Objectivist vs Constructivist

 August 05, 2009

Reflection on Learning & Design

This was written during a summer of professional development. 

Reflection on Underachievement and Educational Paradigms

A friend of mine read a blog in Psychology Today by Steven Reiss about underachievement. My friend’s response was to judge the blog as cut off from what is going on today in learning and education and to give some great examples of how e-learning can offer learning solutions to these issues. After reading the blog, which has been categorized under “Parenting” as well as reading a short outline about Reiss’ work on intrinsic motivation, I am reminded of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s positive psychology term and work on “flow.” Reiss’ work is firmly entrenched in the industrial paradigm for educational practices, socializing youth into fitting into an industrial economy. Reiss identifies 16 desires that motivate people to succeed. Csikszentmihalyi’s work defines the experience of “flow” that successful people have by performing their skill. In comparing these lists, both have good information and research to use as a perspective to analyze parenting and education practices. But what I am most reminded of after reviewing the basics of both theorists is Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book, Outliers. In it he shares that it takes about 10,000 hours to become an expert or master something.

Comparing Motivation Theories: Reiss, Csíkszentmihályi, and Gladwell

With Reiss, Csikszentmihalyi, and Gladwell they all focus on success. But what I like about Csikszentmihalyi and Gladwell as opposed to Reiss is that C & G allow for constructivist manifestations of knowledge to emerge and become workable hypotheses as a learner engages in “flow” or the “10,000 hours.” Reiss holds onto to a more objectivist learning theory; that worked well while education became a mass-consumed product by society. His article is about underachievement in today’s schools. Yeah! That means schools are not working as educational institutions. So let’s try something new – um, old. Remember that education, as well know it today as an institution, was not as commoditized as it was in earlier manifestations. Most learning was accomplished in an apprenticeship style – kids watching parents/adults; novices watching/supporting/engaging with experts. I think classroom education served an educational development purpose, but is now obsolete. I mirror this based on Todd Rudgren’s logic on the history of the music industry(see EG on fora.tv).

The Shift from Institutional Education to Apprenticeship and Experiential Learning

What is most striking about the Facebook note dialog that erupted, was the schism between generations and the acceptance of the foundation of Reiss’ objectivist learning foundation. Reiss is talking about reasons for youth being underachievers, but those same reasons could be applied to many adults, especially regarding their unwillingness and resistance to becoming digitally literate. My first response to the “incurious” judgment was to think of the studies in media literacy by Henry Jenkins. Taking a positive approach to identifying skills of digitally enfranchised youth, he sought to celebrate and encourage the participatory culture that the movement from an industrial age to an informational age truly heralds. It would be an interesting synthesis to do several motivation and incentive studies based on the adaptation of the various media literacy skills identified by Jenkins, but from several different motivational theories' standpoints. This would probably prompt new theories as the presuppositions that Reiss relays regarding his 6,000 subjects are no longer relevant because of changing societal practices and norms of the information age. Additionally, it would be great to see some studies on the cognitive differences between a digital immigrant like myself and a digital native like my niece. (Prensky)

Curiosity, Cognitive Flexibility, and Healthy Aging

I am additionally reminded that Dr Andrew Weil and his studies on healthy aging remind us that those who live to 100in good health are frequently interested in popular culture, have used iPods, and learn languages (even computer languages), helping their brains stay cognitively flexible. Fossilization can occur at any age; Reiss’ 16 desires help us understand the barriers and blocks we self-impose to filter our environment to maintain our safety. Whether in language use, openness to new ideas, or simply taking a new driving route home we demonstrate our attachment to curiosity. Being incurious is a power tool used to control how incoming information can be blocked until we are affectively or cognitively ready for it.

Rethinking “Success” as a Measure of Learning

What concerns me more is the attachment in all of these discussions to using “success” as a standard for evaluation. From following Michael Wesch’swork on studying YouTube from an anthropological standpoint, I find that this idea of “success” perpetuates a discourse that does not adequately position social and self-ethical expression. Success is a modern world view encouraging winners and losers, when in fact learning is a continuous process with peaks and valleys, and many, many paths to the top, if you want a wider view, or the bottom, if you want to take a rest and soak your feet in the stream. I think what is left out in becoming an expert, experiencing flow, or being intrinsically motivated is the importance that we have to reassign a clear relationship between these processes and their ethical responsibilities of becoming an expert, experiencing flow, or motivating ourselves, but at the expense of others or scarce resources. Articulation of our success or ingenuity often does not honor the complex matrix of external factors influencing how we become experts or experience flow, or are intrinsically motivated to continue despite obstacles to our goal.

The Role of Influencers and Expert Networks in Decision-Making

I am reminded of a lesson from my undergraduate economics professor about how not everyone needs to be knowledgeable about the candidates in fact showcases an efficient market of information. People depend on certain experts about shopping – what my sister in law buys at different grocery stores becomes knowledge that changes my own behavior. I think Gladwell in The Tipping Point calls these people mavins – they know stuff and have done the work of making the best comparisons. So too, my prof said with voting. She didn’t need to know about the candidates because she had people in her network who were her mavins, taking the cost of finding the best candidate that also fit her values. This type of marketization of citizenship and decision making has been called many things – an old boys’ network, collusion, conspiracy, grapevine. What is interesting is that these influencers are being studied more objectively and are helping move from the tough-fisted, militaristic, industrial society of the past 100 years into a laissez-faire, transparent, default-branched influence system of the information age.

Influence, Persuasion, and Ethical Communication

Earlier this year I took a creativity course by Kimberly Wilson of Hip Tranquil Chick, and I needed to name my influencers. I think that we should all have a bar code on our cell phone that identifies our influencers (like Pattie Maes’ Sixth Sense) – it would help us connect and clear up so many things in our lives. I’ve mentioned Gladwell’s work a couple of times, but what I like most about his work is his diligence to dig up the path of influence on patterns of behavior. I also like the work from Nudge. When designing our messages, whether written or oral, because of the ubiquity and decentralized control of documentation devices, we all need to design our messages to influence and nudge others to negotiate with us to understand us, not change us. Choice architecture, as mentioned in Nudge is from a macro viewpoint; but I think we can transfer its lessons to a micro viewpoint of communication between each other. We still associate influence as a type of persuasion when it, in fact should be relegated to establishing a respectful discourse of power and responsibility.