Tonight’s conundrum is looking at culturally responsive learning as defined by Geneva Gay in 2001 (Gay, Geneva. “Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching. (2001 AACTE Outstanding Writing Award Recipient).” Journal of Teacher Education 53.2 (2002): 106-16. Web.) I have to look at a page from OUH880 and reimagine it as a culturally responsive piece.
Now this is a little hard because the OU is an international body and is pretty hot on culturally responsive pedagogy by habit. Also the term ‘ culturally responsive learning’ can be interpreted as basic common sense if you’re a sensitive teacher who is interested in creating a meaningful learning experience for all of your students, not just the ones who look and sound like you.
Rant over, back to the task in hand.
I picked up something from the first OUH880 course – a page titled Conceptions of Learning. In it, the tutor discusses the work of Roger Säljö on students’ conceptions of learning in Sweden This is followed up with the citation of work done with van Rossum and Taylor in the 80s. The work is interesting, but focused on northern European conceptions. It may have benefited from looking at a wider selection of contexts, for example Makoe’s work on South African education (2006), or Ashong and Commander’s research on conceptions of learning among Brazilian and Nigerian students (2017). This may have given us a more global view of the different conceptions of education.
So here it is.
I’d actually leave most of the course page untouched, as it discusses the historical work done by Saljo et al. But this bit would change
How students approach study is influenced by their conceptions of learning (van Rossum and Schenk, 1984). When asked to read a text, students who view learning as the increase of knowledge or learning as memorising are likely to use a surface approach, focusing on remembering material for assessment. Students who understand learning as being related to meaning and interpretation are more likely to use a deep approach to study, focusing on understanding the meaning of the text.
Ashong and Commander (2017) looked at cultural differences in conceptions of education – in this case comparing the attitudes of Brazilian and Nigerian students. Brazilian students who participated in the study tended to have a holistic view of learning – as something that happens both inside and outside a school setting. The participating Nigerian were more concerned about the practical use of learning rather than learning for the sake of it.
In order to understand the thinking behind different approaches to teaching, this activity asks you to reconsider your work on learning – particularly your work on definitions of learning. You’ll also think about how conceptions of learning are reflected in teaching practice.
Sarah Slade 