2011 EDLD 655 Watch 1, Day 3: Sociohistoric/Sociocultural
2011: Hear teachers and educational leaders discuss observations of learning theories at work. To post, just click on "Post a Comment" below and a screen will come up for typing.
While at a middle school during the lunch period, I observed a group of students in the courtyard playing basketball. They were taking turns shooting "free-throws." Each student would take a shot, collect the rebound, and pass the ball to the next person in line. The other students waited in line for their turn. All of the students followed this routine which appeared to have definite structure. If any student attempted to modify the routine, by taking an extra shot, cutting in line, not retrieving the rebound, etc., the student was quickly corrected by the verbal prompts of his peers. It did happen to be all boys playing this game. Girls in the courtyard did not attempt to engage in the activity, and instead gathered and mingled at the perimeters of the courtyard. The "rules" for this activity, including who is an appropriate participant, seem to be constructed by the social group, in this case middle school boys. These rules guide the behavior and actions of students in this courtyard, therefore appear to fit withing the Sociocultural context. Individual thought did not really seem to be necessary to understand the process, and in fact was not rewarded.
Question: Using the sociocultural theory, how much do you think learning and achievement is still affected by traditional gender roles, despite our best efforts to provide equity?
I dropped in on the "Voices of the Sixties" class, not intending to do this observation, but catching a serendippitious moment where a group was engaging in a sociohistoric behavior.
The class is studying the history and persons of the 1960s through the art, history, and politics of the era. As part of the class, the students are grouped and are required to create a time-line of self-determined important events for one year and then to demonstrate it in a short video documentary. I happened in while the class was in initial group meetings over what they would do.
We have a school-wide learning protocol we call "EDCRO" - which is an acronym for Explore, Design, Create, Refine and Own. The goal is to get kids to focus on the process of creation and learning rather than just coming up with an answer. In the Voices of the 60s class, the groups were in the initial "Explore" phase, talking out what skills they possessed and considering their options. While I was in the class, I over heard one group talking about some potential directions for their project when one of the younger students started outlining the actual project demonstration. Another student in the group cautioned the student to not get too ahead of project and said "hey, don't jump to create. . ." In this way, the student was reinforcing the learning model and was encouraging the other students to honor the process.
In answer to Andy's question, I don't believe that learning and achievement HAS to be adversely affected or effected by gender roles. However, in order to overcome it, I do believe that a good deal of effort has to be put into creating a learning environment that establishes behaviors that honor diversity. And it has to be more than slogans, but actual behaviors that can be reinforced by students and teachers. We use "Show Up, Be Present, Speak Your Truth (without Blame, Shame, or Judgement), and Be Open to Outcome" The goal being to give members parameters to operate and function in.
At the elementary school we have lost our media specialist due to budget cuts. The library had become a bit disarrayed. This year the local parent group adopted our library as one of their projects to maintain its integrity. Many parents volunteered service over the winter break to clean and organize the books and other areas in the media center. The challenge they brought to me as principal was how to teach students to show respect and take responsibility in caring for the library’s future use. The parent group brainstormed ideas and then presented their solution to me. What I observed was this: One parent instructed the students on proper procedures for finding books, students were observing as they listened. Next, the students were asked to get out of their seats and role play what they just observed, this was imitating the appropriate behavior, and finally, the teacher asked the students how this behavior will help them during their learning experiences at school. The student’s responses were surprising; their answers represent the future modeling of appropriate behavior they will demonstrate to help maintain the library for all students to use. Older students shared insights on how to assist younger grades. The learning experience from the parents proved to be a positive outcome for all the students in school.
Today in another course of mine, we discussed strategies that promote life-long learners. My professor relayed a story around getting middle-school students to perform above typical standards. What he described was to me the quintessential sociocultural learning theory.
Ask the students what project they are interested in doing for the term as a class (a society). This particular class chose to study hovercrafts and the project was to construct an actual hovercraft as a team. The students were in charge of researching the science and mathematics behind design. The teacher provided them with strategies on how to get materials, as the funding the received for the project was not sufficient to buy all of the necessary tools and equipment. The teacher taught the students to write proposals to local companies asking if they’d be willing to donate to their cause.
Here is where the modeling comes into play. The students’ first test of their hovercraft revealed that their vehicle could levitate but not move forwards or backwards. The educator asked the class if they were satisfied with the results of their project. The class was indeed not satisfied. They wanted to create a hovercraft that could move and fly over water. Without prompt from their teacher, the students started writing more proposals. The teacher did not have to provoke the students at all, they new what they should do to further the development of their project.
In response to Andy’s question: I would assume that in the sociocultural theory, gender roles still play a major role of learning and achievement. It would be necessary for the facilitator/educator to model diversity and equity among gender (i.e. putting both male and female students in leadership roles, etc.). We see this learning-taking place – with all of the serious bullying issues in schools around homophobia – spiraling out of control on the Internet. This is one of the negative outcomes of sociocultural behaviors. As educators it’s our duty to be allies and model culturally competent behavior so that our students start to share in eradicating injustices such as gender or sexual discrimination. --Whitney Davis
Our school hosted an author in residence this week. Her visit began with an assembly for students K-2, scheduled for 45 minutes. The speaker was engaging, used visuals, answered questions but 45 minutes is a long time for a 7 year old to sit on a mat. The students in the front several rows were in the active zone and better able to stay focused on the speaker, the students in the back less so. As the time went bye, the students in the back began to sway and fidget. This movement appeared something like wind in a wheat field, until it hit the front several rows where the students remained still. The students in the middle, who had been swaying (influenced by the back) stopped when observing the front section's attending posture. The back section then reactively stopped swaying and sat still for several minutes. Then the wave pattern started again. In this situation, the group appeared to be reacting to the conflicting stimuli of interest and inappropriate duration. The models were not selected by their sex, intellect or social skills, but rather by the fact that they were better able to attend due to proximity. Besides being rather hilarious to watch, I found it interesting that the kids maintained for a challenging duration by observation and imitation of appropriate models. Would this be an example of a learning circumstance where the behaviors are maintained via sociocultural ways and the curriculum is delivered otherwise?
Response to Andy; modeling respect in a classroom goes along way in providing positive role models for gender and other inequties. However, we are fighting an increasingly stronger foe with media influence. Kids are more attuned to electronic messages through advertising and the sterotypical characters they see in video games and movies. On occasion, the producers of this garbage has tried to negate some of this imagery by introducing a strong femaly character but that is not enough. Lessons in the classroom that continue to focus on awareness at least bring attention to this issue.
I observed a Sunday school class at a local Christian church this past weekend. The class was for 6-8 year old kids. The focus was definitely socio-cultural activites. The discussion had to do with bullying. The kids watched a 10 minute video of students in a playground engaged in a bullying activity. In the film one child stood up for the child being bullied and was able to stop the action. The children were then facilitated through a role-play with what they would do in the situation. Each group reinacted almost to the word what they had seen on in the film. A discussion followed with how this fit into Christian values.
This was an obviously slanted lesson but how much of our own bias and cultural upbringing comes into play when teaching value type lessons as we frequently do in social studies and on occasion, science?
I observed a middle school life skill classroom walking to McDonalds. During this activity students were working on two very important life skills street crossing and ordering a meal at a fast food restaurant. During my observation learning consistently occurred through interaction, negotiation, and collaboration. In the first portion of the observation, street crossing, students were guided by safety and rules set in place by society. In the second portion of the observation, ordering a meal at McDonalds, student actions were guided by society expectations. Role playing was used previous to the activities and a great deal of modeling was used throughout. I liked Cathy's example. Probably behaviors on that day were maintained due to several variables such as sociocultural factors, curriculum, pre-teaching, modeling, rewards and consequences, etc. It would be interesting to study which of these had the greatest effect on student behavior that day. Brian Brands
I observed sociocultural learning in the context of a community budget meeting held at our school last night. In this meeting, our principal presented information on the projected budget for next year in our district to a group of about 10 parents (it was game night, after all). The parents were then asked to come up with ideas to "solve" the budget shortfall and write each idea on a notecard. From there they shared notecards and also were able to read ideas written by our staff in a similar activity earlier in the week. They were then asked to choose two of their ideas to explore in further detail to submit to the superintendent.
Where I think the sociocultural learning took place was during the discussion of ideas. It was interesting to watch parents who were adamant about one solution (outsource transportation! close the library!) consider and adopt the ideas of others through this discussion. At the end of the meeting it was the ideas of the most persuasive parents that were chosen by the group, not necessarily the best or most feasible ideas. It was an interesting example of the social group creating meaning and then influencing the environment in turn.
In response to Andy's question, I think it's important for teachers (and adults in general) to surface gender bias as they see it to make kids as aware of it as possible. Hopefully then kids can use sociocultural learning to make new meanings about what is appropriate.
I observed a curriculum council meeting. Previously, I “watched” teachers deliver instruction to students, so I wanted to apply the sociohistoric/sociocultural framework to adult learning. I found that observing adult behavior during a formal/structured activity was quite amusing. Adults in this room were quick to nod in agreement while a person had the floor. One nod usually made it acceptable for several others to imitate this behavior proving that they were attentive and agreeable. However, I did not observe adults shaking their head when they did not agree. Did this mean that everyone in the room was in agreement on all 6 agenda items? Probably not… It was a behavior they learned from one another. One other behavior I found interesting during this exercise was how many people took unstructured breaks. We went for 30 minutes until someone got up and hit the snack table outside of a scheduled break. Not 15 seconds later another person followed. Within 2 minutes 2 others left to use the bathroom. Question: Is the last example more a sign of a poorly constructed agenda, or is this a classic example of sociohistoric/sociocultural framework?
I was out supervising lunch when I became entranced by all the things that Middle School Boys will do to entertain themselves.
After the throwing of the football became old hat, one student began sprinting down the field backwards; the entire group of 8-10 followed. Then came the "twirling run" by another student. Immediately, all followed. Then another student began to skip backwards as fast as possible - now that was a real hoot to watch a passel of 8th grade boys imitating each other in this fashion. I had never seen them emulate each other in this way before. Clearly, they were encouraged by the group dynamic to do things they probably would never do, or think to do on their own. The rules were unspoken, but very clear. They all adapted and quickly followed on another.
As to Andy's question, I found it interesting that only boys were participating in this show of physical dexterity and prowess. I notice on a daily basis how classroom behavior is affected due to the interplay between genders. I often wonder how our coupling of the genders in schools and the resulting sociocultural learning that takes place (not driven by the academic curriculum) may unintentionally support traditional gender roles and biases.
The classroom I observed implements the TRIBES Program, a program designed to create a classroom community whereby students play an active role in the establishment of class norms, managing the behaviors of one another, problem solving issues that arise, and working collaboratively toward the education and well-being of all. As such, I observed students reminding others of classroom expectations. For example, I witnessed one student say, “Be quiet and pay attention” using a whisper and pointing to the teacher. The table groups also receive recognition for making positive group choices and for meeting group goals. Students encourage one another and are the primary managers of the group’s behavior. During recess, a student in this same class reminded a classmate that he was unable to stand next to student X in line. The social community and expectations drive the behavior of the students. It’s amazing how easily students can be led, either in a positive direction or “off a cliff”, as my mother used to say.
After watching all three theories in action, what I am finding is that the best teachers utilize a combination of all three theories. Are you noticing the same thing?
At my school, we have used student-to-student role-playing to teach expectations, just as sjones shared about her students and library expectations. We, too, have found this approach quite effective, even more so than adults in the building conducting the role-playing. I think students’ ability to relate to their peers, and their desire to “fit in” and belong, carries with it a great deal of influence.
