Learning Design in Sociocultural Systems revised

Joju Cleaver

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the sociocultural factors that influence learning and assessment in the 21st century classroom. It provides a brief introduction to Universal Instructional Design concepts and Critical Pedagogy and how they may be applied to promote inclusive learning environments.

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“We serve the future by protecting the present. The more fully the needs of one period are met, the greater will be the success of the next.”

-Maria Montessori

The Montessori philosophy of education offers profound insights into the

development of the child as a natural learner. Montessori proposes, that the first

eighteen years of human development can be divided into three distinct periods, or

planes (Wolf, 2005). These planes are progressive and systemic.

The first plane evolves form birth to six years old. The child wants to know,

“what is this?” and naturally absorbs the world around him. Montessori identified

this as the “absorbent mind” (Wolf, 1995, p.4). The child absorbs the whole language

modeled by his family and explores everything in the environment provided by his

family.

During the second plane, ages six to twelve, is a period of great expansion of

knowledge and the questions become, “How? Why? When? And Where?” Children

are eager to go beyond their familiar environments and want to explore the larger

world around them. “They want to be with other children, play sports, and explore

questions of right and wrong. Through all these experiences, aided by adults, they

gradually acquire a broad variety of basic information, culture, values and social

skills” (Wolf, 2005, p.3).

The Third plane, ages twelve to eighteen evolves from puberty to

adolescence. This is a restless period marked by physical changes and a strong

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desire for independence. “The character is seldom stable at this age; there are signs

of indiscipline and rebellion” (Montessori,1995, p.21). Montessori suggests, that in

this restless stage in order to express their natural desire to be free from their

parents that teenagers engage in learning experiences that require more physical

effort and incorporates real-life work into the curriculum (Wolf, 2005).

Sociocultural Development

“Over the past 10-20 years, scholars concerned with human development

have shown increasing interest in the social and cultural foundation of the

developmental processes” (Forman, Minick, & Stone, 1993, p.3). The social and

cultural foundation is formed within a sociocultural system. This is not an abstract

concept of cognitive development. It is the concrete and distinct places in which

people live, learn, work, worship and socialize, and each component has a

systematic, systemic affect on human development. It is the contextual reality in

which we exist that informs our psyche and how we learn. Sociocultural systems

vary greatly. How the components of a system interact with one another affects the

functioning of the whole and determines fundamental differences between people.

What are the economics, political & social organization, ideology and language of the

system? Any change to the components changes the system.

Sociocultural Competence

In order to effectively meet the educational needs of multi-cultural student

populations in K-12 classrooms it is necessary to acknowledge, identify and address

the gaps in socio-cultural competence of the teacher and the socio-cultural

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consciousness of the learner. If teachers are going to be successful in today’s multi-

cultural classroom they will need to develop a method of honest self-analysis and

learner-centered assessment. Who is the teacher? Who are the learners? In order to

adopt a sociocultural awareness a more personalized approach to teaching and

learning is necessary. “Competence is a superordinate standard in multi-cultural

assessment. It is the most crucial and essential standard for the ethical and

responsible selection, adaption/translation, administration, and result

interpretation of assessment” (Leung & Barnett, 2008, 139-143.) Teachers must

have the ability to “read” sociocultural data in order to make accurate and

comprehensive assessments of their diverse student populations.

These changes are not only desirable from an ethical perspective based on

the general principles of competence, integrity, and professional responsibility they

are vital to the relevancy of 21st century education reform. What are the core

problems that create barriers to learning in diverse populations? Are these barriers

attitudinal, organizational or practical? For example, attitudinal barriers may be the

“othering” (Freire, 1970) of diverse populations. “Currently, we create barriers in

[education] that have established a system of ‘othering’ …within institutions of

[education] and in faculty teaching practices, diverse student populations are often

positioned outside, as ‘others’ who must be accommodated or excluded from

institutional culture or classroom norms” (Pliner & Johnson, 2004, p. 108).

