Stan Upshaw, Post 7

Developing a New Approach to Pedagogy and Sponsorship

 In their essay, “Learning from Early Childhood Education: Higher Ed and the Process of Becoming,” Marisol Brito and Alexander Fink consider the application of early childhood development pedagogies for higher education. They use a “teachable moment” scene as a narrative anchor to drive home three main points: moving away from traditional forms of praise to emphasize process based learning, student engagement over “knowledge banking,” and the benefits of showing a teacher’s human side.

Brito and Fink argue that student concern with “getting an A” over “actually learning” stems from early conditioning. Getting praise feels good, and from a young age students do work to receive that praise. However, this has created a product based learning format rather than a process based learning format. According to the authors, if teachers want their students to truly engage the material, they would be better off communicating the progress the student has made towards his or her own goals. For instance, rather than “Great!,” consider “Ah, this paragraph is tying in with what you mentioned on the previous page…” The difficulty in this approach is getting through to students that just because it isn’t “great”, doesn’t mean that they aren’t doing great work.

This process based approach ties in nicely with the authors’ second point. Teacher’s should be actively engaging their students in the learning process and showing that they care about student outcomes, rather than just playing the role of “knowledge keeper.” Author suggestions range from tying questions about students education in with assignment notes, to simply asking “how are you doing?”

Finally, playing in to the fantasy of professors as “mythic beings” can hinder a students ability to recognize that failures are inevitable and indeed are part and parcel with growth. Teachers should be more willing to show that they too are vulnerable human beings. Furthermore, Brito and Fink suggests illustrating how professional adults work and engage in civic life by incorporating more student participation in the classroom process and less “traditional information transfer.”

Reading this article, I was consistently reminded of Deborah Brandt’s, “Sponsors of Literacy.” What Brito and Fink are suggesting are steps one can take to ensure that they are positive sponsors, rather than restrictive ones. As we’ve discussed in class, simply being a teacher, administrator, or faculty member in not insurance that one is making a positive impact on one’s literacy and learning. In fact, some “traditional information transfer” systems can actually have a negative effect on student learning. Furthermore, this essay asks that teachers assume the responsibility of sponsorship, and a concern with their students whole education and literacy practices, even beyond the classroom.

http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/Journal/files/Learning_from_Early_Childhood_Education.html