PS ~ I couldn’t agree with Whitney’s response to Andy’s question more! As educators, we are in a unique position to use the socicultural theory to bring about positive changes around equity and diversity.
for my response to Andy; let me take on the role of the teacher, I get in my class enrollment a disproportionate balance in the gender make up. Testosterone levels are high. Many of these students are referred to as part of the ‘Carhart Gang’ for much of their behavior and appearance comes from media/music influence. Although this may appear stereotypical, the language dialogue amongst many of this particular subculture clearly is a direct result of their observing behavior in television and movies, imitating their ‘image idols’ to the joy, satisfaction and acceptance of their peers, thus reinforcing their behavior to continue, becoming the next model for the underclassmen to look up to. I agree with ccardiff. In that many of the “producers of this garbage” have made attempts recently to curb the potentially negative influence they created. We have a battle front to face in the classroom and throughout our school settings where many a student seeks a more immediate satisfaction for their behavioral acceptance, positive or negative than through the academic efforts we as leaders in education seek in order to appease the educational czars.
Ed's example of the social modeling of breaks is indeed, I think, Bandurian - is that a word? I also think that those are the circumstances that are most vulnerable to the influence of traditional leaders: tall males, smart females, perky kids. When those types get up and go, everyone else rationalizes that its OK. But if the nerd goes for the nachos - nobody moves.
after reading responses over the last few days and having time to reflect on the relationship of the learning theories observed and trying to establish a common ground, I come to my own conclusion that the product of our educational system is a student prepared to enter society with a clear sense of civility, equipped to contribute their best effort to craft the environment in which they choose to reside in to a healthier place than they found it. The challenge we face is to grasp a better understanding of human behavior and utilize an appropriate learning theory within our educational setting that will best reach the masses to effect the expected outcomes for civil acceptance. Effective learning may appear to be happening within the walls of the classroom when both the teacher and student are in harmony with a particular learning style. For those students who need a behaviorist style of learning to be successful and get placed in a classroom with a socio-historical teacher, do conflicts and disruptions to the learning environment arise?
This is not as much an observation as a recounting of a conversation I had with a few very upset 7th grade girls. The girls came to my office today to talk to me because they were upset that a group of sixth grade girls had "stolen" their word and would not stop using it. They said in upset voice "they are using it as if it is theirs"! After trying to understand what in the world had them so upset about a word I came to find out that these 7th graders had decided a few months back that the word "poppin" was the word for this year and they would use it in all appropriate occasions. (poppin means something like cool or awesome)Well, sometime recently a group of 6th graders had began using it and the 7th graders did not like it. By the end of the conversation I think we got to the understanding that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
It seems to me that this definitely fits within the sociocultural context. As the 6th grade girls clearly modeled their behavior after the 7th grade girls. The 6th graders witnessed the 7th graders word choice being reinforced by the social group and picked up the word hoping for the same reinforcement.
In response to Andy, I would say that gender roles continue to impact learning and achievement. However, I wonder, as we create a more equitable environment, are personality types and personal interests beginning to have a greater impact than gender on subject specific learning and achievement?
Staff meetings have distinct cultures. I often wonder how a culture is created. I had ideas. I manipulated environments and structured agendas.
My observation begins with a question: Is culture created when people participate in a sociohistoric learning process? Could the work-culture of a staff be the acceptable behaviors of a group to reach implicit or explicit goals?
At a recent staff meeting I observed when I had not set the room by creating a circle of chairs (which I usually do by arriving early) the first person arriving began the process without asking. Other staff members arrived and help to finish the arrangement also without asking. This kind of arrangement is something I started at the beginning of the school year and never stated why. The staff seems to like it and now without direction will form the circle. Was this a form of sociohistoric learning or mimicry or appeasing a supervisor?
Sociohistoric learning was also evident in establishing a new tradition at staff meetings. It is now expected there will always be an "Art Break" near the middle of a meeting. People look forward to this event as a light or uplifting moment at the meeting. The Art Break was suggested last October and now it is a regular event provided at every meeting based on a rotation cycle. This is a new element to the culture of a staff meeting.
Perhaps I am totally off the mark. Yet I still wonder is sociohistoric learning at play when a staff culture is established and takes root and the practices are repeated?
I can remember my time in Germany as a Judo trainer. I was doing that once a week as a volunteer. Another trainer and me trained a group of kids for participating at the Special Olympics 2006 in Berlin. Our Judo group met regularly and the members in general stayed the same. Sometimes new athletes came and wanted to join. I can remember when that happened once because this person had no knowledge of Judo before but by observing his friends he adjusted the behavior. In Judo the respect against the other person is very important and even when you fight with each other and you loose, you shake hands for being thankful making sport with each other.
This person also adapted the skills/techniques the others were doing. My example should show that someone can adapt positive information by imitating others.
As a result I do not totally agree with Bandura where his thesis are often used for television. In Germany Prof. Dr. Dr. Spitzer could show that there is a big difference modeling behavior from television and daily life. It might sound too easy that by watching violence in movies youths can become criminals. Modeling can be often used in a positive way too but is not always automatically imitated. E.g. you see ten people passing by a sleeping homeless person and everyone gives him a dollar. Would you also give him a dollar ... ? At this point several circumstances come up to give him a dollar such as social expectations and pressure but it is still not clear if you give him a dollar out of your pocket. On the other hand if you see ten people passing by a sleeping homeless guy and everyone steels him a few cents, would you also do it ... ? According on your sociocultural background it depends ...
I like the question you are asking about how much of our personal role influence when we teach. It reminded me on the Rosenthal-effect in scientific research. It says that the responsible person in a research influences the results the way he would like to have it. Well in teaching a class against bullying and raising your voice I see the Rosenthal-effect as a positive instrument.
In music class I observed some sociocultural learning mixed with behavioral. The kids all want to play the instruments (marimbas and other percussion), its very popular. The music teacher asks for students who know how to demonstrate a certain instrument or skill. Hands shoot up. Teacher tells students to watch carefully and a jam session begins. Teacher also watches to see which kids are really watching players and being still/quiet. He will choose one to replace someone, and over time, all jammers have been replaced and still more are cycling in. Kids who get in but cant keep the rhythm or hit the right notes are pulled out rather quickly and told to watch a bit longer. They later got another turn. At the end of class, students led the putting away and care of instruments, with the older kids being leaders (mixed age class).
Students modeling tasks and agreed upon class behavior norms (they were not discussed but apparently set in place).
Weighing in on gender---the more we embrace all diversity the farther we will move from narrow roles. I have noticed that in some cultures females are very outspoken and powerful and physically active, while in others people-- male or female-- are more passive and quiet, or communicative or have different intellectual passions. As Suzy said, at some point we will get to accepting the range of individual differences and preferences without trying to typify so much.
That said, I spend most recesses challenging girls to MOVE! Jump rope, shoot hoops, hula hoop, tether ball, please ANYTHING but sitting on the cold cement chatting. The boys never stop moving. So far I have brought jump rope back as a 2/3rd standard, those 4/5th grade girls are not budging. Really, I understand sedentary and chatting, but they are kids and moving is so healthy!
When a new student arrives, he/she can learn new knowledge by observing class/classmates. I have seen that every new student can surprisingly adapt to new environment well. New students know what they should do or what they should not do by oberving class/classmates. This is a small example of sociocultural perspective. I think the concept of sociohistoric/sociocultural is so broad and complicated. Also, it is impossible to explain learning process/human education with certain perspective. I think there is no exaggeration that our life is along the continuumwe of learning in ways of sociocultural.
* response to sjones: Whenever I recognized or observed how students are good at observing, imitating and modeling like the instance sjones said, I feel strong responsibility in teaching as a teacher. It is because students are going to oberve, imitate and model us(teachers) in school. right? :)
Andy's question about traditional gender roles and equity is interesting. Students will probably gravitate to roles that are comfortable to them. For this to happen it means certain conditions have been created by educators to allow for an equitable education and an equal access to resources. Add to the mix the influence of popular culture and the theories of evolutionary biology and answering Andy's question could be even more complicated. My hope is we aim high and have a non-judgemental approach to providing a safe environment for a student to explore their own path to becoming a fully realized citizen.
Andy's question about traditional gender roles and equity is interesting. Students will probably gravitate to roles that are comfortable to them. For this to happen it means certain conditions have been created by educators to allow for an equitable education and an equal access to resources. Add to the mix the influence of popular culture and the theories of evolutionary biology and answering Andy's question could be even more complicated. My hope is we aim high and have a non-judgemental approach to providing a safe environment for a student to explore their own path to becoming a fully realized citizen.
Yesterday a new student entered our building. I worked with the student before school, explaining our building explanations, touring the building and introducing him to key staff members he would be working with throughout his day. When we arrived in the classroom the teacher quickly introduced the student to several peers and assigned a peer to be his buddy for the day, a strategy used by most teachers in my building. Throughout the day as I observed the student was imitating his peer buddy or other students. Today, as his peer buddy faded into the background we discovered a need for an intervention as this student began imitating cartoons and other characters from various media sources on the playground and during the end of the day transition. The teacher and I met following school and will start a more behaviorist theory style intervention with him tomorrow.
In response to Suzy’s question about teachers who use all three approaches I too find the best teachers do use a combination of all three approaches to learning within their rooms. In addition, those students who work with those teachers tend to have higher expectations of their peers and themselves.
In response to Andy’s question how much do you think traditional gender roles effects student learning and achievement, I feel it does and we needed to work to provide equity and accessibility to courses for students. This year we discovered some very interesting data in the fall as we prepared our CIP plan. Our math data at the secondary level showed our girls are stronger in math than the boys. In addition, more girls were taking advanced math. We began looking at the gender of our instructors, predominately female. We began questioning whether the gender of the math teacher influences who is taking advanced math.
Today was our school Geography Bee. Kindergarten through 8th grade attended and two students from 3rd through 8th grade participated. I prepped the K's by telling them that they couldn't just blurt out answers when we were there so that the contestants could think and that we needed to be very quiet so they could hear the questions. Apparently that wasn't enough information, because when the first question was asked, one of the kindergarteners raised his hand to answer it. He followed the rules as I told him to be very quiet and not blurt out answers. The kids around him understood what was going on right away and in their quietest voices (which really aren't very quiet at all) they told him that he wasn't supposed to answer at all! When the next question was asked he looked around to see if he should raise his hand and then didn't because no one else was doing it. I thought this was sociocultural because he was following the cues of the group and members of the group corrected him.
In response to Melissa, I think the poppin story is sociocultural. I might even argue that all language is sociocultural because if you don't have it, you are at a disadvantage of having your needs met. There must also be a shared understanding of what the language means. I liked that story.
This is not an observation that I have made this week but over the past 3 years at High School dances. The style of dance has become very offensive and sexual. We have worked on students understanding how this is not acceptable but they respond by stating it is what all kids are doing and on MTV. These students have learned through observation and my fear is that it continues through further observation with younger students.
A response to Mr. Jones observation of parents and students demonstrating appropriate behavior in the library. Demonstrating behavior while we teach PBS behaviors is a great way for all students to have a better understanding of the school expectations. It seems interesting to me that PBS is now living in the Sociohistoric world.
I observed a 4th grade math class, which had a new student to the group. The teacher uses a lot of call and response types of tools for management. These take the form of the teacher saying, "Class, give her a 10 finger wow," and all of the students in the class turn and wave their fingers at that student and quietly say "Wow." It was an interesting example of behaviorism. BUT, what was most interesting was how quickly the new student caught on, not only to the call and response pieces of the class, but to the overall expectations of students' behavior in the classroom. It was clear that the teacher was modeling what the students' behavior should be, and the students were then modeling classroom expectations for the new students.
