivist discussion" might begin with students relating a lesson topic or some aspect of the material to a personal experience or to some existing knowledge already in their set of schemas. The actual discussion might be students sharing their experiences on the topic or any insights gained relating to that experience with the new information presented in the lesson. Here we can be moderators instead of instructors, and be seen as such. The aim is for students to feel that they have reached some valid conclusion on thier own or have some valuable insight in to the topic. Initially a good confidence builder for those who saw us as "bearers of knowledge and grades". ...to bring them to a place where they can feel that they are active partcipants in the learning process and that the experience they come in with is a valuable learning tool.

Piaget doesn't talk much about confidence and self concept, etc., but he sees that acquiring knowledge is a systematic construction on already existing base. That base is not necessarily a foundation that fits the new topic exactly or a new exercise precisely, but somewhere within our schemas we can find a link where we can say I know this works this way or I know this to be true therefore can perform this new task. Experience is knowledge that everyone has.

Practical ESL In The College Classroom

ESL issues in the college classroom as opposed to the secondary school classroom, for example, present different challenges for both the instructor and the student. Firstly, the college curriculum puts a greater emphasis on reading texts and other written material where understanding this material is essential for success in college. Secondly, cultural difference is magnified when written assignments assume a previous common cultural knowledge. Adding cultural knowledge to the need to clearly express your thoughts in a language (usually English) which may be a second or third language for the student is an even greater challenge. Bridging issues of language, culture and experience (all in the mix) along with the expectations of curriculum and testing, can be daunting. What, as educators, do we emphasize when setting testing and grading parameters? Is the "level of correctness" of expression in the language of utmost importance?....Is finding some level of assimilation with new knowledge a better test of learning?....Is encouraging discourse between knowledge and experience also important? In any case, how do we measure success since experience in a multicultural classroom can be so diverse where the assimilation process of learning and language might be just as diverse. For a moment lets separate what might be seen as cultural factors from issues of language. The more obvious language issues -the verbal and written interaction in a language which may not be the student's first language or best language-define what is often considered the ESL experience. As a college instructor, taking an interactive approach in the classroom allows for the opportunity to see the classroom as a microcosm of experience. A participatory approach to the classroom allows both instructors and students to see the classroom as a space for open exchange. I have not been successful in solving ESL issues in the classroom by assigning less or more reading material. I have found that, often, exhaustive searches for "the right assignment" for an entire class can be eased by recognizing that there are different levels of issues and that allow for addressing the problem. I do keep in mind possibilities of actively and regularly using writing centers or learning centers for quick solutions- proofreading or reviewing an assignment. But, within the classroom, language differences and differences in experience, can be used as a mode of interpretation for the student and as a channel for discourse. In addition, reviewing previous lectures (using the same terminology while doing so) before beginning new ones seems to assist everyone, not just the ESL students. I sometimes read questions and directions to the class and this seems to ease the tension of a language barrier before an assignment or exam. Spoken language and "heard language" are reinforces for what is written as well as supplements to the topics to be read. In introducing a new topic (in psychology, the introduction of a new theory with its new terminology can be akin to learning a new language) concentrating on the "big questions" or on the "big picture" and asking students what this means to them as individuals, spurs discussion and begins to cross multicultural and multilingual lines by meshing them....the "oh yeah" and "me too" among the group allows the topic, and the terminology, to be assimilated. Once a relationship is made and new terms become part of a discussion (hopefully crossing some barriers of language) related topics can be introduced and new questions situated in a specific space and time that everyone there can relate to in some way. This is a good time for a small group activity. Students tend to situate themselves with groups in close proximity to where they are seated. After about the first two weeks of class, students interact with each other and those who are experiencing language issues are much more outspoken and apt to ask questions, as well as actively participate in discussion, in the small peer group setting. The group forms its own dynamics and the participants develop ways for interaction (even with shorter activities) as participants in a social group would. Furthermore, following-up assigned readings and lectures with activities, the discussion groups become action groups where the participants work together with the purpose of drawing conclusions on an assignment. These conclusions can then be presented to the class and parallels among the groups are noted. This type of activity seems to ease language difficulties and diminish barriers to learning the material. Also, re-reading some portion of the assigned text right after a group activity or exercise reinforces new terminology. I look at this as a circular approach to learning which is especially helpful to those who may be unfamiliar with the language and overall facilitates a more layered assimilation with new material.

