Fat cat

Culture and the classroom

CADV 350

Learning Objectives

• Briefly describe elements of Vygotsky’s theory that help clarify cultural differences in the classroom

• Briefly describe Rogoff’s apprenticeship in thinking model of learning

• Briefly describe Schon’s Reflective Practitioner Model of teaching

• Describe cultural differences in regards to the social organization of a typical classroom

• Discuss socio-linguistic differences among cultures in regards to the classroom

• Discuss cultural differences in holistic vs. analytical thought and need for context vs. decontextualized thought

Etic vs. Emic• Etic is something that is true of most

cultures in general (all use language) • Emic is something that is specific to one

culture (different kinds of languages)• We will be focusing on etics in this

lecture• Focus on learning how to understand

cultural differences in general as opposed to learning the specifics of a certain culture.

Vytosky’s SocioCultural Theory

• Who was Vygotsky?• How did Vygotsky view learning?

• Socio-cultural origins of mental functioning

• Learning as mediation and construction• The Zone of Proximal Development

• Our thinking is not our thoughts alone. Culture is in thinking.

Who was Vygotsky?• Russian did work in late 1920-1930 (RIght after the

Soviet Revolution; happened because there was a problem with the government; Vygotsky was one of the jewish minorities that was oppressed)

• Died at 37 of tuberculosis • Interested in relationships among thought, language,

perception, memory and attention.• Culture central theme in theory (socio-cultural

theory)• Worked with diverse participants including those with

special needs.• Published over 180 works• His work was banned by Stalin from 1936-1956• Not read widely in the West until late 60's (got fed up

with Piaget's theory)

Learning (Vygotsky)

• Main part of theory – learning is social first (socio-cultural origins of mental functioning) *Comes all from your experiences*

• Learning as mediation and construction (2-step process; someone mediating the constructing - the person that provides the means to construct)

• Zone of Proximal Development

Learning is social first

“Every function in a child’s cultural development appears twice: first on the social level, then on the psychological

level; first between people (Interpsychological) then inside the child

(Intrapsychological).”• That is all learning, even adult learning,

happens socially, then is internalized children are ready to five and take social exchanges; they are ready for it; they constrain it)

Sociocultural origins of mental functioning• Appropriation – the process whereby children

actively constrain what they remember from social exchanges (things that are important to them; things that they can understand; have some knowledge of it already).

• Example: Story of my children’s activities when they were younger.

• Children are not simply taking in understanding from someone else, they are actively and jointly making meaning of it (some meaning overlap but some does not because we all have different meaning).

Learning as mediation and construction• All learning is mediated by more experienced others (peers; any

given situation; mediation is constraining the situation)• Then constructed by the learner• Guided participation – present a learning situation and

accommodate that situation to the needs of the learner (more experience of the present situation; the more a child can guide/accommodate the situation).

• Scaffolding – providing support for learning• Intersubjectivity – shared focus or understanding (nature of the

interaction; during the process of guided participant; together, different ideas, share the same understanding.

• Play as form of learning – play allows child to understand a situation at their own level and to extend it (allows the child to "scaffold" themselves at their own level; pretend play - practicing something in a safe environment; solitary or group play).

Zone of Proximal Development• “The distance between the actual

developmental level as determined through independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers,” (Byrnes, 2008, p.36).

• One of Vygotsky's best know ideas but the least understood.• There is an actual level (bottom) and level with help (top)• The area between - where learning happens (ZPD constantly

changing)• Below the actual level is too easy; Above the level with help is too

hard. Teaching - between (cannot grasp and learn if its too hard; no learning if its too easy)

• Maximum learning happens at ZPD• Do with help and on your own

4 Steps in the ZPD (Tharp and Gallimore)

1. Performance assisted by others.2. Performance assisted by self (self-directed speech) *Helping yourself/telling yourself what to do from what you learned -> eventually becomes fossilized*

3.Performance automatized or fossilized.4. De-automatization leads to recursion back through the ZPD (ex: reading/driving; know something really well but having to be challenged ->driving in the snow/rain; reading words from a different country; there is alway deeper; never stops; always go back to ZPD; thinking about things in different ways *newer/deeper*; extending learning/knowledge; don't know the end of it; raising the bar).