Developing a sociocultural competence creates a paradigm shift that adjusts

the focus on diversity from “difference as peripheral to our institutions and

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classrooms to difference as a core element of an academic mission”(Pliner &

Johnson, 2004, p. 109). Teachers must be able to devise comprehensive strategies to

address the complex needs of diverse learners while keeping their own attitudinal,

cultural, or racial bias in check.

Inclusive Learning Environment

Paolo Friere’s Critical Pedagogy offers a blueprint for educational reform and how to

“read” the classroom as a sociocultural system. His writings illuminate the gap that

exists between teachers, content and marginalized learners. According to Freire

(2005), education is political and should be used as a tool for liberation and

preparation for citizenship.

Educators are often taught to believe that their training in school is all that

they need to perform effectively in the classroom. Few training programs prepare

teachers for the multiple realities of the classroom as a sociocultural system.

Noguero (2007), elaborates, “experience has taught me that to engage in this type of

pedagogical practice (critical pedagogy) effectively, educators must first have an

ability to understand the social-psychological milieu in which such discourse

emerges and is normalized. Without such an understanding their efforts to impose

their mindset and moral reasoning on their students almost always fail” (Noguero,

2007). Educators are often unaware of or keep their distance from the concrete

context (reality) of the learner and attempt to teach solely from a theoretical

context. The inevitable gap that widens between teacher and learner can often

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result in the pitying, coddling or resentment of marginalized youths seeming

inability to learn.

fig.1. Reading the class as text (Freire,2005).

As a part of preparation and demonstration of competence, Freire proposes

(2005), that teachers learn to read the class as text. (See figure 1.) “ At every step of

the way, in studying and re-studying the data collected, there should be a dialogue

with students, which should result in correction as well as ratification” (Freire,

2005, p.90). This observation and assessment process will effectively build and re-

build understanding and knowledge between the teacher and students. The goal is

to produce improved understanding of class for the teacher and improved

understanding of itself for the class. This “may lead the class to the production of

new knowledge about itself, through a better understanding of its previous

knowledge” (Freire, 2005, p.90).

New Knowledge Improved

Understanding

Reading a Class as text

Studying DataDialogue with

Students

Correction & Ratification

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fig.2. Sociocultural context.

Informed by a thorough understanding of the sociocultural context of the

students (See fig.2), reading the class as text is key to the development of teachers'

classroom assessment skills and integral to a more authentic learning experience.

Incorporating collaborative and constructivist methods combined with interactive

assessment, interviews, journaling and portfolio work will improve teachers’

observation and questioning skills. Through this process educators will not only

discover truths and achieve a higher level of self-knowledge they will increase their

awareness of the social and cultural influences on the assessment process. This

collaborative feedback and assessment process encourages teachers to

[Multicultural Guidelines] (APA, 2003) “be aware of their own values, attitudes, and

beliefs that may potentially bias their perception of and interactions with

individuals who are racially and ethnically different from themselves” (Leung &

Barnett,, 2008, p.139-143. ) .

Population

Culture

Social Organization

Social Institutions

Material Products

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The 21st century skills that students need to be successful are not novel skills.

Critical thinking, problem solving, innovation, and collaboration have been around

for decades. However, whether or not students effectively learn these skills will

have a direct impact on their personal success and our collective success as a nation.

Students who are wealthy enough to pay for high quality education or lucky enough

to encounter great teachers will learn these skills. But that leaves out a very large

population of learners who will be left behind.

Technology, UID and Critical Pedagogy

Technology is a powerful tool in promoting equity in education. In the hands

of progressive instructional designers technology can create inclusive learning

spaces that are dynamic, culture-aware and equitable. The principles of UID,

originally developed to assist learners with physical disabilities and learning

differences, are now being applied to instruction, materials, and technology. (Pliner

& Johnson, 2004) Implementing the principles of UID while simultaneously

engaging in theories of Critical Pedagogy as a framework has the potential to create

spaces for students to share power, engage in authentic collaborative learning and

be co-constructors of their assignments (see fig.3). “Teaching benefits greatly from

collaboration among educational agents. By collaboration, we mean student/teacher

involvement in pedagogical decisions […] Because students are the recipients of this

approach, they should be participants in the design of courses, websites, an other

important learning components” (Pliner & Johnson, 2004, p. 111). For example,

platforms can be designed for students to participate in a virtual Town Hall where

