The Preface
In his talks to teachers William James hopes to inspire
teachers to think of their students as their students think of themselves. He hopes to offer them insightful and
practical methods for assessing a student’s mental life and using that to teach
effectively.
Connection: I
believe that frequently when I have an instructional goal I begin to think of
task analyzing, or breaking down the goal, to try to present the instruction in
a way that seems logical to me. Although
I try to think of the way the content might make sense to a student, I am not
always sure that I take a student’s perspective. I am not sure that I always learn enough, or
understand well enough, who the learners are.
Psychology and the
Teaching Art
Psychology and teaching are two distinctly different lenses
for observing and working with students and the art of teaching does not grow
out of the field of psychology. The
teacher’s work is much more concrete and practical than that of the
psychologist and involves a practice that that evolves as the teacher learns to
engage the student and engender interest in the content being delivered.
Connection: I
think in my experience with training and instruction those who are delivering
instruction are often attributing psychological underpinnings to lack of
progress in instruction. Perhaps some
individuals feel they do not understand the psychology of teaching to the
degree that they should, but I more often find that as trainers we assume we
know more about how the minds of our students work than we do. This is a reminder to me to consider my
instruction as the root determinant of engagement.
The Stream of Consciousness
Within each of us, in all our waking moments, there occurs a
constant series of sensations and thought that are associated via our own
unique experiences. It is not reasonable
to chop up or delineate instruction into separate units that are seen as
independent of each other because all that we experience is affected by our steady
stream of concrete focal points and marginal thoughts that exist in each
dynamic stream of consciousness, unique to the individual.
Connection: In
thinking about teaching I must recognize and accept the fact that the minds of
the students will each be engaged in their own stream of consciousness. Although initially this may seem like a
frustrating lack of attention, it is actually just a state of being. Thus, in delivering instruction I must
endeavor to provide channels or possible directions of exploration that might
lend themselves to an improved understanding of the topic. I must also accept that each student brings
their own building blocks to the construction of meaning.
The Child as a Behaving Organism
The stream of consciousness may be
determined to serve two functions: to
lead to action and to lead to knowledge.
Most of what we perceive to be abstract thought is actually tied to our
behavior which in turn is determined in large part by our adaptation to our
environment; behavior has a pragmatic base.
Connection: When I am teaching I must consider how
learning does not occur independent of the environment in which we learn, or
the environment in which the students experience their lives. I might think about trying to integrate
naturally occurring behaviors or adaptations in the instruction. I might also think of ways to encourage
students to share the connections they are making to our learning. Also, I should keep in mind that behaviors we
engage in, in our classrooms, will lead to learning, and further encourage
students to share the learning that occurs through our activities.
Education and Behavior
Education is the organization of
behaviors of an individual that comprise a series of acquired habits that the
learner has acquired through external impressions and factors in their environment. Teachers must be aware that all that they do
makes an impression on a student and will therefore lead to the acquisition of
a habit that will be incorporated in their behavioral schema.
Connection: This
makes me think of parenting and the fact that when you are in an environment
with learners they are constantly observing.
As parents, I think that we might be more mindful of this. I see behaviors in my children that I feel
have been engendered by the impressions I have made on them. This is very powerful. I have an opportunity to teach when the
learner does not realize that I am teaching and I should always monitor the
response to my behaviors and change my behaviors when I feel like they are
making the wrong impression.
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