In reading through some of the comments, and thinking about my earlier observations, I wonder how clearly one can distinguish between these learning theories. When we see students running to get in line when they hear the bell, are they responding to the bell, or are they responding to seeing their peers line up? Perhaps some of both, and perhaps it is different for each child. However, in seeing the process of group learning, I think we would be remiss in discounting how powerful the social aspect of learning is for students!
Today I watched a group of middle school students during recess. It was raining outside, so the recess was in a small gym and the students were creative in developing a "game" that would satisfy their need to movement and exercise. There was an older group of boys - fairly athletic and very active - that usually play football when recess is outside. Since that wasn't an option in the gym, they came up with a game where they stood in two groups across the gym from each other and used several small squishy footballs to whip back and forth. It wasn't clear what the objective was - to hit a person on the other team? to catch a ball that the other team throws? to hurt someone? (I hope not). In any case, the game became extremely popular very quickly. A group of girls who usually don't engage in physical games tried to join in. A younger student who has more interest in reading than he does in P.E. did his best to join. Fortunately, the group of older boys who started the game were very accepting of the new players and let them join in. I was amazed at how well the new kids could play even though the game had no written, spoken, or directed rules - it was learned purely by watching and then copying.
In response to Amy - I agree. It is so hard to see which theories are at play in any given situation. Previous blogs point out that a blend of approaches may be the best way to reach all kids, so maybe that is what is happening, whether we are trying it or not.
This has been something that I have observed in the last few months. Now that I am working with these young athletes I have started to learn what it takes to help this young men be successful students. When the school year started one guy on the team was struggling with managing his time. It was not until he was around the team and other students that he found out the way to prioritize his time to efficiently take care of school work and other responsibilities.
In response to Fish, I understand how young students can look at all of the entertainment and think that style is popular and it is what dance is all about. In actuality it is about the more general forms of dance that requires precise detail and appreciation. Unfortunately that is not always what drives pop culture.
My driving experience fits into the historicist theory perfectly. I had two years of driving experience in Shanghai, China---which is also a traffic problematic city compared to New York---before I came to U.S. Two years of driving not necessary cultivate my driving skills, instead, I'm more of an aggressive driver. As a result, this directly led me to gain an U.S. driver license at the expenses of taking 4 times of behind-the-wheel test. Due to the fact that less cars and people are here, drivers are more cautious and well behaved. I observed the "new" way of driving, imitated those good driving habits and finally got used to the cautious driving attitude. I felt like that I learned a driving lesson for the second time.
My observation takes place in the AAA library, where students’ behaviors depend on other occupants’ behaviors, general social norms of libraries, and environmental cues. For instance, one group was having a meeting in a small alcove of the library. Their voices were low, but I was quite close and could hear what they were saying. This bothered me a little, but I put on my headphones to cancel out their noise. However, their behavior, unchecked/unregulated, permitted others to start conversing, and I noticed how the noise level gradually rose as more students filtered in with friends. Upon entering the area, they unconsciously assessed the current noise level, and decided to continued talking. This sociocultural behavior of the moment even allowed someone to feel that it was acceptable for them to answer their cellphone! In a LIBRARY!
So. This got me to think about how powerful the presence of others is. In some cases, its peer pressure, in others it’s just that someone hasn’t developed their own stance and it is just much easier to follow what others are doing. It’s very natural to learn from others- monkey see, monkey do. In my classes, we study how the environment can cue certain emotions and behaviors, but I realize that all this is nothing if there is a group culture that defies the purpose of the space.
I believe it would be difficult to have a discussion of sociocultural learning without discussing gender, and I’m happy to have read so many examples in your K-12 classrooms. However I’m eager to learn more about gender issues as professional adults. In a field traditionally male dominated, I have found that I have learned to be much more assertive and confrontational just to survive and be heard. I’d like to ask the class what leadership traits are distinctly female, and how do co-ed classes/groups operate differently between male and female leaders?
We had interactive whiteboard and student response system training this week and my staff was assigned to attend for an hour along with several other staff members. Knowing how negative and difficult s particular staff member can sometimes be, I made a point to drop in on the training when this staff member was to attend. As the training began, he started interupting the trainer and complaining how the new technology tools just weren't going to work in his classroom. His peers quickly responded to each of his comlaints, countering with ways they already were using these tools effectively and they wanted to maximize their time with the trainer. Every excuse he put forth was countered by his peers and after about five complaints, he finally got quiet and joined in on the training, imitating his peers and following the modeling of the trainer.
I found this watch a bit more difficult when I focsed on the classroom. At the secondary level, students often don't want to imitate the modeling of their teacher, and in fact go out of their way to be as different from the adults as possible. Where it is easy to observe this type of learning is in the lunchroom, commons areas, and hallways as students interact socially.
On Tuesday last week, I was discussing some tutor scheduling with my coworkers about when and where we wanted to place some of the students I work with. Through the conversation we decided that it was best to separate the freshman from the upperclassmen so the freshman didn't pick up bad learned behaviors from the upperclassman. Its interesting in my line of work that we really try and eliminate learned behavior between students and keep the learned behavior between either learning specialists and students or tutors and students. However, even though we try and eliminate this behavior, it is unavoidable. Students are always going to interact with each other and younger students are always going to learn both good and bad behaviors from older students.
I really appreciate the three steps that were taken to try and encourage positive learning behavior in the library. I think it is so important to allow every student to opportunity to learn in the style that fits them best. If it be observing others, or acting out the behavior, or talking through the behavior. I experienced this style when I played lacrosse for the U of O. When we would learn new plays our coaches would go through the same process. We would first learn it in more of a classroom setting on a board, then we would go outside and act out the actions and then we would talk through it and do the play in actual game speed.
I sat in on a 6th grade language arts class called Cultural Connections. The teacher began by accessing prior learning ("Who remembers what we did in class yesterday?") and building on that response with more questions, ultimately connecting to the upcoming topic and activity. She announced that they would focus on one of the groups who had been denied civil rights--African Americans--beginning with the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War and going up to the 60s.
She explained the directions for a jigsaw reading activity and placed students in 7 groups, giving each group a different handout to read that was related to the topic. As a group, they were to decide on the main ideas in their articles. She reminded them not to highlight everything, but only the key words and ideas. They will become the experts on these articles, making posters to share info with their classmates for note-taking.
The teacher showed them a sample poster as an example and gave a few more instructions, then they began the job of coming to consensus on what ideas were most essential to share with their classmates. I listened to a few groups as they debated what should be included and why.
In essence, they were working together to create knowledge by adapting their article into a summary of key points essential for understanding the author's message. This fits the description of the Sociohistoric/Sociocultural learning theory.
Fish commented that high school dance style "has become very offensive and sexual" as students imitate what they see on MTV. This caused me to reflect on an experience I had in another culture. I was in Puerto Rico for the summer and had traveled to a town that was celebrating their patron saint's day with a parade lasting several hours. Most of the participants were high school music and dance groups from around the island. They wore lavish costumes and performed choreographed dances at different stops along the parade route. Having grown up in a small, rural town in middle America, I saw aspects of this as similar to our homecoming parades. However, most of the costumes and dance styles on this day would have been rated x and absolutely forbidden in my home environment!
Judging by the reaction of the extended families and community watching the parade, no one seemed to find the teens' suggestive clothing and dances offensive. I witnessed grandmas doing similar dances with young grandchildren on the sidewalks as the music passed by. The difference between this culture and my own was startling. Reading this post made me reflect on how such cultural clashes can create conflict in our schools, where students often originate from other cultures that adhere to different norms.
At work, I sit in with groups of 4-5 students that are supposed to be working on school assignments called structured study. It is interesting to observe one group from another. On Thursday, I had two separate hours of structured study and the dynamic of the hour was completely different. I believe this comes from the social learning theory in that the students in that group make the hour what they want. My first hour, there were two students working on the same class. They began discussing a paper they were writing. The other students jumped in and gave their opinions on the topic. The hour was very productive and the two students got many ideas to begin writing their papers.
The second hour was completely silent. The students came in, sat down, and got straight to work. I know that the two hours were both very productive for the students but it is interesting to observe that depending on the students in the group is going to have an affect on how the hour is structured. In the first group, two students got the group going and the session is now a collaborative group and the second session had students who were quiet and wanted to get their work done silently. This created a culture for the study groups that I am sure will last throughout the term.
In response to Andy, I believe that learning and achievement is still affected by traditional gender roles. This goes down to who to pick to lead the kickball team or which students are called on to answer questions in a group discussion. It is important to be aware of what actions you are making to even out the playing field for all student, giving each and every one of them an opportunity to learn in a safe environment.
It took 3 class periods to train the students. The first period of the day began the experiment. The usual 5 students were tardy. They were issued their tardy slip and punishment. During second period of the day a few students who are normally late came in early and asked the teacher if she was really doing a tardy lock-out. Interestingly enough, by the period after lunch not a single student was tardy. The teacher asked her usual stragglers what motivated them to arrive in such a timely fashion. Their response was that they heard she was doing a tardy lock-out and handing out tardy slips today. It is amazing how quickly information moves through a school.
The Monday after Spring Break is traditionally the day we put up the tether balls. We have two poles, a taller one for the older students and a short one for the primary students. This year, for the first time,we have a preschool on campus and those 3 and 4 year olds share our lunch recess. The little ones stood around and watched in interest as the groups of students marked out their border lines with their heels and began to play. I'm quite certain that these preschoolers had not seen the game played before. Next morning, I looked out me window to see them hitting the ball around. They also were trying to mark border lines with their little feet. A clear example of Sociohistoric/Sociocultural behavior. Note: The game didn't last very long as there is a tendacy for the ball to hit you in the head when you are that small. The stimulus of getting bonked on the head every time you hit the ball served to distinguish that particular behavior pretty quickly! :)
I'm not sure that Peer Pressure is really the right term for learning that takes place by observing other's behavior. It seems like it is more of an instinctual survival mechanism. Are students making a conscience decision to copy behavior or is it more spontaneous?
In a fifth grade Reading class the stated goal was increasing reader fluency. The teacher modeled reading the week's story aloud, pausing for the class to as a group call out significant vocabulary and other words pertinent to the lesson that came up in the text. Next students partner-read aloud, one person reading a passage and the other listening for fluent reading and offering support and suggestions, then the other taking that role. Finally each student read aloud for one minute, timed by the partner. Total words read and mistakes were tallied and recorded for each student. Students first observed the teacher, took turns imitating her example, modeling their best reading for their partner, and finally recorded a sample of their work to record progress. Working with a peer motivated students to learn from each other and to give their best effort to meet the standard set by the teacher at the beginning.
It seems to me that as children become more peer aware that strategies employing socio-cultural learning theory acquire more power as long as the examples modeled are productive ones. We all long to fit in and to be competent in the eyes of others in our peer group. At what point or in what circumstances might the use of these strategies create an uncomfortable social pressure, negating the positive effects of social modeling?
One of our Kindergarten classes was working with their 5th grade buddy classes this week to make Easter baskets. I knew this would be a good opportunity to see the social learning process in action. The Kindergarten teacher was modeling how to make an Easter basket. The kindergarten children were listening very intently as the teacher modeled all the steps. As you can imagine this was of very high interest to them. After the teacher was done modeling, the children were sent back to the tables to produce their own basket with the help of their 5th grade buddy. The excitement carried on through the whole process. Even after they were finished and were walking back to their classes you could tell they were still very excited. They were able to observe their teacher make the basket, they were motivated and they were able to imitate what they learned.