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bias, differences and similarities (in curricula or community) can be addressed in a

supportive environment through active dialectical processes. This dynamic is a step

in the right direction to address some of the fundamental barriers to education

facing multi-cultural populations. Michailidou and Economides (2007), argue that

“computer supported collaborative environments and instructors should take into

consideration cultural factors that influence learners’ learning” (Michailidou &

Economides, 2007, p.247).

A growing number of instructional designers suggest a convergence of

instructional technology and intercultural pedagogy in teacher education. If the

problem is disempowerment, technology should be used to empower. If the problem

is oppression, technology should be used as a tool to promote liberation. If the

problem is underrepresentation and exclusion, technology should be used to as a

tool to promote inclusion. “It is absolutely necessary that educators act in a way

consistent with their choice-which is political-and furthermore that educators be

even more scientifically competent, which teaches them how important it is to know

the concrete world in which their students live” (Freire, 2005, p.129). The

principles of UID and Critical Pedagogy “engages faculty in thinking more broadly

about what they teach, why and how they teach it; and, why and how they assess

student learning” (Pliner & Johnson, 2004, p. 107).

Conclusion

While policy makers and traditional educators resist fundamental reform

and frame discussions about change within efficiency and test scores the gap

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between teachers , learners and schools widens. It is a daunting task to find

solutions for all of the challenges facing the 21st century classroom. Technology is

not the panacea for the compounded pathologies that affect our institutions,

classrooms, students and teachers. However, it is a tool that can assist us in

unpacking our socio-cultural baggage in order to facilitate understanding.

In order to develop comprehensive learning designs grounded in the

principles UID and Critical Pedagogy we must engage in praxis (Freire, 1970). We

must start with what is happening, actual practice of these principles by real people

in real classrooms and build a body of transformative research. (Pepa, 2005)

Dialectics makes a research study/project transformative. The researcher must

participate and be in the continuous process of reflection on and action in the

context of the problem. If research aims to solve a problem, improve a system or

develop understanding we must bring it back to experience and practice (Pepa,

2005).

No child is an empty vessel. Each child enters the classroom with a

storehouse of knowledge and distinct patterns of meaning-making. Their behaviors

and beliefs are specific to their social, ethnic, class, and age groups. These influences

are powerful and remain with the child throughout their education. Sociocultural

competence is the key to deciphering and decoding the patterns of meaning-making

in diverse populations. These systems are constantly evolving. They are not fixed. In

order to be understood in the context of the 21st century classroom sociocultural

systems must be systematically engaged and systemically evaluated.

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Fig. 3. UID and Critical Pedagogy

References

American Psychological Association. (2003). Guidelines for multicultural education,

training, research, practice, and organizational change for psychologists. American

Psychologist, 58, 377-402.

Constructivism UID & Critical Pedagogy Knowledge Assumes knowledge is constructed Assumes knowledge is inherited &

constructed

Learning Active process of meaning-making

Interactions with the world Problem solving A social activity,

collaborative Participation in authentic

communities Natural reflection,

assessment and feedback Ownership of the process

Active process of meaning-making

Interactions with the world Problem solving A social activity,

collaborative Participation in authentic

communities Natural reflection,

assessment and feedback Ownership of the process

Conditions for Instruction

Complex & relevant environments,

Social negotiation, Multiple perspectives, Multi-modal, Ownership in learning, Self-awareness of

knowledge construction

Examine the culture of learning & teaching

Inclusive learning environments

Multimodal Materials Balance focus between

content & context

Methods of Instruction

Micro-worlds and hypermedia designs,

Collaborative learning and problem scaffolding

Goal based scenarios & problem based learning

Open software & course management tools

Collaborative learning Student participation in

course design, websites Creating inclusive

pedagogical practices. Adaptable to –and accessible

by-multiple languages an cultures

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