Edmund Taylor
Dr. Napolitano
SED 407:01
February 5, 2014
Wilhelm
Article Blog
The
Wilhelm article was very helpful. Many things popped out at me. The first was
that 95% of all teachers use a basal reader, including secondary English
teachers. “As professionals, we need to
know, articulate, and justify our theory of learning.” Most teachers expect students to learn on
their own, leading to a failure in learning.
The author argues that the theories of Lee Vygotsky can help to combat
this.
I
was also surprised that Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development
is not employed much in the secondary schools. This is the place just beyond
what they student can do on their own, and with the assistance of the teacher,
can reach a new ZPD. Too often, the teacher lectures and the student is held
responsible for their own learning.
Vygotsky-influenced theorists would argue that “anything that is learned
must be actively taught.” The author agrees with these theorists, arguing that
the teacher must know their students, the best method of teaching the content,
the content, and pedagogy.
Another
thing that popped out at me was that students not only have cognitive ZPDs, but
also social, moral and emotional ZPDs. The teacher speaks to the students
(social speech), which the student can then use their private speech to
regulate their problem-solving behavior, which is then internalized as inner
speech. This process is universal among cognitive, social, emotional, and moral
ZPDs.
Vygotsky
also suggested that play is essential to learning. This could be helpful for me
to use in the classroom. For example, I may assign student’s to act out a skit
of WEB Dubois, Marcus Garvey, and Martin Luther King Jr. They would know the
differences in their views after the skit, because “the best learning is fun.” Another
important issue addressed is that readings are typically assigned and quizzed
on, without the guidance of how to read from the teacher.
Both
the transmission model, in which the teacher lectures mostly, and the
student-centered model of teaching, each hold the student responsible for
learning. The transmission model only allows students to remember information,
regurgitate it on an exam, but not apply the learned information. The
student-centered model assumes students will be able to do the tasks given
without help from the teacher. Vygotsky argues both the teacher and student are
responsible. Vygotsky suggests giving students many reading strategies so they
can participate democratically in their communities and culture. Too often, students lose interest as the years
of schooling go by. The United States is ranked second in the world in reading
at the elementary level, but by the end of high school come in last. This
statistic popped out at me. I’ve
realized a bit more that I’m responsible for student’s reading, and I can use
the approaches Wilhelm includes in my own classroom.
