Critical Students: breakthroughs in learning

Abstract

Alienative learning is a common feature in schools. Approaches aiming to combat it, such as child-centred progressivism or critical pedagogy, do not appear to have been very productive as yet in the empowerment of students. Alienative learning, in fact, seems set to increase in the drift to intensification. This paper takes a different approach, seeking to identify instances of empowerment that have actually occurred, and examining their properties. Examples include moments or periods of profound insight; the cultivation of marginality; positive trauma; communitas; and social outrage. These are all potentially radicalising states. Among the factors for achieving breakthroughs is the use of pupils as 'critical others'. An example is given involving some children with special needs, wherein the learning and development of all, including teachers, was enhanced.

Pupil-Teacher Conceptions and the Challenge of Learning: Lessons from a Year 8 Music Classroom

“…We know that depending on the paradigm within which learning is viewed, learning can be seen as an individual process of knowledge acquisition, a process of behavioural change, or a means of acquiring the socially constructed psychological concepts, language and patterns of action that are available to us within our culture (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1996;Lave, 1996). Traditional conceptualizations of learning have focused empirically on: knowledge about school learning (Bloom, 1977); how pupils individually or independently construct knowledge and develop as learners (Case, 1991); types of learning (Slavin, 1983); individual differences among learners (Corno & Snow, 1986); learner style and learning strategies (Biggs, 1987;Weinstein & Mayer, 1986); teacher-pupil interactions (Woods, 1994); and the learner's experience of learning (Marton & Booth, 1996). Increasingly, research has demonstrated the need to study pupils' perspectives and engagement in learning, foci that dominate the literature (see, for example, McCallum et al, 2000;Pollard, 1987;Rudduck & Flutter, 2000).…”