Today I observed a high school agriculture class. The teacher was teaching students to tie rope halters. The teacher modeled how to tie the halters and then split the class into three groups (they had worked on this the previous day as well). Each group was assigned a student leader who was proficient in this task. The groups were divided according to the students progress the previous day. One group was made up of students who had done very well the previous day and was almost done. A second group was part way done, and the third was made up of students who had been absent the previous day, or had gotten very little done. Initially the groups remained intact. However, as the the period wore on, students began to move around and find modeling from other students that was more effective for them. Eventually three new groups were formed. These new groups contained a mix of progress levels, but consisted of students with a common ability to collaborate effectively.
Today I watched an amazing experience in a 9th grade World Cultures/Geography class. The students had a project to create questions for a person in Johannesburg, South Africa. They were going to interview this person via Skype. The students had prepared by separating into different focus groups about economics, religion, culture, indigenous groups, education, health issues, and historic events. The students were completely engaged. Prior to this, they had also studied different countries and problems on the African continent and US involvement or non-involvement in each of these countries. They had studied Libya, Rwanda, and South Africa, as well as other countries.
The social studies teacher had students come before the computer screen to speak to G. and ask him questions. His image was placed on the white interactive board and he looked to engage all students in the room with his relevant responses. The students were very attentive and stayed in their seats after the bell rang at 60 minutes. They have asked to call him back and continue the interview. Not only was G. young (mid-20s-30 years old), but he was educated. He was able to share with the students how he experienced the end of apartheid at age 10, but how it changed his life. He was able to share what it was like to see people so excited about voting that they stood for miles to have the experience. He was able to share what it was like to be part of a “caste” system as a “colored”. He spoke with pride of the economy but explained how dependent it is on the US dollar. He spoke with passion about the need for education to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and build equity within the country.
The teacher wisely had placed two respected students in front of the microphone at first. Before they asked questions, he established his relationship with G. and G. greeted all the students in the classroom. There was a respect, yet informal, question and answer time. They were able to model the appropriate way to ask questions. Other students followed suit. When G. corrected students about the use of “native” and said this is a word that is more appropriately “indigenous”, the students changed the line of questioning to use the replacement word. Students adjusted their line of questioning depending on the previous responses.
Good question Mary, I might also add is it because observing other’s behaviors is the way we learn in our schools. There is so much modeling done by our teachers that the expectation is that the children will repeat what they have been shown or taught.
Earlier this week I accompanied one of our teachers to a work site with one of our post-secondary transition students. Federal and state law require that all school districts have transition programs for students with disabilities who are between the ages of 18 and 21 and who did not graduate from high school with a standard diploma. Transition services include a vocational ed. component, and that is what I was observing today. The student we were with this day has autism, so socialization and communication are areas of challenge. The student has a 'volunteer' position at a local retail store. Although he is not ready to work independently with customers, one of his goals is to be able to ask or answer a simple question. This has been practiced through role-playing at school, but typical of students with autism, the skill does not transfer to other environments easily. It's important to learn the skill in the place it will be used. During this lesson, the teacher would model what the student was to do and what he was to say to the customer, actually modeling with a real customer. The student then took the teachers place and was able to ask the same question and follow up with the response. This would be an indication of social learning in it's most basic example, but a highly used strategy for students with disabilities.
Posted for Bob Nash: I agree with Mary that it is probably not pure peer pressure, but rather learning from successful modeling of problem solving. The term “instinctual survival mechanism” is right on the mark. It would seem to be an evolutionary response.
I loved Mary's explanation of the tetherball story. It was spontaneous social learning and an excellent example I thought. I know that's exactly how I learned many of the playground games that I participated in as a young student. I even remember getting hit in the head a few times with that ball too!
In response to Carol's post... WOW! What an incredible social studies lesson, so much more meaningful that a book or reading articles, or a lecture. Inspiring lesson in what is possible when teaching social studies!
Over the past 2 weeks I have witnessed an incredible example of Sociohistoric/Sociocultural behaviors. We have 2 new primary students from Uganda, one in kinder & one in 1st grade. Watching them out on recess has proven that across cultures, play is an area where observation, imitation, & modeling are all important & active. These two students observed for one day and since then, have been right in the middle of all the other students. The same was true for their classroom time, they are quick to observe and then imitate. Their peers are also their teachers as they take in what we do in American schools.
Over the past few weeks I have had a sub quit often because I have been at training. Luckily it has been the same sub. After her last day subbing for me she let me know that the kids had been off task and she had to speak to them about it. Then she told me that the kids let her know that the teacher is not a babysitter. This is what I have told them when they are behaving in such a way that no learning is happening. They knew that their behavior had to change. I am contemplating whether this is a stretch for an example of sociocultural behavior. On one hand they imitated by behavior. On the other hand is it that they have become conditioned to thinking “babysitter” when they are called on their poor behavior. In any case, my hope is that the students heard what I said, understood what my intent, imitated my behavior and they are beginning to recognize that it does not elicit a positive response.
It seems sociocultural learning is the predominate learning factor outside of the classroom. I believe it also takes place in the classroom, but for the most part, it is the day to day informal ways we learn to fit in. What I glean from this is sociocultural is what we see others do, replicate and learn to do for ourselves. An example may be a student who follows the classroom expectation and works diligently on work is likely replicating an observed task or expectation impressed upon him by another person he considers to be an authority (respect?). It works the other way as well as a student, either in the classroom or out, replicates inappropriate behavior she has seen from a person she considers an authority. In a class I teach I have a student who in one on one conversations with adults can come across very articulately. He is cordial and appropriate and appears to want to fit into the sociocultural norms of the classroom. This student also likes to draw and perfect what would be considered a gang style tag sign. When I presented to him that I recognized the gang related tags in his art, he was very uncomfortable. I'm guessing he knew from a previous sociocultural context that his signs may warrant some school based consequence. On the other hand, he continues to draw them as a means to perfect what he feels is important to know to be part of another sociocultural context.
In response to the other responses to peer pressure. I would argue peer pressure is a facet of sociocultural learning. The pressure arises when a person questions whether the learning taking place in the social setting is appropriate. In a sense the person is questioning which social context is going to be most appropriate to continue their learning and belonging in two or more social learning groups. The pressure comes when one group (which could be a single person) is pressing that the task must be followed to belong in the group. If the person "gives in" to the peer pressure, they move toward learning in that sociocultural setting. If they resist the pressure, they reinforce something learned previously in a social setting.
My observation of the sociocultural learning occurred in our elementary school cafeteria on Friday. I lead a student organization that has taken on organizing or schools new composting and recycling program. This group is TAG identified students who noticed we needed to change how we dispose of our waste. They assisted me with help from outside organizations in bringing this program to life in our school in a very short timeline. The students in the leadership role were anxious to get the program started so they gave up their recess for a week and a half to get the program rolling. However, Friday was the training day. The success of this program depends on additional grade level leaders from outside of this group taking over weekly shifts to assist with the composting/recycling so it goes smoothly. There was no time to actually have an official training so, I invited the new crew to shadow the current workers. I told the current leaders (many who were primary students) the big kids were coming to learn how to do the job from them. We discussed what the expectations were for the new kids, the idea was a simple shadow experience and hope for the best. Some of the current leaders stated, that they had never taught someone older except for their parents. The outcomes from Friday were, that more older students volunteered and asked how to be a helper. The younger students reported it was easy; the big kids just copied them. There is a new crew in place for next week’s compost/recycle crew. This student-generated project has taken up time that is hard for me to give up while juggling other responsibilities. I have found that, our “Earth Day Club” that is the genesis of this work has become very pivotal in the implementation of this and other initiatives through the socialcultural learning theory.
In response to Pam......... I love the example of the autistic student practicing and having to role play in order to solidify the learning. I agree that is an example of something basic being practiced. I notice when I am working with the Teacher's Development Group in our Math Studio/Coaching that my coach often has me rehearse with her. I think we all benefit from modeling, coaching, and rehearsing and the final product is always better when that is done. I think we all benefit from this type of learning and reinforcement.
I had a chance to observe a class of high school boys on two consecutive days last week. On the first day, the group dynamics were positive and the class functioned smoothly with minor blips of disruptive behavior.
On the second day one boy entered the room first thing in the morning and loudly protested about the position of his assigned seat. He used a lot of volume and drama and insisted that he refused to “sit by HIM!” He complained repeatedly to each staff member that came near. By about 10:00 am another boy pulled me aside to say, “Something is going to happen. If you don’t make HIM be quiet, I will!” (referencing the same boy) There seemed to be a negative group dynamic building against HIM. Soon after, six students were seated in a row at the computers. One student stated, “Stop staring at me! Stop!” to the boy who was the target of the previous negative comments.
By noon, the groups negative aggressive dynamic had increased to the point that additional staff had been called to the area and the building director came in to address the issue. The targeted boy was removed from the room and the director addressed the remaining students about the possible consequences of their behavior.
When I returned to the room at 1:00 pm that day things were running much more smoothly and all students were participating positively. I believe that this was an example of Sociohistoric/Sociocultural behaviors. The boys who had “turned the tide” against the target boy were the alpha males of the group, older, larger and more aggressive.
I was interested in the post by Stephanie regarding the two new students from Uganda. It seemed that they observed on the playground for ONE day, then began full participation in activities. The speed with which some kids can assimilate is amazing. I have witnessed this in the past also when I had a non English speaking 6th grader from China join my class. Similar to the students from Uganda, the Chinese student was quickly swept up in the social culture.
I have been watching the progress of one student in an alternative education program called “Insight” which is a terrific option for a student who is highly (or a little anyway) motivated or one who has parents who are highly motivated and can pass that on to their student.
This student should be a junior next year but will return to us as a sophomore after failing all classes taken through Insight. The insight program requires students to log onto the computer, participate in classes and submit assignments. They are given a laptop to use for the class and whatever else, as long as they use it for class. However, there is no social context for this student as there is no avenue for interaction other than online.
Facebook, having the amazing social and cultural following it does, is more interesting than classwork. The students tells her facebook friends how well she is doing in class, excelling actually, but is more interested in the telling than the doing. That process has made her fit in to a much larger group than the academic group, and she has been willing to adapt to that environment rather than transform her current life status into one that is more reality based. In her virtual world she is like other students in her peer group, which is something she has not been able to do in the public school setting.
Common ground of these models still relates to individual differences and how the adults in the community and the school remain the antecedents of success or failure with our kids, whether they are in the classroom, lunchroom, parents at home, or a visiting artist.
Hooray for your parents! It is essential that we have community involvement in our schools when the budget get so tight that we have not only less support, but support that disappears altogether. I wonder if the students realized how much the parents had done to straighten up the library? Did that push them to want to take care of it better? Getting members of our community into the school can provide some rich, although sometimes simple, experiences and learning for our students.
While at a middle school during the lunch period, I observed a group of students in the courtyard playing basketball. They were taking turns shooting "free-throws." Each student would take a shot, collect the rebound, and pass the ball to the next person in line. The other students waited in line for their turn. All of the students followed this routine which appeared to have definite structure. If any student attempted to modify the routine, by taking an extra shot, cutting in line, not retrieving the rebound, etc., the student was quickly corrected by the verbal prompts of his peers. It did happen to be all boys playing this game. Girls in the courtyard did not attempt to engage in the activity, and instead gathered and mingled at the perimeters of the courtyard. The "rules" for this activity, including who is an appropriate participant, seem to be constructed by the social group, in this case middle school boys. These rules guide the behavior and actions of students in this courtyard, therefore appear to fit withing the Sociocultural context. Individual thought did not really seem to be necessary to understand the process, and in fact was not rewarded.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Using the sociocultural theory, how much do you think learning and achievement is still affected by traditional gender roles, despite our best efforts to provide equity?