Following in Vygotsky’s footsteps

• Rogoff’s Apprenticeship in Thinking Model (from our text)

• Schon’s Reflective Practitioner Model (from our text) *know the basics/definition*

• Tharp and Gallimore’s work in understanding cultural conflicts in the classroom (from our reading) *white middle class teacher (values) comes in and teaches a class that do not comes from the same background (different values)

Apprenticeship in thinking (when we are learning; think of the everyday things that you learn; think of learning as an apprenticeship)

• A novice working closely with an expert (adult) in a joint problem-solving activity (child working w/ an adult)

• Novice is able to participate in skills beyond what s/he is capable of independently.

• Novice internalizes shared cognitive processes (how do you know when it’s done? “When to flip the pancakes?”)

• Adults provide guided participation: children’s efforts are structured by adult and gradually responsibility for problem solving is transferred to the child (gradually shifting the responsibility as the are learning).

• Guided participation happens implicitly many times and usually in a context of accomplishing something (passing onto the next generation)

• What is taught then is culturally determined, whatever is important in the the culture is transferred to the child via apprenticeship in thinking model (apprenticeship process is cross-culture; what is taught is different; pass things down to the child; give children real projects rather than just practice-practice-practice)

Reflective Practice(Do it own your own-in readings)• Knowing-in-action: tacit knowledge

• Reflection-in-action: metacognition in which unexpected event and

• Reflection on reflection-in-action: assisting students in constructing new

• Children are not taught, but coached toward

Cultural differences in the classroom(Do it own your own-in readings)• Social Organization• Socio-linguistic differences• Cognitive orientation (holistic vs.

analytic thought)

Cultural differences in Social Organization

• What does a typical North American classroom look like? (looking at teacher; visual aids; norm = looking at the individual for learning)

• In some cultures the norm is a more collaborative learning environment (no competition; share learning/knowledge; many countries’ norm)

• Children have cultural value of working together (cooperation) rather than competition.

• Competition among individuals is NOT valued in some cultures.

• Group work is especially important for student from these cultures.

Social Organization

• Some cultural groups value competition among groups as opposed to individuals.

• Judge of competition should be peers, not a teacher.

• E.g., playing the dozens in African American culture.

Socio-linguistics

• Social norms for how you use language

• Discourse • Wait-time• Rhythm• Participation Structures

Discourse (communication)

• Structured, coherent sequence of language.

• Classroom discourse: verbal exchanges in the classroom.

• IRE pattern○ Initiate(teacher-asking a question),

Respond(student), Evaluate(teachers)

○ Focus on the teacher

Wait Time• Wait time 1: time a teacher waits for

an answer after posing a question to the class.

• Wait time 2: time a teacher waits to speak after a student is finished talking.

• How do you feel about wait time?

• Why are these wait times important?

Rhythm• The ebb and flow of discussion• The speed and tempo• Important for knowing when and how to

jump into the conversation (like jump rope)

• Rhythm of discussions varies according to culture.

• Why do we need to consider this in our classrooms?

Participation Structures• The implicit expectations for

participating in classroom discussions vary according to culture.

• Is it ok to initiate a discussion with the teacher?

• Should a student only talk when spoken to?

• Can a student challenge the teacher?• How long can you speak when you get

"the floor?"• Is interruption permitted?

Cultural differences in cognition

• Holistic vs. Analytical Thought• Contextual vs. Decontextualized

Thought(In reading)

In all cultures we do both holistic and analytical thoughts. It's not that we

cannot do one, but we prefer/emphasis one more than the other.

Holistic vs. Analytic thought• Holistic thought – pieces derive meaning from the

whole (through the whole you learn the steps)

• Analytic – the whole is revealed through the unfolding of sections(the steps; piano = learn the scale before learning the music piece)

• Both are used in all cultures, but usually only 1 is favored.

• Which is favored in the average North American classroom? (Analytical - talk about all the parts)

Need for context

• Traditionally schools have focused on abstraction of principles and ideas

• Many cultures and languages are highly contextual

• Learning that is rooted in real is more highly valued than abstract

• The abstract is not valued as highly as what is REAL