Comment on Stanley Fish's "Aim Low"

Fish asks an interesting question: What are the assumptions or prescriptions under which academe and its professors try to change student thinking? Is the answer here through pure curriculum (material) and is there even a such thing? By saying that we, as professors, have any responsibility beyond pure transmission of material is already admitting that we are mediators in the process. By admitting that we are mediators does that force us to take on some additional responsibility (such as that of those in the public eye to be "role models"...like it or not)?   

I considered this role as mediator between the transmission of material (and I use "transmission" to mean teaching in its least mediated form)  and the goal. If my goal is to have students meet some predetermined agenda on social justice and civic responsibility; the relationship between the material I teach (in my conscious attempt to be as unprejudiced about Jung as I may be toward Lewin, for example) must automatically change.

Any agenda I preach to my students about social justice and civic responsibility is going to be a slanted one....a prejudiced one...I will be mediating the material in the most personal way, using my own values (or worse yet, statutes determined to be so by the academic institution) and citing "civic responsibility" while dictating beliefs and charging toward forming consensus opinion. When does a student's own set of personal values (those values that brought them to college initially) become validated? As people, it is their responsibility to integrate material and frame it within who they already are. We are in the business of believing that knowledge can facilitate change, respecting the potential for some personal assimilation of knowledge and some personal interpretation of canons should be the goal.

We do have responsibilities as professors but, whether institutional or personal, social and political agendas (suspected by both Fish and I to be heavily leftist anyway) are not respectful of who our students are as people. Even if we fear the "commercialization of education", we should not dictate a belief system. If we trust in what we are doing as educators we will allow our students to gather all these little bits of knowledge slowly as they move around the university. We will allow for the process of a student drawing his/her own conclusions and forming his/her own opinions, and we believe that this process will happen.

Whether this is enough for the enormity of "civic responsibility", I don't know, but a pretty good start is if we aim high and trust in what we are really here to do.       

Teaching Statement

I have thought about my role as teacher for quite a while. I have been teaching formally for some time in various settings. The more thought that went into this statement the more I realized that I am not new to teaching at all and neither is anyone actually. Developmentally, as human beings we are all teachers and learners throughout our lifespan. What differs may be what we know or "what we bring" to a setting, how we approach the setting for teaching and learning...what we do, when we do it, with whom are we interacting?...where do we come from?...and where are we now?

Opportunities for teaching have presented themselves in all areas of my life. Integrating these experiences into the college classroom setting is something I consciously attempt to do. My students also come to the classroom with experiences of learning as well as teaching. At times, for both my students and myself, I see that there is a distance to bridge between the things learned and taught in what we consider "life" and how we approach the learning and teaching environment of the college classroom. When I come to this comfortably, I can approach this role of "teacher" with the same organic foundation that both my students and myself share as learners....so none of us are actually new to these concepts and practices.....But what about the material and the setting?....This may be where we run into potential barriers.   

I do orient my approach to the premise that my students bring with them a pool of experiences that are knowledge. My teaching approach has been, not only to facilitate discussion and disseminate new information but to provide guidance where connections between the multitudes of cultural and personal experiences that make up each individual in that classroom group. This may or my not be particularly important in the teaching of psychology since much of the classical theories in the field don't really consider these types of individual differences as factors.

I try to ask myself, as I approach a topic, theory, or any new lesson....How can I connect what people know and bring to the classroom with the information found in texts, in a way in which it can be fairly integrated with experience? This usually isn't just about knowledge but about finding a common interactive space with my community college students who are from various backgrounds and have different learning experiences in a classroom setting.

These are just some of what I see as the trajectories that meet in the space of the classroom. ...As if just identifying the classroom as a space, a space to bridge, or a as space of difference, isn't a task intimidating enough...Now I need to identify (or create) connections to facilitate the transmission of material successfully. If I have one teaching statement it is that I am there to provide guidance to where connections can be made between culture and personal experience, with the curriculum.

welcome!

Welcome to the QCC parcticum blogs.