It will be an enormous challenge for me to let students take the lead and not dominate the airspace. If I want my students to make it to that “performance” or “resolution” stage I see this stepping back as being essential. I want them to “Perform” in the sense that they build their learning into webpages. If I dominate their peer critiques, for example, they might as well become my webpages. The intent is for them to run wild with their creativity, and to step away from me as the direct instructor. He also discusses the steps groups take to make decisions, “forming, norming, storming, and performing.” Garrison emphasizes that groups not only need time, but also clearly stated goals to function productively. I am very familiar with his claim that, “groups do not naturally coalesce and move to integration and resolution phases.” I loathe group work for this very reason! I have avoided it much of my teaching career, afraid of losing control of the classroom and the content, and often seeing little progression in student learning when I do venture to use it. He goes on to argue that, “direction and facilitation is required to establish cohesion and ensure messages are developed.” I guess I assumed this, that you need to give clear directions, state your goals for the activity, and facilitate its progression. I’m concerned with how this will go online.
Donna Angley on 24 Jun 11Maria Montessori, born in 1870, was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology. She believed that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a "blank slate" waiting to be written upon.
