13: The Acquistion of Ideas

In James’ thirteenth talk, he explains to teachers that their job “is to fill the mind little by little, as experiences accrete, with a stock of such ideas” (pg 71).  He also discusses the order in which these ideas are acquired talks about the value of verbal material.  In this blog, I will discuss the importance of storytelling as an instructional tool ,and given the new Common Core State Standards recently put into practice, I will attempt to understand why the ‘standards people’ did not heed William James’ advice  regarding the order of idea acquisition.

James states “verbal material is the vehicle by which the mind thinks” and that asserts that words “must constitute a large part, and an always larger part as life advances, of what the human begin has to learn  (p. 73).  This statement reminded me of the power of storytelling in the classroom.  Storytelling is a unique educational resource that can range from the purely traditional telling of stories person to person to the technological storytelling programs that can be found on the internet.  Whether in person or online, a student can be a listener or a storyteller, thus creating an interactive learning event.   In the case of online storytelling, the message can be acquired through different channels such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.  Using different sensory experiences increases student understanding of the material.  The act of storytelling increases awareness and allows for associations of personal relevance and thereby can serve as an effective instructional tool.  In my classes I use stories to explain procedures and relate real world applications.  I find that the students enjoy them and pay attention better than if I were to just relay how to work out the problem. 

Now for the rest of my story… 

      Every now and again, new standards are given to us to teach to the students. In mathematics, the decision makers work with the National Council of Mathematics to formulate a curriculum that is ‘new and improved’ and designed to be what every child should know by the time they graduate.  Inevitably, when new standards are implemented the content gets pushed down such that lower grades are learning what the upper grades did previously.  This basically means what was once taught in 11^th grade now would be covered in the 9^th grade, what was once taught in 7^th grade is covered in the 5^th grade, and so on.  

The technology component of CCSS is well written.  The goals and objectives are clearly outlined and make ‘sense’ with regard to the use of technology paired with content.  I agree with the thought-process behind the technology component.  Technology is now a survival skill, and it is important for the curriculum to address it.  

However, this year the new CCSS has pushed the curriculum down further than I have ever experienced in my tenure.   In my opinion, one of the first abstract concepts taught is the nature and relationship between functions and their graphs.  Functions are an introduction to the concepts found in calculus –An even larger abstract.   Based on the new standards, the concept of functions and their graphs are now addressed within the first semester of ninth grade.  Personally, I think the students should be trained to think abstractly first, then cover topics such as function.  Up until now, they have not been asked to think that way.  I think James’ would agree.  “It is not till adolescence is reached that the mind grows able to take in the more abstract aspects of experience…” (p. 73).   Up until this point most of the students have yet to experience thinking in the abstract.  What are some instructional solutions that can be used to help solve this problem?

Where's William?