6719 Discussion Responses

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Here I will collect some responses to the posts presented by others in the course. Topics include

Dewey’s philosophy

“I’m going to echo your words with my own acknowledgment of the impact of Dewey’s philosophy and theory, since it is tied to my own belief systems of teaching and learning. Dewey likewise influenced Seymour Papert, the godfather and grandfather of ‘thinking machines’, whose research and writing has influenced thinking as the computer age shifted teaching and learning. Papert’s foundational work The Children’s Machine continues to influence how technology is used in the classroom – a counter narrative to the use of technology to deliver instruction. Since my research focus is on literacies, his words ring true “Becoming literate means thinking differently than one did previously, seeing the world differently” (Papert & Talcott, 1993, para 15). Dewey and Papert continue to influence current instructional practices in K-12 with the maker movement and coding in the classroom, both relying on student driven co-construction of knowledge through doing and creating. It was good to read how Dewey has influenced beyond the North American context. 

DeWaard (2019) D2L discussion response

The power of images

You’ve highlighted the power of an image. We are image collectors – it’s what our brains do. This is something I teach in the media course since reading an image or icon is one element of media literacy [see this ‘class’ page if you’d like to see what I’ve used to bring this understanding to the teacher candidates].

Text, either spoken or seen on a page, conjures up images. Photographs and paintings evoke memories of experiences and create sensory reactions, e.g. smelling wood smoke when seeing a picture of a campfire. Mental imagery is one technique used in cognitive behaviour therapy (Saulsman, Ji, & McEvoy, 2019) to help people overcome issues like post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Just as Guiney Yollop’s text based poem “Confirmation Picture” evokes an image in my mind of an image of my own confirmation, and all the related sensations that come from that, I try to see with my mind’s eye what his experience of that picture is within the words he writes. As I read and reread the poetry Guiney Yollop has shared, I re-imagine his experiences framed from my own perceptions and memories. These may not be accurate, in most cases, since my memories are singularly mine, but I can imagine when I read his poems and that is what enriches my memories – these mental images get refiled in my brain, shaped by these poems. Pretty powerful stuff when you think about it! I can’t believe I dismissed this writing when I first read it! 

DeWaard (2019) D2L discussion response

Strategy for mapping a dissertation argument

You sound like you ‘get’ this stuff and can read through the “ever thickening theoretical layering that was covering or burying important educational foundations” as illuminated by McClelland. I have to admit that I enjoyed this dissertation because it felt like unlayering an onion as I read through the arguments. While I was reading I paid attention to transitional phrasing and where McClelland positioned himself in the text e.g. “I have already highlighted what was positive and progressive about science’s mode of investigation. It may be good at this point to clarify this a bit further” (p. 41). These were cues I used to understand what was written and what was to come.

How did you manage the uncovering of the argument as you were reading?

I usually pay attention to the table of contents as a way to map out or follow the literature review since this frames the research. With McClelland’s writing, the table of contents is more like an aerial view that is less than helpful when in the ‘forest’ full of words. I tried creating a mental map of where the arguments were going, a pathway through the trees. This dissertation was definitely less structured than others we’ve read, which certainly provided for me an alternative to what a dissertation can be.

DeWaard (2019) D2L discussion response

How to ensure a fulsome literature review

You’ve brought an interesting connection to light – how theories thread together and when one strand is missing, the braid falls apart. I missed this observation about excluding the experiential learning from Kolb, and integrated into an indigenous pedagogical perspective, that ultimately ties intricately into the work of Dewey. I wonder if that was a conscious decision in McClelland’s thinking? 
You’ve connected this so beautifully to the Truth and Reconciliation reference making it relevant for our research in today’s contexts. You note that this should be an element that should have been included in a carefully constructed literature review, specifically in noting what is being excluded and why it is omitted. With a narrow, tunnel vision on the topic of comparing Dewey and Rorty, McClelland has omitted this critical connection to current contexts, even more notably from his position in Canadian education.
Something worth paying attention to in our own research writing and literature review! How can we ensure we don’t leave gaps in the literature that should be justified in our writing? Maybe this goes back to our work in DS2 and the systematic literature review process?

DeWaard (2019) D2L discussion response

References

Guiney Yollop, J. (2008). Out of place:  A poetic journey through the emotional landscape of a gay person’s identities within/without communities. Western University, London, Ontario. Retrieved from https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NR39350&op=pdf&app=Library

McClelland, K. (2006). Opening Truth to Imagination: The Pragmatism of John Dewey and Richard Rorty. Brock University, St. Catherine’s, Ontario. Retrieved from http://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/1438

Papert, S., & Talcott, J. (1993). The children’s machine. (Cover story). Technology Review (00401692), 96(5), 28. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9306140215&site=eds-live&scope=site

Saulsman, L. M., Ji, J. L., & McEvoy, P. M. (2019). The essential role of mental imagery in cognitive behaviour therapy: What is old is new again. Australian Psychologist, 54(4), 237-244.