I dropped in on the "Voices of the Sixties" class, not intending to do this observation, but catching a serendippitious moment where a group was engaging in a sociohistoric behavior.
ReplyDeleteThe class is studying the history and persons of the 1960s through the art, history, and politics of the era. As part of the class, the students are grouped and are required to create a time-line of self-determined important events for one year and then to demonstrate it in a short video documentary. I happened in while the class was in initial group meetings over what they would do.
We have a school-wide learning protocol we call "EDCRO" - which is an acronym for Explore, Design, Create, Refine and Own. The goal is to get kids to focus on the process of creation and learning rather than just coming up with an answer. In the Voices of the 60s class, the groups were in the initial "Explore" phase, talking out what skills they possessed and considering their options. While I was in the class, I over heard one group talking about some potential directions for their project when one of the younger students started outlining the actual project demonstration. Another student in the group cautioned the student to not get too ahead of project and said "hey, don't jump to create. . ." In this way, the student was reinforcing the learning model and was encouraging the other students to honor the process.
In answer to Andy's question, I don't believe that learning and achievement HAS to be adversely affected or effected by gender roles. However, in order to overcome it, I do believe that a good deal of effort has to be put into creating a learning environment that establishes behaviors that honor diversity. And it has to be more than slogans, but actual behaviors that can be reinforced by students and teachers. We use "Show Up, Be Present, Speak Your Truth (without Blame, Shame, or Judgement), and Be Open to Outcome" The goal being to give members parameters to operate and function in.
At the elementary school we have lost our media specialist due to budget cuts. The library had become a bit disarrayed. This year the local parent group adopted our library as one of their projects to maintain its integrity. Many parents volunteered service over the winter break to clean and organize the books and other areas in the media center. The challenge they brought to me as principal was how to teach students to show respect and take responsibility in caring for the library’s future use. The parent group brainstormed ideas and then presented their solution to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat I observed was this: One parent instructed the students on proper procedures for finding books, students were observing as they listened. Next, the students were asked to get out of their seats and role play what they just observed, this was imitating the appropriate behavior, and finally, the teacher asked the students how this behavior will help them during their learning experiences at school. The student’s responses were surprising; their answers represent the future modeling of appropriate behavior they will demonstrate to help maintain the library for all students to use. Older students shared insights on how to assist younger grades. The learning experience from the parents proved to be a positive outcome for all the students in school.
Today in another course of mine, we discussed strategies that promote life-long learners. My professor relayed a story around getting middle-school students to perform above typical standards. What he described was to me the quintessential sociocultural learning theory.
ReplyDeleteAsk the students what project they are interested in doing for the term as a class (a society). This particular class chose to study hovercrafts and the project was to construct an actual hovercraft as a team. The students were in charge of researching the science and mathematics behind design. The teacher provided them with strategies on how to get materials, as the funding the received for the project was not sufficient to buy all of the necessary tools and equipment. The teacher taught the students to write proposals to local companies asking if they’d be willing to donate to their cause.
Here is where the modeling comes into play. The students’ first test of their hovercraft revealed that their vehicle could levitate but not move forwards or backwards. The educator asked the class if they were satisfied with the results of their project. The class was indeed not satisfied. They wanted to create a hovercraft that could move and fly over water. Without prompt from their teacher, the students started writing more proposals. The teacher did not have to provoke the students at all, they new what they should do to further the development of their project.
In response to Andy’s question: I would assume that in the sociocultural theory, gender roles still play a major role of learning and achievement. It would be necessary for the facilitator/educator to model diversity and equity among gender (i.e. putting both male and female students in leadership roles, etc.). We see this learning-taking place – with all of the serious bullying issues in schools around homophobia – spiraling out of control on the Internet. This is one of the negative outcomes of sociocultural behaviors. As educators it’s our duty to be allies and model culturally competent behavior so that our students start to share in eradicating injustices such as gender or sexual discrimination.
--Whitney Davis
Our school hosted an author in residence this week. Her visit began with an assembly for students K-2, scheduled for 45 minutes. The speaker was engaging, used visuals, answered questions but 45 minutes is a long time for a 7 year old to sit on a mat. The students in the front several rows were in the active zone and better able to stay focused on the speaker, the students in the back less so. As the time went bye, the students in the back began to sway and fidget. This movement appeared something like wind in a wheat field, until it hit the front several rows where the students remained still. The students in the middle, who had been swaying (influenced by the back) stopped when observing the front section's attending posture. The back section then reactively stopped swaying and sat still for several minutes. Then the wave pattern started again.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation, the group appeared to be reacting to the conflicting stimuli of interest and inappropriate duration. The models were not selected by their sex, intellect or social skills, but rather by the fact that they were better able to attend due to proximity.
Besides being rather hilarious to watch, I found it interesting that the kids maintained for a challenging duration by observation and imitation of appropriate models. Would this be an example of a learning circumstance where the behaviors are maintained via sociocultural ways and the curriculum is delivered otherwise?
Response to Andy; modeling respect in a classroom goes along way in providing positive role models for gender and other inequties. However, we are fighting an increasingly stronger foe with media influence. Kids are more attuned to electronic messages through advertising and the sterotypical characters they see in video games and movies. On occasion, the producers of this garbage has tried to negate some of this imagery by introducing a strong femaly character but that is not enough. Lessons in the classroom that continue to focus on awareness at least bring attention to this issue.
ReplyDeleteI observed a Sunday school class at a local Christian church this past weekend. The class was for 6-8 year old kids. The focus was definitely socio-cultural activites. The discussion had to do with bullying. The kids watched a 10 minute video of students in a playground engaged in a bullying activity. In the film one child stood up for the child being bullied and was able to stop the action.
ReplyDeleteThe children were then facilitated through a role-play with what they would do in the situation. Each group reinacted almost to the word what they had seen on in the film.
A discussion followed with how this fit into Christian values.
This was an obviously slanted lesson but how much of our own bias and cultural upbringing comes into play when teaching value type lessons as we frequently do in social studies and on occasion, science?
I observed a middle school life skill classroom walking to McDonalds. During this activity students were working on two very important life skills street crossing and ordering a meal at a fast food restaurant.
ReplyDeleteDuring my observation learning consistently occurred through interaction, negotiation, and collaboration. In the first portion of the observation, street crossing, students were guided by safety and rules set in place by society. In the second portion of the observation, ordering a meal at McDonalds, student actions were guided by society expectations. Role playing was used previous to the activities and a great deal of modeling was used throughout.
I liked Cathy's example. Probably behaviors on that day were maintained due to several variables such as sociocultural factors, curriculum, pre-teaching, modeling, rewards and consequences, etc. It would be interesting to study which of these had the greatest effect on student behavior that day.
Brian Brands
I observed sociocultural learning in the context of a community budget meeting held at our school last night. In this meeting, our principal presented information on the projected budget for next year in our district to a group of about 10 parents (it was game night, after all). The parents were then asked to come up with ideas to "solve" the budget shortfall and write each idea on a notecard. From there they shared notecards and also were able to read ideas written by our staff in a similar activity earlier in the week. They were then asked to choose two of their ideas to explore in further detail to submit to the superintendent.
ReplyDeleteWhere I think the sociocultural learning took place was during the discussion of ideas. It was interesting to watch parents who were adamant about one solution (outsource transportation! close the library!) consider and adopt the ideas of others through this discussion. At the end of the meeting it was the ideas of the most persuasive parents that were chosen by the group, not necessarily the best or most feasible ideas. It was an interesting example of the social group creating meaning and then influencing the environment in turn.
In response to Andy's question, I think it's important for teachers (and adults in general) to surface gender bias as they see it to make kids as aware of it as possible. Hopefully then kids can use sociocultural learning to make new meanings about what is appropriate.
I observed a curriculum council meeting. Previously, I “watched” teachers deliver instruction to students, so I wanted to apply the sociohistoric/sociocultural framework to adult learning. I found that observing adult behavior during a formal/structured activity was quite amusing. Adults in this room were quick to nod in agreement while a person had the floor. One nod usually made it acceptable for several others to imitate this behavior proving that they were attentive and agreeable. However, I did not observe adults shaking their head when they did not agree. Did this mean that everyone in the room was in agreement on all 6 agenda items? Probably not… It was a behavior they learned from one another.
ReplyDeleteOne other behavior I found interesting during this exercise was how many people took unstructured breaks. We went for 30 minutes until someone got up and hit the snack table outside of a scheduled break. Not 15 seconds later another person followed. Within 2 minutes 2 others left to use the bathroom.
Question: Is the last example more a sign of a poorly constructed agenda, or is this a classic example of sociohistoric/sociocultural framework?
I was out supervising lunch when I became entranced by all the things that Middle School Boys will do to entertain themselves.
ReplyDeleteAfter the throwing of the football became old hat, one student began sprinting down the field backwards; the entire group of 8-10 followed. Then came the "twirling run" by another student. Immediately, all followed. Then another student began to skip backwards as fast as possible - now that was a real hoot to watch a passel of 8th grade boys imitating each other in this fashion. I had never seen them emulate each other in this way before. Clearly, they were encouraged by the group dynamic to do things they probably would never do, or think to do on their own. The rules were unspoken, but very clear. They all adapted and quickly followed on another.
As to Andy's question, I found it interesting that only boys were participating in this show of physical dexterity and prowess. I notice on a daily basis how classroom behavior is affected due to the interplay between genders. I often wonder how our coupling of the genders in schools and the resulting sociocultural learning that takes place (not driven by the academic curriculum) may unintentionally support traditional gender roles and biases.
Wes Flinn
The classroom I observed implements the TRIBES Program, a program designed to create a classroom community whereby students play an active role in the establishment of class norms, managing the behaviors of one another, problem solving issues that arise, and working collaboratively toward the education and well-being of all. As such, I observed students reminding others of classroom expectations. For example, I witnessed one student say, “Be quiet and pay attention” using a whisper and pointing to the teacher. The table groups also receive recognition for making positive group choices and for meeting group goals. Students encourage one another and are the primary managers of the group’s behavior. During recess, a student in this same class reminded a classmate that he was unable to stand next to student X in line. The social community and expectations drive the behavior of the students. It’s amazing how easily students can be led, either in a positive direction or “off a cliff”, as my mother used to say.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching all three theories in action, what I am finding is that the best teachers utilize a combination of all three theories. Are you noticing the same thing?
At my school, we have used student-to-student role-playing to teach expectations, just as sjones shared about her students and library expectations. We, too, have found this approach quite effective, even more so than adults in the building conducting the role-playing. I think students’ ability to relate to their peers, and their desire to “fit in” and belong, carries with it a great deal of influence.
PS ~ I couldn’t agree with Whitney’s response to Andy’s question more! As educators, we are in a unique position to use the socicultural theory to bring about positive changes around equity and diversity.
for my response to Andy; let me take on the role of the teacher, I get in my class enrollment a disproportionate balance in the gender make up. Testosterone levels are high. Many of these students are referred to as part of the ‘Carhart Gang’ for much of their behavior and appearance comes from media/music influence. Although this may appear stereotypical, the language dialogue amongst many of this particular subculture clearly is a direct result of their observing behavior in television and movies, imitating their ‘image idols’ to the joy, satisfaction and acceptance of their peers, thus reinforcing their behavior to continue, becoming the next model for the underclassmen to look up to.
