Group items tagged

how to engage in these collaborative arguments with others to address and solve problems in their everyday lives

counter-claims, rebuttals, and qualifications

Instruction in argument is further limited by a focus on adopting a competitive, confrontational stance, particularly in oral debates in which the goal is to win over audiences and defeat opponents.

a more collaborative perspective

collectively posit, test out, and revise alternative positions within a larger context of engaging in community rhetorical action leading to change

media appeals

beliefs of certain niche audiences

consistent with their beliefs.

Audiences therefore construct their beliefs about information on issues according to their identification with their particular values groups—“conservative Republicans,” “environmentalists,” “libertarians,” “liberal Democrats,” and the like—associated with and constructed by specific media outlets.

“echo chambers” i

restrict access to alternative, competing news sources and negatively portray political opponents (Jamieson & Cappella, 2008).

"I learn how to take in constructive criticism," says thirteen-year-old Tiranne

image quality, audio, editing, and content

Using tools such as the social-network-creation site Ning, teachers can easily develop their own networks, Mosea says. "It is better to create your own," he argues. "If a teacher creates his or her own network, students will post as if their teacher is watching them, and they'll tend to be more safe. "You can build social networks around the curriculum," Mosea adds, "so you can use them as a teaching resource or another tool." An online social network is another tool -- but it's a tool with an advantage: It wasn't just imposed by teachers; the students have chosen it.

When the researchers checked in again eight years later, things had gotten even worse for the young adults who had attended a preschool with a heavy dose of skills instruction and positive reinforcement.  They didn’t differ from their peers in the other programs with respect to their literacy skills, total amount of schooling, income, or employment status.  But they were far more likely to have been arrested for a felony at some point and also to have been identified as “emotionally impaired or disturbed.” 

he children who had been taught with the skills-based approach were “more hostile and aggressive, anxious and fearful, and hyperactive and distractible” than children who had attended more developmentally appropriate kindergarten classrooms – and they remained so a full year later. 

The skills kids had lower expectations of themselves, worried more about school, were more dependent on adults, and preferred easier tasks.[16]

Those from the child-initiated preschools “actually mastered more basic skills by initiating their own learning experiences” and continued to do well as the years went by.  The middle-of-the-roaders fell behind their peers.  As for those from the academically directed group, their “social development declined along with mastery of first-grade reading and math objectives. . . . By fourth and fifth grades, children from academic pre-K programs were developmentally behind their peers and displayed notably higher levels of maladaptive behavior” – particularly in the case of boys.[17]

a tightly structured, traditionally academic model for young children provides virtually no lasting benefits and proves to be potentially harmful in many respects.