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DOC, I THINK I HAVE ASSUMPTIONS……

WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?

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• Where do they come from?

• How did I get them?• How will they affect

others?• Do others have them

too?• Are they bad?• Will they spread?• How do we prevent

them?

TYPE 1

• Causal assumptions are usually stated in predictive terms. • E.g. If we make

mistakes in front of students this creates a trustful environment for learning in which students feel free to make errors with no fear of censure or embarrassment

TYPE 2

• Prescriptive assumptions • what we think ought

to be happening in a particular situation.• How a ‘good’ teacher

should behave• What good

educational processes ought to look like• Brookfield, S. (1995)

TYPE 3

Paradigmatic assumptions are our renderings of ‘reality’

It takes a considerable amount of contrary evidence and disconfirming experiences to change them.

• Brookfield, S. (1995)

DIAGNOSIS?

Think of one assumption relating to your own learning or teaching that you investigated and found it didn’t quite make sense…..

Identify whether it is• Paradigmatic• Prescriptive or• Causal

BORROWING FROM NLP THEORY

BAKE

Our Identity, gives rise to our Voice, which provides Agency – which allows us to be agents of change

• Adapted from R.Paul & L Elder, (2012) model to illustrate the process of critical thinking and its goals.

• Clarity• Accuracy• Relevance• Logicalness• Breadth• Precision• Significance• Completeness• Fairness• Depth

IntellectualStandards

• Purposes• Questions• Points of view• Information• Inferences• Concepts• Implications• Assumptions

ElementsOf Reasoning

• Humility• Autonomy• Integrity• Courage• Perseverance• Confidence in

Reason• Empathy• Fair-mindedness

Intellectual traits

As we learn to develop

Must be applied to

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Assumptions - something we take for granted or presuppose, previously learned but do not question. We assume it to be true as it is a part of our belief system

Ideology – system of ideas, thinking of a group or class

Worldview - perspective from which one sees the world

Stereotype, A widely held fixed oversimplified image or view of a person or thing 

Prejudice - preconceived opinion not based on reason or experience. To pre-judge.

Inference - a step of the mind, an intellectual act by which one concludes that something is true.

TRY IT OUT……..

It's common sense to visit small groups after you've set them a task, since this demonstrates your commitment to helping them learn. Visiting groups is an example of respectful, attentive, student-centered teaching.• Brookfield, S. (1995)

THEORY

OUTCOMES/RESULTS?

Assumptions

Causal

PrescriptiveParadigmantic

Students

Autobiogr

Theory

Colleagues

POWER

HEGEMONY

Agency, to be an agent of change

Identity & Voice

Assumptions, Identity & Agency

Adapted from Laurie Peterman Fig 2.1 p.30

CRITICAL AGENCY

• To exist, to be, is to have “Agency”• Or be an “agent” (Not the secret 007 kind!)• If you are acting on someone’s behalf, ie they can

not act for themselves – you are their “agent”• We are all agents• How does it become critical agency?• Agent of Change• Social justice role of Teachers.

IDENTITY OR VOICE

• To know who you are, • Traits that are characteristic of you• One of those is your voice• Your voice is a part of your identity, it’s how you

express yourself• It’s like a signature – it’s who you are• Ie Voice recognition, • Ex. to voice one’s opinion• But to have a voice, is to have agency…..

BELL HOOKS – LINKING ASSUMPTIONS, AGENCY AND VOICE

• “By internalizing the false assumption that theory is not a social practice, they promote the formation within feminist circles of a potentially oppressive hierarchy where all concrete action is viewed as more important than any theory written or spoken.” p.65

• “those of us in the academy from working-class backgrounds are empowered when we recognize our own agency – our capacity to be active participants in the pedagogical process”.p183

• “Accepting the decentring of the West globally, embracing multiculturalism, compels educators to focus attention on the issue of voice. Who speaks? Who listens? And Why?”p. 40

BELL HOOKS

• In teaching to transgress, “bell hooks pushes readers towards an active criticism of our assumptions, particularly in terms of race and sex. I find her frontal attacks on our cultural assumptions challenging, albeit shrill at times.” Allen Bramhall

• “Hooks teaches us to transgress the assumptions in our lives. Our assumptions are tacit acceptance of received wisdom. To assume truths uncritically is to live in an earlier age. Those assumptions may have made sense in years gone by, but the world constantly evolves.” Allen Bramhall

WHY DO WE CARE?

WHY DO WE CARE?

• Students and participants will achieve what they believe they can.• Pygmalion principle• Essentially, if they think

can, they will…. If you think they can’t they won’t. • Never “write-off” a

student• See the link posted on

website to this document

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

• Assumptions get in the way….. • They affect progress• Suppress learning• Hinder completion of

tasks• Inhibit discussion • We can never eliminate

them ALL….. • But we can identify them,

acknowledge them • & “reframe” them

REFRAMING

Consider the frame, or 'lens' through which a persons reality is being created. Understand the unspoken assumptions,

Consider alternative lenses, hence “reframing”Challenge the view or “frame” not the person.Stand in another frame and describe what you see. Try selecting or ignoring aspects of words or actions and reframe to emphasize or downplay various elements.

Here are a few reframes –

• A problem as an opportunity• A weakness as a strength• An impossibility as a distant possibility• A distant possibility as a near possibility• Oppression ('against me') as neutral ('doesn't care about me')• Unkindness as lack of understanding• Prejudice as ignorance

THE NEGATIVE TEST

To test whether something is “assumed” by an argument, try this test

Insert the opposite of the “alleged assumption”, into the argument and see if it still makes sense.

Start with the assumption - Ex – “The college address is the same street as I’m standing on; therefore (watch out – here comes an assumption!) the college must be nearby”This statement assumes that the street isn't very long.

In reality, if the street is long, then the college could be on it, yet miles away ie Young St Toronto

The negative test would sound like this – The college address is the same street as I’m standing on, the street is very long - therefore the college must be nearby…..

The argument clearly doesn’t make sense.

SIGNS & SYMPTOMSOF ASSUMPTIONS

Investigate……..

When you’re readyCreate your own listUsing the template available on the Website

Then “reframe” those assumptions!

Top 10

REFERENCES

Bramhall, A. Regarding Bell Hooks, http://home.comcast.net/~simple.theory/bell_hooks_paper.htmRetrieved Mar 11 2013

Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.

Hooks, Bell. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge

R.Paul & L Elder.(2012 ). The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools. Retrieved from www.criticalthinking .org Mar 13 2013

R.Paul & L Elder.(2012 ). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life. Prentice Hall