ReplyDeleteI agree with ccardiff. In that many of the “producers of this garbage” have made attempts recently to curb the potentially negative influence they created. We have a battle front to face in the classroom and throughout our school settings where many a student seeks a more immediate satisfaction for their behavioral acceptance, positive or negative than through the academic efforts we as leaders in education seek in order to appease the educational czars.
Ed's example of the social modeling of breaks is indeed, I think, Bandurian - is that a word? I also think that those are the circumstances that are most vulnerable to the influence of traditional leaders: tall males, smart females, perky kids. When those types get up and go, everyone else rationalizes that its OK. But if the nerd goes for the nachos - nobody moves.
ReplyDeleteafter reading responses over the last few days and having time to reflect on the relationship of the learning theories observed and trying to establish a common ground, I come to my own conclusion that the product of our educational system is a student prepared to enter society with a clear sense of civility, equipped to contribute their best effort to craft the environment in which they choose to reside in to a healthier place than they found it. The challenge we face is to grasp a better understanding of human behavior and utilize an appropriate learning theory within our educational setting that will best reach the masses to effect the expected outcomes for civil acceptance. Effective learning may appear to be happening within the walls of the classroom when both the teacher and student are in harmony with a particular learning style. For those students who need a behaviorist style of learning to be successful and get placed in a classroom with a socio-historical teacher, do conflicts and disruptions to the learning environment arise?
ReplyDeleteThis is not as much an observation as a recounting of a conversation I had with a few very upset 7th grade girls. The girls came to my office today to talk to me because they were upset that a group of sixth grade girls had "stolen" their word and would not stop using it. They said in upset voice "they are using it as if it is theirs"! After trying to understand what in the world had them so upset about a word I came to find out that these 7th graders had decided a few months back that the word "poppin" was the word for this year and they would use it in all appropriate occasions. (poppin means something like cool or awesome)Well, sometime recently a group of 6th graders had began using it and the 7th graders did not like it. By the end of the conversation I think we got to the understanding that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that this definitely fits within the sociocultural context. As the 6th grade girls clearly modeled their behavior after the 7th grade girls. The 6th graders witnessed the 7th graders word choice being reinforced by the social group and picked up the word hoping for the same reinforcement.
In response to Andy, I would say that gender roles continue to impact learning and achievement. However, I wonder, as we create a more equitable environment, are personality types and personal interests beginning to have a greater impact than gender on subject specific learning and achievement?
Staff meetings have distinct cultures. I often wonder how a culture is created. I had ideas. I manipulated environments and structured agendas.
ReplyDeleteMy observation begins with a question: Is culture created when people participate in a sociohistoric learning process? Could the work-culture of a staff be the acceptable behaviors of a group to reach implicit or explicit goals?
At a recent staff meeting I observed when I had not set the room by creating a circle of chairs (which I usually do by arriving early) the first person arriving began the process without asking. Other staff members arrived and help to finish the arrangement also without asking. This kind of arrangement is something I started at the beginning of the school year and never stated why. The staff seems to like it and now without direction will form the circle. Was this a form of sociohistoric learning or mimicry or appeasing a supervisor?
Sociohistoric learning was also evident in establishing a new tradition at staff meetings. It is now expected there will always be an "Art Break" near the middle of a meeting. People look forward to this event as a light or uplifting moment at the meeting. The Art Break was suggested last October and now it is a regular event provided at every meeting based on a rotation cycle. This is a new element to the culture of a staff meeting.
Perhaps I am totally off the mark. Yet I still wonder is sociohistoric learning at play when a staff culture is established and takes root and the practices are repeated?
Bob K
I can remember my time in Germany as a Judo trainer. I was doing that once a week as a volunteer. Another trainer and me trained a group of kids for participating at the Special Olympics 2006 in Berlin. Our Judo group met regularly and the members in general stayed the same. Sometimes new athletes came and wanted to join.
ReplyDeleteI can remember when that happened once because this person had no knowledge of Judo before but by observing his friends he adjusted the behavior.
In Judo the respect against the other person is very important and even when you fight with each other and you loose, you shake hands for being thankful making sport with each other.
This person also adapted the skills/techniques the others were doing. My example should show that someone can adapt positive information by imitating others.
As a result I do not totally agree with Bandura where his thesis are often used for television. In Germany Prof. Dr. Dr. Spitzer could show that there is a big difference modeling behavior from television and daily life.
It might sound too easy that by watching violence in movies youths can become criminals.
Modeling can be often used in a positive way too but is not always automatically imitated.
E.g. you see ten people passing by a sleeping homeless person and everyone gives him a dollar. Would you also give him a dollar ... ?
At this point several circumstances come up to give him a dollar such as social expectations and pressure but it is still not clear if you give him a dollar out of your pocket.
On the other hand if you see ten people passing by a sleeping homeless guy and everyone steels him a few cents, would you also do it ... ?
According on your sociocultural background it depends ...
Response to ccardiff:
ReplyDeleteI like the question you are asking about how much of our personal role influence when we teach. It reminded me on the Rosenthal-effect in scientific research. It says that the responsible person in a research influences the results the way he would like to have it.
Well in teaching a class against bullying and raising your voice I see the Rosenthal-effect as a positive instrument.
In music class I observed some sociocultural learning mixed with behavioral. The kids all want to play the instruments (marimbas and other percussion), its very popular. The music teacher asks for students who know how to demonstrate a certain instrument or skill. Hands shoot up. Teacher tells students to watch carefully and a jam session begins. Teacher also watches to see which kids are really watching players and being still/quiet. He will choose one to replace someone, and over time, all jammers have been replaced and still more are cycling in. Kids who get in but cant keep the rhythm or hit the right notes are pulled out rather quickly and told to watch a bit longer. They later got another turn. At the end of class, students led the putting away and care of instruments, with the older kids being leaders (mixed age class).
ReplyDeleteStudents modeling tasks and agreed upon class behavior norms (they were not discussed but apparently set in place).
Weighing in on gender---the more we embrace all diversity the farther we will move from narrow roles. I have noticed that in some cultures females are very outspoken and powerful and physically active, while in others people-- male or female-- are more passive and quiet, or communicative or have different intellectual passions. As Suzy said, at some point we will get to accepting the range of individual differences and preferences without trying to typify so much.
That said, I spend most recesses challenging girls to MOVE! Jump rope, shoot hoops, hula hoop, tether ball, please ANYTHING but sitting on the cold cement chatting. The boys never stop moving. So far I have brought jump rope back as a 2/3rd standard, those 4/5th grade girls are not budging. Really, I understand sedentary and chatting, but they are kids and moving is so healthy!
When a new student arrives, he/she can learn new knowledge by observing class/classmates. I have seen that every new student can surprisingly adapt to new environment well. New students know what they should do or what they should not do by oberving class/classmates. This is a small example of sociocultural perspective. I think the concept of sociohistoric/sociocultural is so broad and complicated. Also, it is impossible to explain learning process/human education with certain perspective. I think there is no exaggeration that our life is along the continuumwe of learning in ways of sociocultural.
ReplyDelete* response to sjones: Whenever I recognized or observed how students are good at observing, imitating and modeling like the instance sjones said, I feel strong responsibility in teaching as a teacher. It is because students are going to oberve, imitate and model us(teachers) in school. right? :)
Andy's question about traditional gender roles and equity is interesting.
ReplyDeleteStudents will probably gravitate to roles that are comfortable to them. For this to happen it means certain conditions have been created by educators to allow for an equitable education and an equal access to resources.
Add to the mix the influence of popular culture and the theories of evolutionary biology and answering Andy's question could be even more complicated.
My hope is we aim high and have a non-judgemental approach to providing a safe environment for a student to explore their own path to becoming a fully realized citizen.
Andy's question about traditional gender roles and equity is interesting.
ReplyDeleteStudents will probably gravitate to roles that are comfortable to them. For this to happen it means certain conditions have been created by educators to allow for an equitable education and an equal access to resources.
Add to the mix the influence of popular culture and the theories of evolutionary biology and answering Andy's question could be even more complicated.
My hope is we aim high and have a non-judgemental approach to providing a safe environment for a student to explore their own path to becoming a fully realized citizen.
Yesterday a new student entered our building. I worked with the student before school, explaining our building explanations, touring the building and introducing him to key staff members he would be working with throughout his day. When we arrived in the classroom the teacher quickly introduced the student to several peers and assigned a peer to be his buddy for the day, a strategy used by most teachers in my building.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the day as I observed the student was imitating his peer buddy or other students. Today, as his peer buddy faded into the background we discovered a need for an intervention as this student began imitating cartoons and other characters from various media sources on the playground and during the end of the day transition. The teacher and I met following school and will start a more behaviorist theory style intervention with him tomorrow.
In response to Suzy’s question about teachers who use all three approaches I too find the best teachers do use a combination of all three approaches to learning within their rooms. In addition, those students who work with those teachers tend to have higher expectations of their peers and themselves.
In response to Andy’s question how much do you think traditional gender roles effects student learning and achievement, I feel it does and we needed to work to provide equity and accessibility to courses for students. This year we discovered some very interesting data in the fall as we prepared our CIP plan. Our math data at the secondary level showed our girls are stronger in math than the boys. In addition, more girls were taking advanced math. We began looking at the gender of our instructors, predominately female. We began questioning whether the gender of the math teacher influences who is taking advanced math.
Today was our school Geography Bee. Kindergarten through 8th grade attended and two students from 3rd through 8th grade participated. I prepped the K's by telling them that they couldn't just blurt out answers when we were there so that the contestants could think and that we needed to be very quiet so they could hear the questions. Apparently that wasn't enough information, because when the first question was asked, one of the kindergarteners raised his hand to answer it. He followed the rules as I told him to be very quiet and not blurt out answers. The kids around him understood what was going on right away and in their quietest voices (which really aren't very quiet at all) they told him that he wasn't supposed to answer at all! When the next question was asked he looked around to see if he should raise his hand and then didn't because no one else was doing it. I thought this was sociocultural because he was following the cues of the group and members of the group corrected him.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Melissa, I think the poppin story is sociocultural. I might even argue that all language is sociocultural because if you don't have it, you are at a disadvantage of having your needs met. There must also be a shared understanding of what the language means. I liked that story.
ReplyDeleteThis is not an observation that I have made this week but over the past 3 years at High School dances. The style of dance has become very offensive and sexual. We have worked on students understanding how this is not acceptable but they respond by stating it is what all kids are doing and on MTV. These students have learned through observation and my fear is that it continues through further observation with younger students.
ReplyDeleteA response to Mr. Jones observation of parents and students demonstrating appropriate behavior in the library. Demonstrating behavior while we teach PBS behaviors is a great way for all students to have a better understanding of the school expectations. It seems interesting to me that PBS is now living in the Sociohistoric world.
I observed a 4th grade math class, which had a new student to the group. The teacher uses a lot of call and response types of tools for management. These take the form of the teacher saying, "Class, give her a 10 finger wow," and all of the students in the class turn and wave their fingers at that student and quietly say "Wow." It was an interesting example of behaviorism. BUT, what was most interesting was how quickly the new student caught on, not only to the call and response pieces of the class, but to the overall expectations of students' behavior in the classroom. It was clear that the teacher was modeling what the students' behavior should be, and the students were then modeling classroom expectations for the new students.
