Saturday, January 30, 2010
Reaction to Dr. Moje (2008) article and podcast
First(and perhaps unrelated) is that Dr. Moje is clearly a constructivist, with her statements that students enter the classroom with prior knowledge, and that knowledge is a socially constructed phenomenon. Her approach attempts to teach literary skills across disciplines in ways that are authentic to a particular subject area, while at the same time allowing for the transfer of these skills to other contexts. This “metadiscursive” approach to literacy across the curriculum also reminds me of David Berliner’s concept of cognitive apprenticeship, where teachers make explicit connections to the learning processes of experts. If it could be done in a convincing way at a school, this approach would indeed provide a consistent, powerful tool for students to transfer literate knowledge across disciplinary boundaries. I am interested in learning how these concepts apply to my content area, but suspect that the answer to that may lie in the “situatedness” of my own classroom.
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While it is important to teach literary skills across disciplines in ways that are authentic to a particular subject area, how do you determine what is authentic? Is it up to the teacher or would it become part of a curriculum that all teachers use? Since authentic teaching can vary from teacher to teacher, how will this approach work effectively in all classrooms?
ReplyDeleteI think that we miss Dr. Moje’s beliefs with this one. I think that she has a positive outlook at our students’ capabilities. Dr. Moje wants literacy to be the focus in all classrooms as it should be. How do we enter a new class and not be taught to understand its language, math has it own language having to understand percentages and measurements, history has its language as far as various revolutions and eras, even music has its language having to read keys, notes, and pitch and sounds. Putting tests aside how can students be success in the classroom without providing the opportunity to understand the language of the subject? While Moje’s views are a bit extreme because of the focus in schools on standardized tests, we can allow that to be the best excuse to give our students to not provide opportunities to read other sources of information making the class more approachable.
ReplyDeleteLike Dr. Moje, I believe that it is possible to teach literacy and and any of the other subjects hand in hand. I know that it may seem like minute to some, but as a Kindergarten teacher, I incorporate both on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteYour comments are worthy of great knowledge and aspiration because I like to understand what great thinkers and their theories tells us about teaching pedagogy and educational opporunities that will make us excel in the classrooms. Your thoughts about the podcast were informal and shows that you are willing to learn more but will only do so if the results will lead to improved strategies and methods that results in students' learning. You end with a tern "situatedness" in your classroom that gives me that impression that you are a teacher that seeks professional development and implement only whats valid and reasonable classroom practices.
ReplyDeleteDr. Moje article and blog was a foundational blueprint to each discipline. I think her theory can work based on your style of teaching verses your students style of learning. It is also research based so it presents an opportunity for you to a Reflective Practitioner. She may have conceptualized reading in music as placing music notes in word or conducting research and readings based on the conductor of a specific piece.
ReplyDeleteYou state that Dr. Moje is a constructivist and that she believes students enter the classroom with prior knowledge. But what if students don't enter the classroom with this knowledge? What if they come from a different country and their prior knowledge is completely different than another students? I wonder how Dr. Moje would feel about that.
ReplyDeleteIt all boils down to what you feel you can do in your classroom. To apply your subject's literacy contexts are only adding to the "basic" ones that they shold be learning in their language/literature courses.
ReplyDeleteYou blog looks great, it is easy to navigate and includes all of the required information (responses, photos & description) Well done.
ReplyDeleteArticle Response: You provided a thoughtful response to Moje's article. Clearly she does not follow the tabula rasa notion or the typical "banking" notion of education described by Freire. Throughout the semester the readings and activities should reveal the relationship between the concepts presented by Moje and how you can situate your classroom to utilize them. I look forward to your responses to the upcoming assignments.