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One day Thelonius Mortimer Ragbottom the Third went to school.
He was excited by the opportunities that education presented him but unsure as the direction he should take. The world of knowledge was so immense and it was difficult to know where to start. As he walked his way down the magical path of knowledge he came to a crossroad... One sign read "Quick and Easy School of Whatever you Want" and the other sign read "The Institute of Pedagogical and Content Knowledge"... Hmmm, he thought to him self which should I choose?
[[Quick and Easy School of Whatever you Want]]
Or
[[The Big Mind Sky Institute of Pedagogy and Content Knowledge]]
He thought to himself,
"Well why not! Easy is easier than the alternative, this must be a good school. Besides I like the idea of getting whatever I want!"
So he took the path that lead down to the Quick and Easy School of Whatever you Want.
He noticed a sign saying [[This is the best and the only way to learn!]]."Interesting", he thought to himself not really knowing what pedagogy or content knowledge was.
I think I will take this road and see what awaits me at the other end. As he walked along the path he came to a fork that provided two signs:
[[Pedagogy is about teaching practice and understanding how we learn]]
And the other said...
[[Pedagogy is understanding how stuff works]]
"Which path should I take?" He thought to himself.As he walked down this path, he came to a pool of talking fish.
The fish would periodically jump out of the water and shout things like... "We are but products of our behavior, motivation, reward, punishment and social conditioning... I'm a Behaviorist fish" or "We are conscious computers and store information in compartments like short term memory and long term memory...I'm a Cognitive Theory Fish" or "Learning is a network of inter-related nodes and connected knowledge... "I'm a Schema Theory Fish" or "We each construct our own meaning of the world as an interpretation of social, cultural and historical information... I'm a Constructivist Fish" and on and on. He sat down by the pool and listened for a while, pondering the significance of each fish's perspective. Wow, he thought. "The ramifications of different perspectives of learning seem complicated, is any particular theory the right one?" Two magic buttons appeared, you must push one, a voice in his head spoke.
[[This is the best and the only way to learn!]]
[[There are many ways to learn]]
Which do you push?
"Yeah, how stuff works, that must be it!" Thelonius Mortimer Ragbottom the Third thought as he went down the path.
He kept walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking...
"Maybe I took the wrong path and pedagogy is not about how stuff works." Thought Thelonius Mortimer Ragbottom the Third.
Out popped a smiling round bloated green toad with a tuft of thick orange hair on the top of his head.
"Excellent choice!" he shouted.
"Why my learning institute is the best. It is the greatest, it will make you great again, it will make schools great again, it will make our nation great again! In fact it is greater than great, it is the greatest, greatly great.... Greatastick in fact!.." and he then proceeded to go on...
And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on... And on and on and on and on...
Thelonius Mortimer Ragbottom the Third realized he wasn't really learning very much, in fact he was learning nothing at all. He was just listening to an ignorant bloated self-obsessed orange haired toad.
Out popped a small wise green creature wrapped in robes.
He had a staff in one hand and a Star Wars Jedi action figure in the other.
"There is no one answer to learning. There are only theories. The space between observable behaviors and the complexities of self-consciousness is vast and filled with many variables. Each theory of learning only brings more questions. Questions of the role of language in learning. Questions of how we learn language. Questions as to the roles of the symbols we create and how we make sense of those symbols. Questions of the privilege of knowledge and who gets to know what. Questions of interest and what motivates learning. Questions about questions and the role of inquiry in learning." He paused and rubbed his head.
"So many questions!"
Thelonius was interested but also overwhelmed by all this information. He asked the strange creature "Oh wise creature, with all these ways to process knowledge how can anyone help anyone to learn?"
"It is simple but elusive and takes more than a lifetime to never be learned. He said.
"It is two things":
[[Pedagogy]] and [[Content Knowledge]].
Pedagogy is the "HOW". How do we learn, or more concisely, how do we teach learning. How dow we set up the conditions for learning to happen?
Learning is complex and there can be many ways to learn the same thing.
Blooms taxonomy states there is a hierarchy of knowledge that works from lower-levels to more complex higher-levels of cognitive process. Foundational (or 'lower-level') knowledge is required to fomulate more complex learning.
Nevertheless, at the base of every concept there is content, ideas or skills that one must know inorder to achieve mastery.
However it is unlikely you can teach something if you don't know it.
Understanding HOW we learn is only half the equation! You must also know the WHAT, or more precisely, you must have [[Content Knowledge]]. NOTE: Do NOT advance if you have not completed this!
If you know the WHAT and HOW... You are ready to [[design your own learning]]
It is easy to talk about something but what do you really know.