ReplyDeleteIn reading through some of the comments, and thinking about my earlier observations, I wonder how clearly one can distinguish between these learning theories. When we see students running to get in line when they hear the bell, are they responding to the bell, or are they responding to seeing their peers line up? Perhaps some of both, and perhaps it is different for each child. However, in seeing the process of group learning, I think we would be remiss in discounting how powerful the social aspect of learning is for students!
Today I watched a group of middle school students during recess. It was raining outside, so the recess was in a small gym and the students were creative in developing a "game" that would satisfy their need to movement and exercise. There was an older group of boys - fairly athletic and very active - that usually play football when recess is outside. Since that wasn't an option in the gym, they came up with a game where they stood in two groups across the gym from each other and used several small squishy footballs to whip back and forth. It wasn't clear what the objective was - to hit a person on the other team? to catch a ball that the other team throws? to hurt someone? (I hope not). In any case, the game became extremely popular very quickly. A group of girls who usually don't engage in physical games tried to join in. A younger student who has more interest in reading than he does in P.E. did his best to join. Fortunately, the group of older boys who started the game were very accepting of the new players and let them join in. I was amazed at how well the new kids could play even though the game had no written, spoken, or directed rules - it was learned purely by watching and then copying.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Amy - I agree. It is so hard to see which theories are at play in any given situation. Previous blogs point out that a blend of approaches may be the best way to reach all kids, so maybe that is what is happening, whether we are trying it or not.
This has been something that I have observed in the last few months. Now that I am working with these young athletes I have started to learn what it takes to help this young men be successful students. When the school year started one guy on the team was struggling with managing his time. It was not until he was around the team and other students that he found out the way to prioritize his time to efficiently take care of school work and other responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Fish, I understand how young students can look at all of the entertainment and think that style is popular and it is what dance is all about. In actuality it is about the more general forms of dance that requires precise detail and appreciation. Unfortunately that is not always what drives pop culture.
My driving experience fits into the historicist theory perfectly. I had two years of driving experience in Shanghai, China---which is also a traffic problematic city compared to New York---before I came to U.S. Two years of driving not necessary cultivate my driving skills, instead, I'm more of an aggressive driver. As a result, this directly led me to gain an U.S. driver license at the expenses of taking 4 times of behind-the-wheel test. Due to the fact that less cars and people are here, drivers are more cautious and well behaved. I observed the "new" way of driving, imitated those good driving habits and finally got used to the cautious driving attitude. I felt like that I learned a driving lesson for the second time.
ReplyDeleteMy observation takes place in the AAA library, where students’ behaviors depend on other occupants’ behaviors, general social norms of libraries, and environmental cues. For instance, one group was having a meeting in a small alcove of the library. Their voices were low, but I was quite close and could hear what they were saying. This bothered me a little, but I put on my headphones to cancel out their noise. However, their behavior, unchecked/unregulated, permitted others to start conversing, and I noticed how the noise level gradually rose as more students filtered in with friends. Upon entering the area, they unconsciously assessed the current noise level, and decided to continued talking. This sociocultural behavior of the moment even allowed someone to feel that it was acceptable for them to answer their cellphone! In a LIBRARY!
ReplyDeleteSo. This got me to think about how powerful the presence of others is. In some cases, its peer pressure, in others it’s just that someone hasn’t developed their own stance and it is just much easier to follow what others are doing. It’s very natural to learn from others- monkey see, monkey do. In my classes, we study how the environment can cue certain emotions and behaviors, but I realize that all this is nothing if there is a group culture that defies the purpose of the space.
I believe it would be difficult to have a discussion of sociocultural learning without discussing gender, and I’m happy to have read so many examples in your K-12 classrooms. However I’m eager to learn more about gender issues as professional adults. In a field traditionally male dominated, I have found that I have learned to be much more assertive and confrontational just to survive and be heard. I’d like to ask the class what leadership traits are distinctly female, and how do co-ed classes/groups operate differently between male and female leaders?
We had interactive whiteboard and student response system training this week and my staff was assigned to attend for an hour along with several other staff members. Knowing how negative and difficult s particular staff member can sometimes be, I made a point to drop in on the training when this staff member was to attend. As the training began, he started interupting the trainer and complaining how the new technology tools just weren't going to work in his classroom. His peers quickly responded to each of his comlaints, countering with ways they already were using these tools effectively and they wanted to maximize their time with the trainer. Every excuse he put forth was countered by his peers and after about five complaints, he finally got quiet and joined in on the training, imitating his peers and following the modeling of the trainer.
ReplyDeleteI found this watch a bit more difficult when I focsed on the classroom. At the secondary level, students often don't want to imitate the modeling of their teacher, and in fact go out of their way to be as different from the adults as possible. Where it is easy to observe this type of learning is in the lunchroom, commons areas, and hallways as students interact socially.
On Tuesday last week, I was discussing some tutor scheduling with my coworkers about when and where we wanted to place some of the students I work with. Through the conversation we decided that it was best to separate the freshman from the upperclassmen so the freshman didn't pick up bad learned behaviors from the upperclassman. Its interesting in my line of work that we really try and eliminate learned behavior between students and keep the learned behavior between either learning specialists and students or tutors and students. However, even though we try and eliminate this behavior, it is unavoidable. Students are always going to interact with each other and younger students are always going to learn both good and bad behaviors from older students.
ReplyDelete-Anna Poponyak
In Response to Sjones on Jan 10th:
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the three steps that were taken to try and encourage positive learning behavior in the library. I think it is so important to allow every student to opportunity to learn in the style that fits them best. If it be observing others, or acting out the behavior, or talking through the behavior. I experienced this style when I played lacrosse for the U of O. When we would learn new plays our coaches would go through the same process. We would first learn it in more of a classroom setting on a board, then we would go outside and act out the actions and then we would talk through it and do the play in actual game speed.
-Anna Poponyak
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ReplyDeleteI sat in on a 6th grade language arts class called Cultural Connections. The teacher began by accessing prior learning ("Who remembers what we did in class yesterday?") and building on that response with more questions, ultimately connecting to the upcoming topic and activity. She announced that they would focus on one of the groups who had been denied civil rights--African Americans--beginning with the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War and going up to the 60s.
ReplyDeleteShe explained the directions for a jigsaw reading activity and placed students in 7 groups, giving each group a different handout to read that was related to the topic. As a group, they were to decide on the main ideas in their articles. She reminded them not to highlight everything, but only the key words and ideas. They will become the experts on these articles, making posters to share info with their classmates for note-taking.
The teacher showed them a sample poster as an example and gave a few more instructions, then they began the job of coming to consensus on what ideas were most essential to share with their classmates. I listened to a few groups as they debated what should be included and why.
In essence, they were working together to create knowledge by adapting their article into a summary of key points essential for understanding the author's message. This fits the description of the Sociohistoric/Sociocultural learning theory.
Fish commented that high school dance style "has become very offensive and sexual" as students imitate what they see on MTV. This caused me to reflect on an experience I had in another culture. I was in Puerto Rico for the summer and had traveled to a town that was celebrating their patron saint's day with a parade lasting several hours. Most of the participants were high school music and dance groups from around the island. They wore lavish costumes and performed choreographed dances at different stops along the parade route. Having grown up in a small, rural town in middle America, I saw aspects of this as similar to our homecoming parades. However, most of the costumes and dance styles on this day would have been rated x and absolutely forbidden in my home environment!
ReplyDeleteJudging by the reaction of the extended families and community watching the parade, no one seemed to find the teens' suggestive clothing and dances offensive. I witnessed grandmas doing similar dances with young grandchildren on the sidewalks as the music passed by. The difference between this culture and my own was startling. Reading this post made me reflect on how such cultural clashes can create conflict in our schools, where students often originate from other cultures that adhere to different norms.
At work, I sit in with groups of 4-5 students that are supposed to be working on school assignments called structured study. It is interesting to observe one group from another. On Thursday, I had two separate hours of structured study and the dynamic of the hour was completely different. I believe this comes from the social learning theory in that the students in that group make the hour what they want. My first hour, there were two students working on the same class. They began discussing a paper they were writing. The other students jumped in and gave their opinions on the topic. The hour was very productive and the two students got many ideas to begin writing their papers.
ReplyDeleteThe second hour was completely silent. The students came in, sat down, and got straight to work. I know that the two hours were both very productive for the students but it is interesting to observe that depending on the students in the group is going to have an affect on how the hour is structured. In the first group, two students got the group going and the session is now a collaborative group and the second session had students who were quiet and wanted to get their work done silently. This created a culture for the study groups that I am sure will last throughout the term.
In response to Andy, I believe that learning and achievement is still affected by traditional gender roles. This goes down to who to pick to lead the kickball team or which students are called on to answer questions in a group discussion. It is important to be aware of what actions you are making to even out the playing field for all student, giving each and every one of them an opportunity to learn in a safe environment.
It took 3 class periods to train the students. The first period of the day began the experiment. The usual 5 students were tardy. They were issued their tardy slip and punishment. During second period of the day a few students who are normally late came in early and asked the teacher if she was really doing a tardy lock-out. Interestingly enough, by the period after lunch not a single student was tardy. The teacher asked her usual stragglers what motivated them to arrive in such a timely fashion. Their response was that they heard she was doing a tardy lock-out and handing out tardy slips today. It is amazing how quickly information moves through a school.
ReplyDeleteDo students learn socially because of the peer pressure to conform or because they truly believe the social norm?
ReplyDeleteThe Monday after Spring Break is traditionally the day we put up the tether balls. We have two poles, a taller one for the older students and a short one for the primary students. This year, for the first time,we have a preschool on campus and those 3 and 4 year olds share our lunch recess. The little ones stood around and watched in interest as the groups of students marked out their border lines with their heels and began to play. I'm quite certain that these preschoolers had not seen the game played before. Next morning, I looked out me window to see them hitting the ball around. They also were trying to mark border lines with their little feet. A clear example of Sociohistoric/Sociocultural behavior. Note: The game didn't last very long as there is a tendacy for the ball to hit you in the head when you are that small. The stimulus of getting bonked on the head every time you hit the ball served to distinguish that particular behavior pretty quickly! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that Peer Pressure is really the right term for learning that takes place by observing other's behavior. It seems like it is more of an instinctual survival mechanism. Are students making a conscience decision to copy behavior or is it more spontaneous?
ReplyDeleteIn a fifth grade Reading class the stated goal was increasing reader fluency.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher modeled reading the week's story aloud, pausing for the class to as a group call out significant vocabulary and other words pertinent to the lesson that came up in the text. Next students partner-read aloud, one person reading a passage and the other listening for fluent reading and offering support and suggestions, then the other taking that role. Finally each student read aloud for one minute, timed by the partner. Total words read and mistakes were tallied and recorded for each student.
Students first observed the teacher, took turns imitating her example, modeling their best reading for their partner, and finally recorded a sample of their work to record progress.
Working with a peer motivated students to learn from each other and to give their best effort to meet the standard set by the teacher at the beginning.
It seems to me that as children become more peer aware that strategies employing socio-cultural learning theory acquire more power as long as the examples modeled are productive ones. We all long to fit in and to be competent in the eyes of others in our peer group. At what point or in what circumstances might the use of these strategies create an uncomfortable social pressure, negating the positive effects of social modeling?
ReplyDeleteOne of our Kindergarten classes was working with their 5th grade buddy classes this week to make Easter baskets. I knew this would be a good opportunity to see the social learning process in action. The Kindergarten teacher was modeling how to make an Easter basket. The kindergarten children were listening very intently as the teacher modeled all the steps. As you can imagine this was of very high interest to them. After the teacher was done modeling, the children were sent back to the tables to produce their own basket with the help of their 5th grade buddy. The excitement carried on through the whole process. Even after they were finished and were walking back to their classes you could tell they were still very excited. They were able to observe their teacher make the basket, they were motivated and they were able to imitate what they learned.
