Group 6 -- March Monthly Summary

Wilisha commented on the following summaries:

Group 1

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6 (Narrative Learning) -- March Monthly Summary

March was really busy, almost frenetic, for Group 6. Aaron and Wilisha are both taking two courses at BSU this semester. Their mid-term class commitments converged big-time with their lives and keeping all priorities served was a big challenge, just as it was for Jim, who had lots of mid-semester projects to assess for the four adult education classes he teaches at Ivy Tech.

Week 10 study and discussion concerning critical theory, postmodern and feminist perspectives challenged some of us possessed of conservative mid-western values. It made us uncomfortable. We had to stretch our intellects and world views to deal with the material.

Week 11 study and discussion concerning non-western learning; traditional learning theories had appeal for Group 6 in many respects. It was interesting and intellectually stimulating to learn more about how people in other cultures learned. Jim recognized that he had incorporated many aspects of non-western learning techniques in athletic coaching, construction trades training, and classroom management and instruction. Wilisha thought the youtube video on "The Barefoot College" was especially powerful! A couple expressions of things that really inspired her were:     

•  “What is professionalism at the Barefoot College? A professional is a person with a combination of confidence, competence, and belief.”  Think of how many people ARE “professionals” in our communities!
• "You are certified by their community you serve." Because of her self-identified position as a 'Community, Family, Child Advocate' this is extremely important to Wilisha. It is important to her that her COMMUNITY and regards me as such, as she serves... It is not about the title but about the work and the lives that are touched 'in-community.'
• "Don't look outside for the answers, listen to those inside... the answers are right there in front of you." She believe this and tries to work in and with her community in a way that does not attempt to accuse or attack the 'powers that be,' but says (as a community), "Let's not expect others to come in and 'fix it... We have the resources we need to achieves and if we do need to reach out for things. Let's take the time to self-identify and then work with others to bring things to the table that we can use. Let's be the determiners of our own destiny, as a community; the leaders on that journey; and the resources for one another on our way.” (Oh, and let's train our children to "be." as well...)

My thoughts on the weekly discussions were that the non-western ways of thinking discussion seemed to generate more of an understanding of some of the methods and attitudes that are missing in the classrooms today. The ability to enrich lessons with cues about life and real world values has been replaced by test scores and bubble answer sheets. It seemed a lot of our class agreed that is a major part lacking  from our students today: guidance. 

Week 12 study and discussion concerning memory, cognition and brain had broad appeal for Group 6. Encouragement and caution concerning cognition during the aging process was acquired from the text and discussion. Jim, especially, found relevance in this material given that some of his students are "getting up there". Too, Jim himself, at sixty years of age, is considered a senior citizen by conventional standards. In fact he was recently identified as being sixty-five years or older while shopping with his wife!

We have been thinking and sharing, via email, on specific assignments and how to move forward. Both and James and Aaron’s are nearly “experts” on the programs investigated so we are confident that we will be able to present a solid project. 

Aaron closed the challenging month of March for Group 6 by seizing the initiative with the Program Design assignment. He prepared an excellent draft that has his teammates excited about the next step in the semester project.