Do you know your subject thoroughly, do you know the key concepts, do you know the relationships between these concepts, do you know how to ask questions about these concepts or how (or where) to research the answers.
Can you explain, synthesize, evaluate or create with this knowledge... Then maybe you are ready to consider the HOW of learning or more concisely the role of [[Pedagogy]] in learning.
NOTE: Do NOT advance if you have not completed this!
If you know the WHAT and HOW... You are ready to [[design your own learning]]
All of a sudden a slimy bloated Toad with a tuft of thick orange hair appeared beside the wise old green creature.
"What ever he said, I can do better!" He shouted! "You just need the best and the brightest shiny technology to learn greater! I have the best! I will make learning great again! This...This thing I have," he pointed to a strange electronic contraption with a screen in the middle of it, "this will make learning great again because [[it's the media you choose that will influence learning]]"
The wise old creature smiled and said "It may or may not be thus, but it is more likely the way we structure our learning and not the tools that set the conditions for learning" He added slowly, "One must consider",
[[objectives]]
[[outcomes]]
and...
[[assessment]]
The obnoxious Frog shouted. No, no! Thats wrong [[it's the media you choose that will influence learning]]
What do you choose?
"Look." said the Toad.
"Come over here, I don't want HIM to see". He pulls you aside and a hole opens in the ground. "This is where we throw our money, go ahead look inside" Inside you see a whole bunch of old abandoned technology, broken old tablets, computers and dumb looking smart boards. "Go ahead look a little closer," the Toad prompts you.
Thelonius Mortimer Ragbottom the Third bends over to look more closely, distracted by a shiny beeping light and...
The orange haired toad pushes him in.
Objectives are a generally defined learning goals.
What are you learning about? Is it about electricity, learning verbs, about primary colours, the environment, how to kick a soccer ball?
There are so many things that could be learning objectives, but... how would you demonstrate the [[outcomes]] of your learning? How could you accurately make an [[assessment]] of your understanding, performance or competency?
Is there congruency with your [[assessment]] and [[outcomes]]?
[[Yes]]?
NOTE: Do not advance if you do not have congruency between your Objective, Outcomes and Assessment.Outcomes are the identification of specific criteria that are to be demonstrated after learning something.
For instance you can successfully make an open or closed circuit with a battery, light and wire. Or demonstrate how to kick a soccer ball with the inside of your foot. Or identify the three primary colours and create other colours with them. And on and on.
These specific demonstrable outcomes must relate to the learning [[objectives]] and in in some cases define a level of competency relative to performance or ability as outlined by predetermined [[assessment]] tools or rubrics.
Is there congruency with your [[objectives]] and [[assessment]]?
[[Yes]]?
NOTE: Do not advance if you do not have congruency between your Objective, Outcomes and Assessment.How do you know how well you have demonstrated the [[outcomes]] of your learning? Did you learn what you were suposed to, are you able to demonstrate it? How do you EVALUATE what is learned?
Assessment.
In order to accurately (and authentically) evaluate skills, knowledge or performance, one must correlate assessment criteria to the specific learning criteria identified in the learning [[outcomes]].
The evaluation of skill development or learning is called assessment.
There are different types of assessment. Formative assessment (assessment that takes place as you are learning something) and summative assessment (assessment that demonstrates what you have learned over a period of time).
Is there congruency with your [[objectives]] and more importantly with your [[outcomes]]?
[[Yes]]?
NOTE: Do not advance if you do not have congruency between your Objective, Outcomes and Assessment.Congratulations!
Indeed, you are wise and knowing of the ways by which humans learn.
But how well have you learned?
Only you will know this, and ultimately, your ability to truthfully self-assess your knowledge defines what, and how deeply, you really know what you know.
So....
Can you answer these questions:
1.What is Pedagogy?
2.What is Content Knowledge?
3.What is Bloom's Taxonomy?
4.What is an Objective?
5.What is an Outcome?
6.What is Assessment?
7.What are the two main types of assessment?
The wise green creature and petulant bloated toad with the tuft of orange hair disappear.
A voice rings from high above the sky and a light beams down projecting a small alien creature with a light on the end of its finger.
"Have you completed and do understand the Trinity of Lesson Design? If so can you answer me correctly if I ask you some important questions," the small smiling alien with big wise eyes stared intensly at Thelonius,
"can you answer with the confidence of one who is ready to TEACH?"
Thelonius thought for a moment and decided that...
He was not yet confident enough with this new knowledge and needed to review that [[There are many ways to learn]].
He was ready to answer! He knew about teaching and [[the trinity of lesson design]].