Cont

empor
aryI
deasaboutLear
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U.S.school inghasbeenbasedont hispr emi se.Teacher shavet al ked;st udent shavebeen

directedt ol ist en( CubanScour ingt heshel vesofanyl ibrar yorbookst or el eavesone1 993) .
Theassumpt ionhasbeent hati fteacher sspeakswi mmi ngi saseaof
“i sms”—behavi or ism,const ruct ivism, clearlyandst udent sar emot i
vat ed,l ear ningwi ll
occur .I f
soci al const ructivism—aswel lasl ist
sofl ear ningt heor ies: student sdonotl ear n,
thel ogicgoes,i tisbecauset heyar emul t
iplei ntel l
igences,r ight -andl ef t-br ai nl earning,
activnotpayi ngat tent i
onort heydonotcar e.ityt heor y,l ear ningst yl es,Pi aget ,and
communi tiesof Thesei deaswer egr oundedi nat heor yofl ear ni ngt hat lear ner s.Her ewe
donotpr oposeacompr ehensi vel istofal l
focusedonbehavi or .Onebehavi orl eadst o
anot her ,cont empor ar yideasaboutl earning.I nst ead,wef ocusonbehavi or al -lear ning
theor i
st sar gued,andsoi fteacher sact threebi gi deast hatunder l
iemostofcur rent
schol arshi pi nacer tainway,st udent swi lll
ikewi seacti nacer tai nway. andpr act i
ce:
l
ear ningasapr ocessofact i
veengagement ;
Cent ral tobehavi or ism wast hei deaof
condi tioni ng—t hat lear ningasi ndi vi dual andsoci al;andl ear nerdi ffer encesasi s,training
thei ndividual tor espondt ost imul i.Themi ndr esour cest obeused,notobst acl est obe
conf ront ed. wasa“bl ackbox” ofl i
ttl
econcer n.Butbehavi or al theor ist shadt omakeway
fort he“cogni ti
ver evol ution” i npsychol Lear ningasaPr ocessofAct i
ve
Engagement ogy,whi chi nvol vedput ti
ngt hemi ndbacki nt ot hel ear nPer hapst hemost
crit
ical shi ftineducat ioni nt hepast20i ngequat ion.AsLeshandLamon( 1992,p.1 8)put
i
t,year shasbeenamoveawayf rom aconcept ionof“l ear ner “Behavi or al psychol ogy
(basedonf act ual andpr ocedur alassponge” t owar dani mageof“l ear nerasact i
ve
const rucr ul es)hasgi venwayt ocogni t
ivepsychol ogy( basedont orofmeani ng. ”
AlthoughPl at oandSocr ates( nott omenmodel sf ormaki ngsenseofr eal li
f e
exper iences. ”I nt histionDewey)r emi ndedusl ongagot hatl ear ner swer enot shift,
sever al fieldsofl ear ningt heor yemer ged. empt yvessel s,bl anksl at es,orpassi ve
obser ver s,muchof Neur osci ent ists,f orexampl e,l ear nedt hatt hebr ainact ivel yseeksnew
sti
mul iint heenvi ronmentf rom whi cht oWhatDoTheyMeanf orEducat or s?3l ear n
(Gr eenough,Bl ack,andWal lace1 987;Kandel andear thi sf l
atl astwel l af tert eacher sand
other shavet ol dthem ot her wi se( Vosni adouandBr ewer1 989) .El emenHawki ns1 992)and
thatt hemi ndchangest hroughuse; tary-agechi ldr enhavebeenf oundt ohol dnai ve
theor i
est hati s,l ear ni ngchangest hest ructureoft hebr ainofpr ejudi ceanddi scr i
mi nation
thatr esonat ewi tht he( Bransf or d,Br own,andCocki ng2000) .However ,iti sst ill
theor i
esof
soci alsci ent istswhohavegr appl edwi thsi mi tooear lyt ocl aimt hatneur osci encecan
def i
nitelyexpl ai nlarquest i
onsaboutwhypeopl edi slikeordi scr imi nat ehow peopl e
l
ear n.agai nstt hosewhoar edi ffer ent( Rose2000) .Si mi lar l
y,Thewor kofot hercogni ti
ve
theor i
st shel psher e.For ByrnesandTor ney-Pur ta( 1 995)f oundt hatadol escent sexampl e,
resear chsuggest st hatl ear ner s—f rom aver yusenai vesoci al ,economi c,andpol iti
cal
theor i
esi ni denyoungage—makesenseoft hewor ld,act i
velycr eat ingt ifyi ngcausesof
soci alissues.Manyyoungchi l
dr encannot meani ngwhi ler eadi ngt ext s,i nt er act ingwi th
theenvi ronunder st andwhy1 /4i slar gert han1 /8because8i sbi gger ment ,ort alki
ngwi t
h
other s.Eveni fst udent sar equi etl
yt han4( Gel manandGal li
stel 1978) .Resear chersar e
conwat chingat eacherspeak,t heycanbeact i
vel yengagedi nat inuingt ouncoverhow
student s’ pr econcept i
ons,nonsci pr ocessofcompr ehensi on,or“mi ndson” wor k,as
manyent ifi
cbel ief s,concept ual mi sunder standi ngs,ver nacul arteacher sdescr i
beit.As
Bransf ord,Br own,andCocki ngmi sunder standings,andf actual mi sconcept i
onsact
as( 2000)wr ot e,“I tisnowknownt hatver yyoungchi ldrenpower ful fi
lt
er sinwhatand
howt heyl ear n. 2ar ecompet ent,act iveagent soft heirownconcept ual devel Whenwe
acknowl edget hatst udent sinterpret —anddoopment .Inshor t,themi ndoft heyoungchi ld
hascomet onotaut omat icall
yabsor b—t hei nformat i
onandi deast heyl i
fe” ( pp.79–80) .
Thiscogni ti
vet ur ni npsychol ogyi sof t enencount erint hewor ldt hr ought heexper iences
andt heor ef erredt oasaconst ructivistappr oacht olear ning.1riest heybr ingt oschool ,the
l
inksbet weenl ear ningandUnder standi ngt hatst udent sconst ructmeani nghas
l
edt eachi ngbecomemor ecompl icat ed.Rat hert hanappear toi ncr easedat tentiont o
student s’ i nter pr etationsofwhat ingasanat ural resultoft eachi ng,l earningi sseenas
i
nher theywi tnessi ncl ass.Recal lt
hegameof“t elephone”:Aent l
y“pr obl emat i
c.”
Teacher smi ghtcr eat eoppor tuniti
esphr ase,whi speredf rom per sont oper son,i sf oll
owed
byf orst udent st ol ear n,butt eacher scannotcont rolstudent s’hi lar i
tywhent hel ast
per sonannouncessomet hingqui t
ei nter pretations.Teacher sbecomer esponsi blef or
diagnosdi f
fer entf rom whatt hef i
rstsai d.Thi sgameexempl ifiesingst udent s’
i
nt erpr etationsandhel pingt hem al ter ,edi t,
ther ol eofi nterpret ati
oni nanyhuman
endeavor .Att heandenr i
cht hem.Butwegetaheadofour selves.Eachoft hebasestl evel,
whatwe“hear ”i sf i
lteredt hroughour shiftsinl earningt heor iest hatwedi scussher ehas
i
mpl icaassumpt ionsandval ues,at tent ion,andknowl edge.Somet ionsf ort eacher s’ r oles
andr esponsi bi l
ities.Wedi scussst udent sinterpretMobyDi ckdi fferent l
yf rom t heway
otht heseconcomi tantshi ft
si nthesecondhal foft hispaper .