ReplyDeleteToday I observed a high school agriculture class. The teacher was teaching students to tie rope halters. The teacher modeled how to tie the halters and then split the class into three groups (they had worked on this the previous day as well). Each group was assigned a student leader who was proficient in this task. The groups were divided according to the students progress the previous day. One group was made up of students who had done very well the previous day and was almost done. A second group was part way done, and the third was made up of students who had been absent the previous day, or had gotten very little done. Initially the groups remained intact. However, as the the period wore on, students began to move around and find modeling from other students that was more effective for them. Eventually three new groups were formed. These new groups contained a mix of progress levels, but consisted of students with a common ability to collaborate effectively.
ReplyDeleteThis comment is from Carol Dowsett:
ReplyDeleteToday I watched an amazing experience in a 9th grade World Cultures/Geography class. The students had a project to create questions for a person in Johannesburg, South Africa. They were going to interview this person via Skype. The students had prepared by separating into different focus groups about economics, religion, culture, indigenous groups, education, health issues, and historic events. The students were completely engaged. Prior to this, they had also studied different countries and problems on the African continent and US involvement or non-involvement in each of these countries. They had studied Libya, Rwanda, and South Africa, as well as other countries.
The social studies teacher had students come before the computer screen to speak to G. and ask him questions. His image was placed on the white interactive board and he looked to engage all students in the room with his relevant responses. The students were very attentive and stayed in their seats after the bell rang at 60 minutes. They have asked to call him back and continue the interview. Not only was G. young (mid-20s-30 years old), but he was educated. He was able to share with the students how he experienced the end of apartheid at age 10, but how it changed his life. He was able to share what it was like to see people so excited about voting that they stood for miles to have the experience. He was able to share what it was like to be part of a “caste” system as a “colored”. He spoke with pride of the economy but explained how dependent it is on the US dollar. He spoke with passion about the need for education to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and build equity within the country.
The teacher wisely had placed two respected students in front of the microphone at first. Before they asked questions, he established his relationship with G. and G. greeted all the students in the classroom. There was a respect, yet informal, question and answer time. They were able to model the appropriate way to ask questions. Other students followed suit. When G. corrected students about the use of “native” and said this is a word that is more appropriately “indigenous”, the students changed the line of questioning to use the replacement word. Students adjusted their line of questioning depending on the previous responses.
Wow, Carol, that is an amazing social studies lesson! What a wonderful use of skype to extend the classroom walls.
ReplyDeleteGood question Mary, I might also add is it because observing other’s behaviors is the way we learn in our schools. There is so much modeling done by our teachers that the expectation is that the children will repeat what they have been shown or taught.
ReplyDeleteEarlier this week I accompanied one of our teachers to a work site with one of our post-secondary transition students. Federal and state law require that all school districts have transition programs for students with disabilities who are between the ages of 18 and 21 and who did not graduate from high school with a standard diploma. Transition services include a vocational ed. component, and that is what I was observing today.
ReplyDeleteThe student we were with this day has autism, so socialization and communication are areas of challenge. The student has a 'volunteer' position at a local retail store. Although he is not ready to work independently with customers, one of his goals is to be able to ask or answer a simple question. This has been practiced through role-playing at school, but typical of students with autism, the skill does not transfer to other environments easily. It's important to learn the skill in the place it will be used.
During this lesson, the teacher would model what the student was to do and what he was to say to the customer, actually modeling with a real customer. The student then took the teachers place and was able to ask the same question and follow up with the response. This would be an indication of social learning in it's most basic example, but a highly used strategy for students with disabilities.
Posted for Bob Nash:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mary that it is probably not pure peer pressure, but rather learning from successful modeling of problem solving. The term “instinctual survival mechanism” is right on the mark. It would seem to be an evolutionary response.
I loved Mary's explanation of the tetherball story. It was spontaneous social learning and an excellent example I thought. I know that's exactly how I learned many of the playground games that I participated in as a young student. I even remember getting hit in the head a few times with that ball too!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Carol's post...
ReplyDeleteWOW! What an incredible social studies lesson, so much more meaningful that a book or reading articles, or a lecture. Inspiring lesson in what is possible when teaching social studies!
Over the past 2 weeks I have witnessed an incredible example of Sociohistoric/Sociocultural behaviors. We have 2 new primary students from Uganda, one in kinder & one in 1st grade. Watching them out on recess has proven that across cultures, play is an area where observation, imitation, & modeling are all important & active.
ReplyDeleteThese two students observed for one day and since then, have been right in the middle of all the other students. The same was true for their classroom time, they are quick to observe and then imitate. Their peers are also their teachers as they take in what we do in American schools.
Posted for Jen Healy:
ReplyDeleteOver the past few weeks I have had a sub quit often because I have been at training. Luckily it has been the same sub. After her last day subbing for me she let me know that the kids had been off task and she had to speak to them about it. Then she told me that the kids let her know that the teacher is not a babysitter. This is what I have told them when they are behaving in such a way that no learning is happening. They knew that their behavior had to change. I am contemplating whether this is a stretch for an example of sociocultural behavior. On one hand they imitated by behavior. On the other hand is it that they have become conditioned to thinking “babysitter” when they are called on their poor behavior. In any case, my hope is that the students heard what I said, understood what my intent, imitated my behavior and they are beginning to recognize that it does not elicit a positive response.
It seems sociocultural learning is the predominate learning factor outside of the classroom. I believe it also takes place in the classroom, but for the most part, it is the day to day informal ways we learn to fit in. What I glean from this is sociocultural is what we see others do, replicate and learn to do for ourselves. An example may be a student who follows the classroom expectation and works diligently on work is likely replicating an observed task or expectation impressed upon him by another person he considers to be an authority (respect?). It works the other way as well as a student, either in the classroom or out, replicates inappropriate behavior she has seen from a person she considers an authority. In a class I teach I have a student who in one on one conversations with adults can come across very articulately. He is cordial and appropriate and appears to want to fit into the sociocultural norms of the classroom. This student also likes to draw and perfect what would be considered a gang style tag sign. When I presented to him that I recognized the gang related tags in his art, he was very uncomfortable. I'm guessing he knew from a previous sociocultural context that his signs may warrant some school based consequence. On the other hand, he continues to draw them as a means to perfect what he feels is important to know to be part of another sociocultural context.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the other responses to peer pressure. I would argue peer pressure is a facet of sociocultural learning. The pressure arises when a person questions whether the learning taking place in the social setting is appropriate. In a sense the person is questioning which social context is going to be most appropriate to continue their learning and belonging in two or more social learning groups. The pressure comes when one group (which could be a single person) is pressing that the task must be followed to belong in the group. If the person "gives in" to the peer pressure, they move toward learning in that sociocultural setting. If they resist the pressure, they reinforce something learned previously in a social setting.
ReplyDeleteMy observation of the sociocultural learning occurred in our elementary school cafeteria on Friday. I lead a student organization that has taken on organizing or schools new composting and recycling program. This group is TAG identified students who noticed we needed to change how we dispose of our waste. They assisted me with help from outside organizations in bringing this program to life in our school in a very short timeline. The students in the leadership role were anxious to get the program started so they gave up their recess for a week and a half to get the program rolling. However, Friday was the training day. The success of this program depends on additional grade level leaders from outside of this group taking over weekly shifts to assist with the composting/recycling so it goes smoothly. There was no time to actually have an official training so, I invited the new crew to shadow the current workers. I told the current leaders (many who were primary students) the big kids were coming to learn how to do the job from them. We discussed what the expectations were for the new kids, the idea was a simple shadow experience and hope for the best. Some of the current leaders stated, that they had never taught someone older except for their parents. The outcomes from Friday were, that more older students volunteered and asked how to be a helper. The younger students reported it was easy; the big kids just copied them. There is a new crew in place for next week’s compost/recycle crew. This student-generated project has taken up time that is hard for me to give up while juggling other responsibilities. I have found that, our “Earth Day Club” that is the genesis of this work has become very pivotal in the implementation of this and other initiatives through the socialcultural learning theory.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Pam.........
ReplyDeleteI love the example of the autistic student practicing and having to role play in order to solidify the learning. I agree that is an example of something basic being practiced. I notice when I am working with the Teacher's Development Group in our Math Studio/Coaching that my coach often has me rehearse with her. I think we all benefit from modeling, coaching, and rehearsing and the final product is always better when that is done. I think we all benefit from this type of learning and reinforcement.
I had a chance to observe a class of high school boys on two consecutive days last week. On the first day, the group dynamics were positive and the class functioned smoothly with minor blips of disruptive behavior.
ReplyDeleteOn the second day one boy entered the room first thing in the morning and loudly protested about the position of his assigned seat. He used a lot of volume and drama and insisted that he refused to “sit by HIM!” He complained repeatedly to each staff member that came near. By about 10:00 am another boy pulled me aside to say, “Something is going to happen. If you don’t make HIM be quiet, I will!” (referencing the same boy) There seemed to be a negative group dynamic building against HIM. Soon after, six students were seated in a row at the computers. One student stated, “Stop staring at me! Stop!” to the boy who was the target of the previous negative comments.
By noon, the groups negative aggressive dynamic had increased to the point that additional staff had been called to the area and the building director came in to address the issue. The targeted boy was removed from the room and the director addressed the remaining students about the possible consequences of their behavior.
When I returned to the room at 1:00 pm that day things were running much more smoothly and all students were participating positively. I believe that this was an example of Sociohistoric/Sociocultural behaviors. The boys who had “turned the tide” against the target boy were the alpha males of the group, older, larger and more aggressive.
I was interested in the post by Stephanie regarding the two new students from Uganda. It seemed that they observed on the playground for ONE day, then began full participation in activities. The speed with which some kids can assimilate is amazing. I have witnessed this in the past also when I had a non English speaking 6th grader from China join my class. Similar to the students from Uganda, the Chinese student was quickly swept up in the social culture.
Posted for Debbie Gillespie:
ReplyDeleteI have been watching the progress of one student in an alternative education program called “Insight” which is a terrific option for a student who is highly (or a little anyway) motivated or one who has parents who are highly motivated and can pass that on to their student.
This student should be a junior next year but will return to us as a sophomore after failing all classes taken through Insight. The insight program requires students to log onto the computer, participate in classes and submit assignments. They are given a laptop to use for the class and whatever else, as long as they use it for class. However, there is no social context for this student as there is no avenue for interaction other than online.
Facebook, having the amazing social and cultural following it does, is more interesting than classwork. The students tells her facebook friends how well she is doing in class, excelling actually, but is more interested in the telling than the doing. That process has made her fit in to a much larger group than the academic group, and she has been willing to adapt to that environment rather than transform her current life status into one that is more reality based. In her virtual world she is like other students in her peer group, which is something she has not been able to do in the public school setting.
Common ground of these models still relates to individual differences and how the adults in the community and the school remain the antecedents of success or failure with our kids, whether they are in the classroom, lunchroom, parents at home, or a visiting artist.
Response to sjones from Jen Healy:
ReplyDeleteHooray for your parents! It is essential that we have community involvement in our schools when the budget get so tight that we have not only less support, but support that disappears altogether. I wonder if the students realized how much the parents had done to straighten up the library? Did that push them to want to take care of it better? Getting members of our community into the school can provide some rich, although sometimes simple, experiences and learning for our students.